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Implications on warranty after unlocking bootloader

AreTea
Star II
Hi,
I recently bought a brand new ASUS ZenFone 6, one of the main reasons I bought it is because I wanted to install custom ROMs on it.
However in order to do that I would have to unlock the bootloader (using the official tool), which will void my warranty if I understood the T&C correctly. I am worried that I might encounter an hardware issue, would I still be covered for servicing hardware issues in this case?
Thank you for your responses in advance.
14 REPLIES 14

mosimchah
Rising Star I
rfa

Isn't the warranty on the hardware? How does altering the software affect the hardware?


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Unlocking the bootloader allows the user to change the kernel, and certain kernel changes can cause permanent hardware damage, some examples of common custom kernel changes:
CPU/GPU overclocking can shorten the lifespan of the CPU/GPU
Relaxing the thermal restraints in the kernel can cause parts of the phone to overheat which can cause damage
Undervolting/overvolting different components can cause issues
Increasing the charge rate can damage the device
Increasing the display hz might cause some issues although I'm not entirely certain about that
And there's a lot more, the kernel handles a lot of things, it would not be at all reasonable to ask Asus to cover hardware damage that might have been caused by a custom kernel, not to mention that even without touching the kernel you can use simple root access to change the thermal throttling restrictions in the vendor partition which can completely fry the device, this is a common practice by some power users in order to get better performance in games

AreTea
Star II
In my opinion, "Revised Product" should be covered under limited warranty as to support users who want to use a different operating system without altering the hardware limit. I also found this informative text in the description of the unlock app's download page:
You also acknowledge ASUS does not guarantee service satisfaction to any Revised Product, including events involving paid service requested by you to be performed to the Revised Product. (emphasis mine)
So it looks like it is a risk endevour.

LP_ASUS
Community Legend I
mosimchah

https://zentalk.asus.com/en/discussion/comment/52193#Comment_52193

Unlocking the bootloader allows the user to change the kernel, and certain kernel changes can cause permanent hardware damage, some examples of common custom kernel changes:

CPU/GPU overclocking can shorten the lifespan of the CPU/GPU

Relaxing the thermal restraints in the kernel can cause parts of the phone to overheat which can cause damage

Undervolting/overvolting different components can cause issues

Increasing the charge rate can damage the device

Increasing the display hz might cause some issues although I'm not entirely certain about that

And there's a lot more, the kernel handles a lot of things, it would not be at all reasonable to ask Asus to cover hardware damage that might have been caused by a custom kernel, not to mention that even without touching the kernel you can use simple root access to change the thermal throttling restrictions in the vendor partition which can completely fry the device, this is a common practice by some power users in order to get better performance in games


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Correct mosimchah, that is why rooting the device voids the software and hardware warranty. We can only guarantee the hardware to run in specification if it has always been running in specification.
@AreTea Both the hardware and software warranty is voided when you unlock the bootloader.

LP_ASUS
Community Legend I
If you mean would the phone still be eligible for Out of Warranty service, then yes it would. But all of the repair costs would be out of pocket.

AreTea
Star II
LP_ASUS

If you mean would the phone still be eligible for Out of Warranty service, then yes it would. But all of the repair costs would be out of pocket.


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Yes, that is what I wanted to know, thanks for the clarification.