Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is one of the hottest smartphones in the market right now, even though the handset has not even been made available for purchase.
While there is no doubt that the Note 7 made highlights in a number of ways, including the adoption of its name instead of the expected Galaxy Note 6, debuting an iris scanning technology as well as coming in with a brand new design language for the Galaxy Note series, one aspect did not stand out as expected.
Apparently, hopes were high that Samsung will unveil the Galaxy Note 7 with Android Nougat out of the box. However, the opposite happened and instead, the current Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow was used. Of course, this is basically because Google has not yet released the OS, but this doesn’t mean Samsung developers don’t have access to the same. Unfortunately, the early launch of the Galaxy Note 7 meant that buyers will have to do with the Marshmallow OS on board.
If you have already made a pre-order for the Galaxy Note 7 or maybe you have plans to get one once it made available for purchase, there is nothing to worry about with respect to the software part. Samsung has come out with a commitment that it will ensure the new Android Nougat hits the Note 7 in less than three months, but this will happen after gathering feedback from users. In short, Samsung Galaxy Note 7 users should be ready to help speed up the process by participating in the beta testing program of the OS before it is finally released.
As usual, don’t expect the new Android Nougat OS to hit all Samsung Galaxy Note 7 units in the two to three months’ time frame as noted by the company. Instead, this may see the locals get the update first before the same update starts hitting international variants. As a result, we might end up seeing the same update later on in the year or early 2017 in case of a carrier-branded Note 7.
This news comes in on the back of LG announcing that it will debut the LG V20 with Android Nougat on board this coming September. Furthermore, another Asian tech giant, Sony, is also making early plans of rolling out the OS to its 2016 flagship – Xperia X Performance. At the time of this writing, a Xperia Beta Program is already open for any willing person to join. Once you join, you will be able to test a beta version of Android Nougat on your Xperia X Performance.
What this means is that Sony could also release the update just at about the same time the Google Nexus handsets start receiving it. This should be somewhere towards the end of this month, according to the latest rumors. Remember, this Xperia Beta Program is not open to all those with Sony Xperia handsets, but only for those with the Xperia X Performance. In addition, it appears that the program has been limited to certain regions, among them the Netherlands, Portugal, Iceland, Estonia, Lithuania as well as Spain, among a few others.