Earlier this year, ASUS launched its 2025-series flagship, the Zenfone 12 Ultra. While the Taiwanese computing giant also maintains a gaming-oriented line of smartphones, its more “standard” Zenfone range stands as its more mainstream selection, offering users high-end specs without any of the gaming bits found on the ROG phone line. As such, it looks like the Zenfone 12 Ultra is scheduled to get a major update, following a new announcement from ASUS.
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As noted by the folks over at GSMArena, ASUS recently announced that it’s rolling out an Android 16 beta program for the Zenfone 12 Ultra, which will allow users to get a taste of Android 16’s many features. Android 16 was formally announced by Google not too long ago, and has since arrived on several devices under the Pixel and Samsung Galaxy line of smartphones, to name a few. With that in mind, it’s safe to say that the Zenfone 12 Ultra will be part of this club soon enough.
If you own a Zenfone 12 Ultra, then signing up for the beat program is pretty easy. Users will have to head on over to their Settings app, followed by System > System update > tap on the gear icon > Enroll in Android preview program. Unlike other smartphone brands with Android 16 beta programs, it looks like ASUS isn’t setting a limit to the overall number of users who want to sign up for the Zenfone beta. It’s important to note that the Zenfone 12 Ultra launched with Android 15, with ASUS committing only two major Android updates, up until Android 17.
In terms of hardware, the Zenfone 12 Ultra borrows a bit from the ROG line’s hardware design, which combines metal and glass for a sleek overall look. Unlike the ROG phones however it lacks the customizable lighting setup on the rear panel, although this helps to keep it distinct with its own, un-ROG identity. The phone also comes with a 6.78-inch LTPO AMOLED panel that features a relatively-sharp resolution of 1080×2400 pixels.
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As with a lot of other 2025 Android flagship phones, ASUS has equipped the Zenfone 12 Ultra with Qualcomm’s all-powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. The phone also features different RAM and storage configurations which max out at to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage, which we reckon should be enough for most users. It’s priced starting at around 1,000 EUR.
