ASUS' 2019 flagship, the ASUS ZenFone 6 (ASUS 6Z in India), is packed to the brim with features. It has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855, 3.5 mm headphone jack, microSD card slot, no notch, flip camera, rear fingerprint scanner, and fairly clean software to boot. ASUS is also going out of their way to support the custom development community by sending units to multiple developers from the XDA community. After receiving their devices a few weeks ago, some developers have started working on their projects, while others wait for the bootloader unlock tool to start working again. We've already seen the first major mod pop up on our forums in the Google Camera port, but now the first custom ROM (unofficial LineageOS 16) and kernel (Kirisakura kernel) are available.
The initial build of LineageOS 16 for the ASUS ZenFone 6 was developed by XDA Recognized Developer luca020400. It can be installed right now if you manage to unlock the bootloader, but the developer currently isn't offering a TWRP-flashable method so only users who are comfortable with the fastboot command line can take the plunge. It should be noted that this build currently uses the stock kernel, but the developer will be rebasing his work on his own kernel in a future release. The first updates to the release fixed bugs with OK/Hey Google hotword detection, Bluetooth A2DP streaming, and double tap to wake, but there are lingering issues with LTE connectivity that are being investigated. Still, given how early in development this build is, we're surprised by how much already works.
Kirisakura-Kernel is developed by XDA Senior Member Freak07. It's a popular custom kernel that is available for the Google Pixel series, HTC U11, HTC U12+, OnePlus 7 Pro, and now the ASUS ZenFone 6. It features a lot of CPU, GPU, networking, memory, and file system-related tweaks to hopefully improve battery life without sacrificing performance.
Unofficial LineageOS 16Â Â Kirisakura-Kernel
We're excited to see the development community grow for this phone. Instead of just merely providing devices, ASUS is also lending an ear to the feedback raised by the developers that were selected. As more developers get their devices' bootloaders unlocked, expect to see more ASUS ZenFone 6 custom development appear on our forums.