HMD Global’s latest Android smartphone, the Nokia 8, was expected to launch with Android Oreo out of the box but when that didn’t happen, HMD Global promised that they would push the last version of Android to the phone before the end of the year. Well, in line with that Promise, HMD Global Chief Product Officer has taken it Twitter to announce that the Public Beta version of Android Oreo for the Nokia 8 is available through the new Nokia Phones Beta Labs.
Announcing Nokia phones beta labs! Be the first to test #AndroidOreo on #Nokia8 (physical Oreos not included!) https://t.co/91uhqstnnm pic.twitter.com/GNiNrK31B0
— Juho Sarvikas (@sarvikas) October 25, 2017
The new Nokia smartphones all run on pure Android as it comes directly from Google without any tinkering from HMD Global and this holds true even for the Oreo Beta Update. The beauty of pure Android is that OEMs are able to push their updates to users as soon as Google releases them, unlike the heavily customized skins that take forever to update.
Well, if you are lucky enough to possess a Nokia 8 like I do, you can get the Oreo Beta update by:
- Visit Nokia Phones Beta Labs portal
- Validating your device by inputting the IMEI code and Carrier (Mobile Service Provider)
- After Validation, request for the Oreo Beta OTA update through the portal
- After a few minutes, check for new updates and you should have the Oreo update
- Download and install
A few things to note, you will only receive the OTA update if you’re connected to the internet via a Wi-Fi connection, secondly, the update is around 1.3GB, so if you have a slow connection please sit down and relax. I have installed the update on my Nokia 8 and I have been playing around with it for the past two hours or so. The update is fairly stable, I have not encountered any issues whatsoever and the only annoying thing I have come across is that persistent feedback notification.
If you decide to try out the update, keep in mind that it is a Beta release and some issues may arise also, after updating to the Oreo Beta, you can roll back to the more stable Android Nougat, however, you will lose all your data if you do so.