Ever since Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge started the Nougat beta program, Sammy lovers have been eagerly waiting for the day the Korean tech giant will be rolling out the latest Android OS to their devices.
While it is obvious that the likes of Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy Note 5 will be joining the 2016 flagships in receiving the new OS, it has emerged that not all eligible phones will be updated with the latest Android 7.1.1 Nougat as expected.
Previous reports have indicated that Samsung will be skipping the update to Android 7.0 Nougat and instead roll out the newer Android 7.1.1 Nougat to its compatible devices. However, the latest reports surfacing from Australia’s Vodafone claim that not all Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge handsets will be updated to v7.1.1 of the OS. With this report, it has further emerged that the likes of Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+ and Galaxy Note 5 may end up not getting the new Android 7.1.1 Nougat as expected, instead, Samsung could push the initial v7.0 to these 2015 flagships.
Samsung has not said a word regarding this development, but given the confirmation from a Vodafone community forum in Australia, it seems that some regions will not be receiving the updated Android 7.1.1 Nougat on their Samsung Galaxy handsets, including the latest Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. Prior to this, Samsung had confirmed that the 2016 flagships will receive v7.1.1, but neither the Korean tech giant nor Australia’s Vodafone has clarified the reason as to why Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge handsets based in this region will not be updated to the newer OS.
It is odd for Samsung to roll out different versions of the same OS to the same devices in different regions, something that throws further doubt to what will eventually happen to the likes of Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy Note 5 in the same region as well as other parts of the world. Whether these phones will also be updated with the latest Android 7.1.1 Nougat or Samsung will push out the older Android 7.0 Nougat is still a mystery. But as it seems, the upgrade may definitely vary based on the region or even model in use.
For those who own eligible Samsung Galaxy phones, be ready for some disappointments when the update to Android Nougat starts this coming January. Still, we expect Samsung to at least release a roadmap for the firmware based on regions and phone models, unless what Vodafone Australia is saying will not materialize.