Tag: Android Oreo

After months of testing and teasing, the Android Oreo update for the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ are starting to roll out.  The update brings Samsung Experience 9, the company’s skin on top of Oreo, to the 2017 flagship devices and weighs in at 487MB.  Right now, it appears that the release has only happened on the unlocked variants of the phones in Europe.  No indication on if it has hit US users yet but it will likely be soon.  Also keep in mind that beta testers will be the first to get the update so if you did not participate, you have a bit longer to wait.

Public beta testing of the Oreo build on the Samsung Galaxy S8 lineup began last November with the beta period ending January 15th of this year.

The Huawei Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro have a significant bug fixing update rolling out in the manufacture’s home country, China.  The update brings a number of bug fixes and stability improvements to both devices.  The update to EMUI, the company’s Android Oreo build, is version 8.0.0.127 (SP1C00) and it is the same for both devices.

From an optimization perspective, there are seven improvements noted in the release notes for the build.

• Optimizes Camera and the Navigation dock.
• Optimizes the Beauty feature by adding special touches based on the genders of the photographed subjects.
• Optimizes the accessibility of the Navigation dock, which can now be used in Ultra power saving mode and the notification panel.
• Optimizes the system power consumption by controlling the consumption of third-party apps
• Simplifies the operation of the status bar (tapping on it to return to the call screen is supported).
• Increases the speed of grabbing WeChat lucky money.
• Enjoy being faster than the rest even when in the same network environment.

In the fast paced world of Android phones (and iPhones for that matter), some devices age well while others seemingly die without much of a thought to them.  A lot of it depends on the manufacture and their willingness to continue to develop updates for the device but also it depends on the niche in which the device attempts to be the answer.

In the case of the Huawei Mate 9, the Chinese company has continued to support the 5.9″ phablet by recently releasing their Android Oreo based EMUI 8 experience.  That, along with filling the need of a large screen device for some, has let this phone age well.  It’s still a powerhouse of a device that, even though it has now been superseded by the Mate 10, I don’t have a problem recommending.

I reviewed the Huawei Mate 9 back in March 2017 and at the time, I felt it was one of the fastest devices I had reviewed to that point.  I felt the same way about the smaller Huawei P10 which has the same SoC (System on Chip) setup as the Mate 9.  Now nearly a year later, I still feel the same way.  This is a solid phone with a lot to offer despite its age.  Yes, Android Oreo will likely be the last major update for the Mate 9 but that shouldn’t completely turn you away from it.  It has a lot to offer and remains one of the best overall flagship phone options out there, especially now that it is under $500.

I’m not necessarily going to be re-reviewing the Mate 9 in this post but rather will highlight how the phone has performed over time.  I’ll cover how the chassis has held up, how battery life has performed over time and the new EMUI 8 update for the phone to name a few things.

Good news this morning for those who have the Sony Xperia X or Xperia X Compact:  Android Oreo is on its way.  The company has released firmware version 34.4.A.0.364 for both devices, bringing Oreo to the 2016 phones as well as a handful of other updates to the devices.

Along with the update comes the January 2018 Android Security Update patch so you will be protected against Spectre and Meltdown after you update your phone.  There are also new features to the camera app and overall performance improvements to both devices.

After being released in various other markets, the Android Oreo update for the US variant of the Huawei Mate 9 is now rolling out.  Both the MHA-L29 and MHA-L09 are getting the update and it should be coming to your Mate 9 over the course of the next few days.  The 29 is the dual SIM variant while the 09 is the single SIM.

Along with the update to Android Oreo itself, you will be getting the January Android Security Update patch, a new portrait mode for the rear camera, and the new AI-driving EMUI 8 user experience.

In a somewhat surprising announcement on Twitter yesterday, Essential, makers of the Essential Phone, said that they were abandoning their current Android Oreo 8.0 build to start an 8.1 build for customers.  The 8.0 build has been in beta for a few weeks now and the company stated that stability issues where the driver behind the decision.

An update on the public release of Oreo: pic.twitter.com/fPJRtX7kvY

— Essential (@essential) January 30, 2018

The decision means that any Oreo build for the Essential Phone is going to be delayed, in the company’s terms, “a couple of weeks”.