Android Oreo may no longer be the hottest topic since Android P already exists albeit as a beta but it is still the version of our favourite operating system that anyone whose device prides itself in having the latest software runs. As such, it is always good to hear when a device maker rolls out an Oreo update for their devices.
HMD Global, the company that has been releasing Nokia-branded smartphones since last year, started seeding the Android Oreo update for one its cheapest smartphones, the Nokia 3, yesterday.
As usual, the bearer of the good news was none other than Juho Sarvikas, HMD Global’s Chief Product Officer. “You asked, we listened…,” he wrote on Twitter.
HMD Global started publicly testing the Oreo build for the Nokia 3 in late February.
The Nokia 3 was the last remaining device of the three that the Finnish company launched in Kenya in July last year. The rest, the Nokia 5 and Nokia 6, received the Oreo update towards the end of last year. All the three devices, in addition to the Nokia 8, Nokia 8 Sirocco, Nokia 7, Nokia 7 Plus and Nokia 6 (2018), are expected to receive Android P when it starts rolling out later in the year.
The Nokia 3 was also the last in the Nokia lineup to receive the Android 7.1.1 Nougat update.
The Nokia 3’s modest specifications – a 5-inch HD display, 4G internet access, NFC, 2GB RAM and 16GB onboard storage – mean that it is the only Nokia-branded device worth considering at the low end of the market spectrum. The rest of the line up, the Nokia 1 and Nokia 2, cover the bare minimums, something that is also reflected in their pricing, at least Kshs 3,000-4,000 cheaper, and that comes with its own set of disappointing cutbacks feature-wise.
HMD Global has quickly built a name for itself as being first and fast to deliver Android updates, both significant ones like this upgrade as well as the monthly security patches issued by Google, something that is the exception and not the norm. It also ships its devices without modifying the software, a process that mostly complicates matters for the competition which struggles to deliver updates on time even for devices that cost as much as five times the price of the Nokia 3.
The update, which is rolling out over the air, may take a few more days to hit devices in the country.
My impatient self is tempted to ask, when will the Nokia 3 receive Android 8.1?
