HMD Global, the Finnish company that is the global licensee of the Nokia brand on mobile devices, has never been shy about the future prospects of the devices it has been releasing over the last 2 years.
During the Nokia 8’s unveiling in the Philippines last September, a HMD Global executive stated that the company would ensure that its entire smartphone lineup, then consisting of the Nokia 3, Nokia 5, Nokia 6 and Nokia 8, would be updated to the then upcoming version of Android.
Today, that “upcoming version of Android” is known as Android 9 Pie and it’s set for a release later in the year even though it’s already available to a handful of devices including HMD Global’s own Nokia 7 Plus which is running the final developer preview of Android Pie.
It’s almost a year between September last year and now and, it’s refreshing to learn from Nokia Mobile’s Twitter account that plans have not changed: the Nokia 3, 5, 6 and 8 are still on course to get the Android Pie update as earlier promised, in addition to late comers like the entry-level Nokia 2 and the upper mid-range Nokia 7, which HMD Global never officially brought to the Kenyan market.
This is particularly important because those smartphones from last year, unlike their successors this year, were not and still are not part of the Android One programme which comes with such guarantees by default.
HMD Global commits to at least 2 years of updates for its devices, pretty much like the requirement by Google for devices to qualify to join the Android One programme.
Smartphones the company has unveiled this year like the Nokia 3.1, Nokia 5.1, Nokia 6.1, Nokia 7 Plus and Nokia 8 Sirocco as well as others that are yet to make it to the local market like the Nokia 6.1 Plus, Nokia X5 and Nokia X6 are obviously part of the Android 9 Pie cast.
Android Go-powered devices in the HMD Global lineup like the Nokia 1 and the Nokia 2.1 will also be getting a slice of the pie.
Besides Google, which will be updating all its Pixel smartphones to the latest version of Android (because that’s why they exist in the first place), other device makers that have confirmed the same include Sony and HTC (you would know this already if you read the latest issue of our weekly newsletter). Sony will be bringing Android Pie goodness to the Xperia XZ1, XZ1 Compact, XZ1 Premium, XZ2, XZ2 Compact and XZ2 Premium. HTC will be doing the same for four devices: U12+, U11+, U11, and the Android One U11 life.
In case you are wondering, Samsung and Huawei smartphone users can start dreaming about the Android Pie update after Valentine’s Day 2019, if the past is anything to go by since the update is likely to be in by Easter.
