This week, on our early-due-to-holidays weekly firmware news roundup: Xperia 1 II's Android rollout is now extending to Europe, Galaxy S10 Lite gets One UI 3.0, and more!
What's New this Week?
Meizu
- Meizu is now looking for Meizu 17 and 17 Pro Android 11 beta testers
Sony
- Xperia 1 II is now receiving Android 11 in Europe
Samsung
- One UI 3.0 is here for the Galaxy S10 Lite in India and Spain and Galaxy Z Flip 5G in Switzerland
- New firmware update is here for the Galaxy Buds+
- Galaxy M31 now gets One UI 3.0 beta in India
- Samsung starts recruiting One UI 3.0 beta testers for the Galaxy A51 5G in South Korea
Meizu
Meizu 17 and 17 Pro
Great news for Meizu 17 and 17 Pro owners. Meizu is now recruiting beta testers – which means that a stable version is soon coming for everyone.
There are 3000 slots for each device and you can grab one for yourself by going into the the "System Update" section under your phone's settings.
But don't forget that this is an early beta and that once you enroll, there is no going back to the stable version until stable Android 11 is ready. And early betas often tend to be full of critical bugs that can temporarily make a phone unusable. So, don't install this version unless you don't mind carrying that risk.
Sony
Sony Xperia 1 II
It was only last week when Android 11 started reaching Sony Xperia 1 II units in Taiwan. It's no surprise that the very same update is now reaching more Xperia 1 II devices but, this time, it's in Europe.
The update has already been sighted in the UK and France while we can safely assume that it won't take too long before it becomes available to worldwide as well.
Just don't forget that these are incremental updates. It may take a while before all of you get it.
The update includes all of Andorid 11's features along with some other additions such as:
- 120FPS mode for Cinema Pro
- MR Mode for Photo Pro app
- 5G+4G dual SIM dual standby support
- Custom options for BatteryCare
- And more
Samsung
Galaxy S10 Lite and Z Flip 5G
Good news for Galaxy S10 Lite and Z Flip 5G owners. One UI 3.0 with Android 11 is now being delivered to your devices.
At the moment, the update is available in Spain and India for the Galaxy S10 Lite and Switzerland for the Z Flip 5G. That said, we can safely assume that it'll soon become available in multiple regions.
However, it's worth keeping in mind that the update currently only concerns the S10 Lite and not the other S10 variants. And it's also worth keeping in mind that the LTE variant of the Z Flip is not receiving the update just yet.
That aside, this update includes all of the features that come with Android 11 and One UI 3.0 along with December's security patch. And since it weighs a bit more than 2 gigabytes, we'd highly recommend making sure that Wi-Fi is enabled before downloading.
In case you are not familiar with Android 11 and One UI 3.0, you can expect to find lots of cool new additions and feature such as:
- Numerous UI overhauls and minor – including the status bar and volume bar
- More customization options for AOD (Always On Display)
- Battery life improvements
- Built-in Video Enhancer (Optional)
- Numerous additions and UI improvements to Bixby Routines
- Tons of improvements in Samsung apps such as the internet app, keyboard, and more
Along with tons of other minor additions, improvements, and under-the-hood optimization.
Galaxy buds+
A new update is here for the Samsung Galaxy Buds+. It only weighs 1.38 megabytes and, as expected from an update of this size, no new features are on sight. And the changelog doesn't mention anything specific either.
So, with all that said, it looks like this is an effort to bring more stability and performance improvements.
Rest assured, though. The Galaxy Buds Pro's launch may be right around the corner, but the Buds+ are not anywhere near the end-of-life support. This is not the last update or anything like that.
If you notice anything different, feel free to let us and everyone else know about it in the comments section down below!
Galaxy M31
Samsung has been pushing the latest version of Android to most of its flagships lately. And that's no surprise considering that almost everyone else does it.
However, one thing that's slightly surprising is the fact that a mid-ranger is now receiving the latest version of Android as well. Or to be more specific, the Galaxy M31!
This is the first mid-range smartphone from Samsung to receive Android 11 and One UI 3.0 so far – even if it's just a beta version. Not to mention that the stable variant can't be further than a few months at most – the official roadmap says on March but it may come sooner than that.
That aside, the update also includes December's security patch.
Just don't forget that this is a beta release in India. Installing a beta version means that you are risking coming across critical bugs that can and will render your device useless.
Update: Android 11 beta is now also available for the Galaxy A51 5G in South Korea.
Wrapping Up
That's all for now. Feel like we forgot to mention something important? Got anything wrong? Then let us and everyone else know about it in the comments section down below!
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