Good news for users of the ASUS ROG Phone 9 premium gaming smartphone series. ASUS has recently confirmed that they have started introducing a beta program that allows them to upgrade their devices to the latest Android 16 operating system.
To start this upgrade process, users will need to go to the Settings > System > System update menu, click the gear icon at the top of the screen and choose to join the Android Preview beta testing program.
If you see that your device has this option, and choose to join the beta program, your device will download the update required to upgrade the device's operating system to Android 16.
However, ASUS also says that since this beta program contains updates that have not yet been optimized, users will need to be prepared to face various bugs that may appear with this operating system. Those who participate in this program are, in short, like lab rats that will show what issues ASUS needs to fix before this update is officially introduced.
Another major issue that this update shows is that users will not be able to go back to the Android 15 operating system, unless they reset the device.
ASUS has not confirmed when the Android 16 operating system will be officially introduced, but the public expectation is that it will arrive around the end of 2025 or early 2026. The Android 16 update is also one of two operating system updates that ASUS has promised for the ROG Phone 9 series of devices.
It is also worth noting that this update is only applicable to owners of the ASUS ROG Phone 9, ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro and ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition devices. If you are using the ASUS ROG Phone 9 FE device, it is not included in this beta test.