ASUS now actively sabotaging attempts to unlock Zenfone 9 bootloader

Yep, this is why I lost faith in these giant tech companies, my next phone will be Fairphone
- I'm waiting for a fairphone with a headphone jack and then hopping on that.
  
  Oh, the headphone jack... using a phone without it is so counter productive and annoying, wait for the phone to fully charge, now wait for your headsets to charge too, I don't know why we're moving backwards 🙄
  
  I know that this post will probably be downvoted to hell, but I'm pretty sure no phone will return the headphone jack, ever.
  You're either gonna have to quit using smartphones entirely or just have to give up on the headphone jack dream. It's never going to happen again
  
  I'm waiting for one with a good camera.
  
  I mean, there's no lack of USB-C earphones these days, and adapters are tiny. I think for a brand like FairPhone the cost cutting of a feature almost no User cares for really makes sense.
- @electro1 Not sure if it's still the same thing, but you can toggle the OEM Unlock option for Nokia G22 in the Developer Options menu, in the settings.
  @Blaze
  
  Definitely not the same thing, flashing a custom ROM that was intended for a particular device into another, is a guaranteed way of breaking that device.
  The OEM unlock option is worthy of something, yes, but useless if you can't find a compatible ROM for that model
  Also Nokia is owned by Microsoft, so my rule still stands, I lost faith and I just don't trust them anymore
  
  Sometimes that does nothing, like on the meta quest 3.
  (Also, salut!)

This shit should be illegal.
- I miss ownership of things that I paid for.

Unlock tool is unavailable at this moment but we are allowing the possibility to unlock, please stay tuned
One year later, radio silence
So it was a lie to not lose potential sales in short term while destroying credibility in long term?
- So it was a lie to not lose potential sales
  It's sad, but only too tiny fraction of the phone buyers care about unlocking the bootloader for the company to be economically meaningful to care about.

And eventually, Google will drop this feature for the Pixel as well. You can bank on it. An unlockable bootloader adds absolutely nothing of value to these companies because it slows down year to year buying from consumers and isn't as profitable. It is from their perspective, counter productive to leave this feature enabled. So this isn't surprising in the least, tbh.
Asus and Google used it to bait enthusiasts and as soon as they established a user base they were comfortable with, they will remove it. If the phones stop selling, they will simply stop making them. It's that simple. You keeping your phone updated and feature packed for several years is not how they intend to allow the market to stray.
They want year to year sales above all else. An unlockable bootloader negates that for the majority of those who buy phones with that feature.
- Already dropped on pixels sold by Verizon 😢
- Nah, the reputation they gain from us, the family tech guy, is worth more than the sales they lose from us specifically holding out longer than others. Plus they would lose the sales to us entirely when they stop.

I really wanted a zenfone 10 but purposefully avoided it hearing about the removal of the unlock tool. This is very unfortunate they are going this direction and doesn't even seem like they have a good reason or understand how this actively hurts users.

One of the many reasons I stick with Pixels. Best security combined with friendliest 3rd party OS support.

Ass-sus is still ass.
Not only are they actively blocking unlocking, they are also have shit customer service.

I was looking for a new smartphone. I'm also for many many years a custom ROM user. The last moves from multiple manufacturers nearly oblige me to get a pixel.
- I got a nothing phone 2 over a pixel and zenfone, sounds like they allow bootloader unlocking. Enjoying the phone so far

one of us should make an android phone company that makes a phone with an open source default rom, unlockable/relockable bootloader, headphone jack with a proper DAC, ir blaster, no notch or punchholes (like the note9), latest spec of USB for the port and latest Snapdragon chip
- And front facing speakers!
  
  Idk what Samsung did on the S21, but it's the first time I've been impressed by the speakers on a phone. The separation of audio channels is wild
- Sony is fairly close
  
  Except in the US's version they for some reason won't let you unlock it.
  Great job losing a sale Sony.
  
  Indeed, but I guess for most pricing might be an issue

nooo one of the main reasons i got this damn phone was the unlockable bootloader :(