I just sent feedback to ASUS expressing my concern at the loss of bootloader unlocking. I have 2 perfectly good cell phones that are e-waste now, simply because the vendor stopped issuing patches, and the bootloader can't be unlocked to use LineageOS. I bought a Zenfone recently because I thought I'd be avoiding that issue. If they don't fix this, I won't be buying another one. ASUS CEO contact page: https://www.asus.com/us/support/article/787/
I just sent feedback as well. I bought an Asus phone in the past and was planning on buying more in the future. I used to recommend them everywhere. I will not be purchasing any more Asus phones until this is fixed.
I was on the fence about buying a zenphone but waiting to see if the bootloader unlock ever showed back up.
Still holding a pixel 3, unlocked, with lineage. There are no small phones with good specs and unlockable. Zenphone seemed the way, until they stopped with their unlocks.
You're correct. My other phones were from my wireless carrier, and didn't support unlocking the bootloader, so I had to keep upgrading (over a period of years.) I bought the Zenfone to try to break that cycle. The old devices still function, aside from being outside of vendor support (or in the case of one, incompatible with the carrier's network after infrastructure upgrades.)
