One of the major reasons HMD Global’s Nokia smartphones are doing well in a very competitive space is the uniqueness that comes with Android One.
Besides the promise of at least two Android OS upgrades, devices in Android One program are also guaranteed to receive regular Android security patches for at least two years. This is what all Android One-branded Nokia phones guarantee.
Even though the first-generation smartphones that Nokia released weren’t part of Android One, HMD still promised to offer two years of security updates. Sure, they have very clean software that is near-stock Android owing to the lack of unnecessary preinstalled apps, but no Android One blessings.
Despite missing the Android One branding, the likes of Nokia 3, Nokia 5, Nokia 6 and Nokia 8 from 2017 have since received two Android OS updates built on the premise of Android One.
As a result, the devices have been receiving regular security updates just like other devices blessed with stock Android. Now that other stock Android devices (aka Google Pixels) switched from a two-year to a three-year software support window, Nokia is also doing the same with its Android One-powered devices.
The company has announced that it will extend the software support window for Nokia 3, Nokia 5, Nokia 6 and Nokia 8 by another year. This means that instead of ending support in 2019, it will be extended to 2020.
Since the four devices in question had different original release dates, they also get different dates as to when support will end, as listed below:
- Nokia 3 – Quarterly updates from Sep. 2019 until Sep. 2020
- Nokia 5 – Quarterly updates from Oct. 2019 until Oct. 2020
- Nokia 6 – Quarterly updates from Oct. 2019 until Oct. 2020 (except USA and India)
- Nokia 8 – Quarterly updates from Oct. 2019 until Oct. 2020
Unfortunately, Nokia 6 users in India and the U.S. won’t benefit from this extended software support window, meaning support ends as previously scheduled in these two markets.
The story isn’t so different for the Nokia 2, whose software update timeline ends in November 2019. To recall, the Nokia 2 also didn’t receive an update to Android Pie, so it doesn’t surprise us that HMD will end support this year in all markets.
