Despite the fact that Android P Developer Preview is already out, some of the flagship devices are still waiting to get Android Oreo. The rollout of Android Oreo for carrier models of the Galaxy S8 and S8+ started a few weeks back, but unlocked devices and the Note 8 were left in the dark.
Hopefully, that wait is coming to an end as unlocked models of the Galaxy S8, and the Note 8 should be hitting devices in the next 2-3 weeks.
Android Oreo, which comes bundled with Samsung Experience 9.0, brings many new features both natively and as part of Samsung’s overlay.
You may be wondering why unlocked devices have been delayed until after the carrier-locked Galaxy S8 models have gotten the update? For those releases, Samsung develops the firmware and then sends it off to the specific carrier for testing before being pushed to the customer. However, with firmware intended for unlocked devices, Samsung apparently has to issue it to every single carrier it could run on and wait for it to be tested across the board. That means every carrier needs to approve the same software version before it can be released. With that being the case, there’s no wonder there’s such an inherent delay in pushing software updates.
Still, at least in a few weeks at least Samsung Galaxy S8 and Note 8 owners can at least have the latest version of Android on their devices.