It's that time of year again folks, Google's announced a brand new version of Android and everyone's scrambling to find out when the update will hit their devices. Quick tip though for most of you - you will probably have to wait a bit. Yup, sorry to be so blunt, but the people who will get Android 8.0 Oreo earliest are those who will buy the Google Pixel 2 and Google Pixel XL 2 on launch, existing Pixel owners will also get it fairly shortly thereafter (and possibly some supported Nexus devices), and punters buying new phones in late 2017 and into early 2018 will likely find Android 8.0 pre-installed on more and more devices.
For everyone else who owns an existing Android Nougat device, there will undoubtedly be a waiting period - there always is.
This is because Android OEMs, from Samsung, to HTC, to Motorola, and all the others, do tend to faff a little bit - some are better than others, naturally, but none have it all lined up and ready to go quite the way Google does with its own hardware. On top of that you've got the carrier network issue, in that even if a manufacturer gets the update ready pronto, the networks running carrier-locked devices still have to tweak, modify, and approve the software update before pushing it to consumers. Long story short, it's not at all unusual for it to take several months for a device to be updated even with the best intentioned and most organised phone makers; just because they've said they'll get the update out "ASAP" doesn't mean it's actually landing sharpish as there are a lot of hoops to jump through and there are often delays and setbacks.
So with that admitedly gloomy prophecy out of the way, let's take a look at which manufacturers have already confirmed Android Oreo plans, and for which devices.
Google Pixel & Google Nexus
Google's Pixel 2 and Pixel XL 2 will launch with Android Oreo onboard, with the expected launch date of October 4. We don't exactly know when Google's sales will go live after that point, but there's usually not much of a delay.
Google has also already revealed that the Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel C, Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X will be getting an over-the-air update "in the coming weeks" but has already uploaded the factory images and OTA links on the Android Developers website if you fancy bypassing all that and installing it yourself.
The Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 are not being updated and will remain on Android 7.1.1.
Essential PH-1 (Essential Phone)
The Essential PH-1 is a brand new contender, which is yet to land in the UK, but already Andy Rubin's company has confirmed via Twitter that its one and only flagship handset will be upgraded to Android Oreo. It hasn't said precisely when, however, only the annoyingly loose "soon" and with a tip to keep our eyes peeled for more prompts "in the next couple months".
Motorola/Lenovo
Motorola is great for running relatively stock Android builds, and it used to be pretty quick on the updates following its tenure under Google's wing. Following its sale to Lenovo, these habits continued for a while, and in fairness it's still one of the better OEMs out there for updates, it's just perhaps not quite as snappy as it once was.
Anyway, Moto has confirmed a selection of its phones for Oreo already:
- Moto Z2 Force
- Moto Z2 Play
- Moto Z Force
- Moto Z
- Moto Z Play
- Moto G5S Plus
- Moto G5 Plus
- Moto G5
As per most of the other OEMs, the list hasn't been provided with any dates, so we don't yet know when to expect these phones to be bumped up to Android 8.0, only that it is on the cards.
HTC
HTC is in a similar boat to Essential, having confirmed its plans on Twitter but without a solid arrival date as yet.
"We're excited to bring Android 8.0 to the HTC U11, U Ultra, & 10, beginning with U11 in Q4. Stay tuned for more Oreo details & new products!"
So the HTC U11 flagship is getting it first, inside Q4 2017 is the plan, so you shouldn't have to wait until 2018 (at least in theory, HTC has made such promises in the past and not always delivered), and of course, that's probably for the unlocked phones; anything carrier-locked will be subject to delays while the networks fettle with things. Everything else is likely going to be inside 2018.
Huawei
Huawei has remained tight-lipped on the subject of Android Oreo. We can only make an educated guess that its Huawei Mate 10 series might ship with Oreo onboard, as the firm is usually pretty good at getting new releases to ship with the very latest software for a given year.
Samsung
There hasn't been much word on the Samsung side of things other than vague whispers that it hopes to deliver major Galaxy S8 series updates a bit quicker than with past devices and software versions. We'd assume that would apply to the Galaxy Note 8 as well. Your guess is as good as ours on this one, at least for now.
Sony
As usual, Sony has been quite thorough in outlining its Oreo plans. The new Xperia XZ1 and Xperia XZ1 Compact will ship with Oreo onboard. Sony has also confirmed the following list is planned for an Oreo update at some point, but has not said when to expect them.
- Sony Xperia X
- Sony Xperia X Performance
- Sony Xperia XZ
- Sony Xperia X Compact
- Sony Xperia XZ Premium
- Sony Xperia XA1
- Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra
- Sony Xperia XZs
LG
We know that the new LG V30 flagship won't ship with Oreo onboard, and aside from this there's been no word from LG yet on the subject of Google's latest software build. We're sure it has plans, of course, so don't fret, they're just a mystery for now until LG speaks up.
OnePlus
The only word we have on OnePlus at the moment is that some closed beta testers running the OnePlus 3 have allegedly been updated to an Oreo build already, meaning the firm is in the process of testing the software before a wider push. Whether that means it will arrive on the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T alongside the OnePlus 5 is anyone's guess. We also have no idea how long OP intends to test things before rolling out.
Nokia
Yay! Nokia's back and it's Android based! Now let's see how it's going to handle the software updates!
So far the only thing we know is that Nokia, well, HMD Global, has confirmed its intentions to update the Nokia 3, Nokia 5, and Nokia 6 to Android 8. We've also seen a Tweet from HMD Global's chief product officer, Juho Sarvikas, showing Android Oreo test builds running on a Nokia 8, where he says it is "maturing nicely". That confirms the plans for the flagship then, unsurprisingly, although Sarvikas did say "will release when perfect," and there aren't any further details on a release date at present.
by pbriden via Featured Articles
Posts
No comments: