On November 9, 2016, Samsung opened up the Galaxy Beta Program that allowed users of the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge to install an unstable version of Android 7.0 Nougat on the pair, however, the stable version was released two months later starting January 12, 2017.
Even though the company is also expected to do the same with respect to Samsung Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+ and Android 8.0 Oreo, there is still no word on when this program will go live. On the brighter side, we have an idea of when the company will kick off the official rollout of Oreo (stable version) to its flagship phones.
Despite the fact that there’s no mention of the specific devices that will receive the update to Android 8.0 Oreo, Samsung, through its Turkish website, has announced that the OS will start rolling out in early 2018. You are probably wondering why the Galaxy Note 8 and S8 are in the title of this article if at all Samsung did not mention them as the specific devices to be updated to Oreo starting early next year. Well, it’s because more often than not, major software updates will first be rolled out to the latest high-end phones before heading to older flagships and later to midrange and budget phones. At the moment, the Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy S8 (S8+) are the latest flagships from Samsung and thus, we are dead sure they’ll be the first to receive the update, followed closely by last year’s Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge.
Another strange thing you might be asking is why Samsung chose to break the news via Samsung Turkey yet it could use its official (international) website to convey the information. Well, perhaps it’s because the Turkish market has always been the first when it comes to receiving major software updates and it’s also possible that Android 8.0 Oreo will roll out first to the market before heading to other global markets, including Kenya.
Keep in mind that release dates for software updates can never be guaranteed, which is perhaps why Samsung didn’t want to give a specific date as to when the Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy S8 will be updated to Android Oreo. In short, don’t be surprised if things change with respect to the “early 2018” release date. If any, we’ll be here to keep you up to date. Stay tuned!
Meanwhile, would you like to see an early release of Android 8.0 Oreo to your Samsung Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy S8 or any other Samsung phone? Let us know in your comments below.
