While there’s no doubting the fact that Samsung’s flagship smartphones are arguably among the best out there, things aren’t exactly that great when it comes to Android updates. Even though Android Pie has been out for a few months now, Samsung’s top-of-the-line ‘S’ and ‘Note’ series devices, including the latest Galaxy Note 9, are still on Android 8.1 Oreo. However, if a new report is to be believed, it seems these smartphones won’t have to wait much longer to get the latest version of Android.
According to SamMobile, the Wi-Fi alliance has just certified a handful of Samsung’s top-tier smartphones, including Galaxy S9, Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy S8, and Galaxy Note 8, and even the Galaxy Note 7 Fan Edition (a refurbished version of the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7) with the newest Android Pie on-board. This essentially means that the chaebol could roll out Android Pie for its current and previous generation flagship smartphones much earlier than expected.
That said, the news isn’t surprising. Recently, Samsung unveiled ‘One UI’, a refreshed user interface that will eventually be coming to its flagship smartphones. Based on Android Pie, ‘One UI’ was initially rumored to be coming only for Samsung’s Galaxy S9, Galaxy S9+, and Galaxy Note 9 smartphones, but it was recently confirmed that last year’s Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+, and Galaxy Note 8 would get the updated user experience as well.
Watch: Samsung Galaxy Note 9 First Look
Since ‘One UI’ is a big update, Samsung needs to start working on the Android Pie update early, in order to finalize it for all the aforementioned smartphones, which is probably the reason its smartphones have been Wi-Fi certified with Android Pie earlier than expected.