ASUS refunds Zenfone buyer for failing to give bootloader liberate equipment as promised

Here are the key points:

- A customer in the UK, referred to as "Timothy", sued ASUS over the company's failure to provide bootloader unlocking tools for its phones, which was a promised feature.

- Timothy specifically bought an ASUS Zenfone phone to be able to unlock the bootloader. When ASUS stopped offering unlocking tools in May 2022, Timothy took legal action.

- In the UK small claims court case, Timothy won and received a full refund for the phone (£700) plus court fees (£70), totaling £770 (~$973).

- This sets a precedent that other customers upset over lack of bootloader unlocking options from ASUS may be able to get refunds by taking ASUS to small claims court.

- Unlocking the bootloader allows full control over the device's software and ability to install custom ROMs, which is valuable for extending support beyond ASUS's limited 2-year window.

- ASUS had previously promised to keep providing bootloader unlocking tools but reneged on this in 2022, removing information and disabling the tools.

- The article suggests this UK case proves customers have legal recourse to pursue refunds from ASUS if bootloader unlocking was an advertised feature they wanted.

- The author reached out to ASUS for comment but had not received a response at time of writing.