This week, on our weekly firmware news roundup: Turns out that the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and S8 are indeed not going to get Android 10, the Nokia 9 PureView starts receiving the latest version of Android, and more!
What's New This Week?
LG
- LG G8 ThinQ is now receiving Android 10
Sony
- Sony Xperia 1 and Xperia 5 are now receiving the latest version of Android
HMD Global
- Nokia 9 PureView is now receiving Android 10
- Pixel 3 and Pixel 3a are now receiving Live Caption
Samsung
- Samsung Galaxy A series is not going to get any beta versions of Android 10
- T-Mobile's Galaxy Note 10+ 5G is the first Samsung device to ship with Android 10 stable out of the box
- Galaxy 50's fingerprint issue has been fixed
- Android 10 update for the S10 is now being pushed to more regions
- Galaxy Note 8 and S8 are not going to get Android 10
LG
LG G8 ThinQ
The LG G8 ThinQ is now receiving the latest version of Android along with November's security patch. Not sure why the latest security patch is not included. But, hey, at least you get Android 10.
At the moment, this is only for the South Korean variants. But, we assume that the update is going to become globally available very soon.
Sony
Xperia 1 and 5
Both the Sony Xperia 1 and 5 are now receiving the latest version of Android. Strangely enough, though, instead of including the latest security patch as well, Sony went with November's. That's probably due to delays that occur between when a company pushes the update and when it actually gets delivered to the end-user, but oh well.
Surprisingly enough, the update comes in at only 725 megabytes and it should be available globally. If not, then it shouldn't be too long now.
Some users have reported a few issues. Namely with the cellular connectivity along with the recent apps screen.
Since there is no way to roll back to Android Pie after upgrading, consider waiting for another patch that's going to fix these issues before installing the update in the first place.
HMD Global
Nokia 9 PureView
Good news for Nokia 9 PureView owners. Your device will soon receive the latest version of Android!
If you haven't got it already, do keep in mind that this is most likely an incremental update. So, it may take a while before your region and phone get their turn.
Apart from Android 10, you also get some of its goodies. Smart Reply, Google's Gesture Navigation mode (You can still use the alternatives), Dark theme, improved privacy controls, etc.
Nokia Mobile mentions to make sure that we should have the security patch installed before upgrading to Android 10. So, we suppose that if you haven't done so already, then you will first receive a notification about the latest security patch, and only after installing it you'll be able to get Android 10. Or at least that's how it looks to us.
Android 10 aside, your phone is also expected to receive Night Mode for its camera in the nearby feature.
Pixel 3 and 3a
"Live Caption" is a feature that Google introduced with Android 10. However, we didn't get to see it upon release as it wasn't ready just yet.
Well, thankfully, it seems to be ready now as Google Pixel 3 and 3a units are receiving it through an OTA update.
In case you're not familiar with it, Live Caption is a feature that captions every single video. And while we already had this option in certain apps like YouTube, Live Caption is unique in 3 different ways:
- It doesn't need a person to make the subtitles beforehand
- No need for an internet connection
- And it should work universally across all apps
Apart from the obvious help that this feature can offer, like helping dead people watch movies or anything similar, there is also a lot of hidden potential.
For example, we all have that one friend who always sends us voice messages or video clips. But, the truth is that you can't always watch/listen to that. Especially in public places.
It's in such instances that Live Caption can be extremely useful. And the fact that it doesn't require an internet connection makes it that much better.
Samsung
Galaxy A Series
Samsung has released quite a few interesting smartphones in the Galaxy A series. However, it seems like they don't exactly take high priority in terms of big updates.
After all, Samsung officially mentioned that Galaxy A devices are not going to get Android 10 beta. Instead, they are scheduled to get Android 10 stable somewhere in April.
That announcement was spotted in Samsung's South Korean forums. So, there is a chance that things will be different for us and there's also a chance that Samsung is going to change their mind in the nearby future. At the very least, one can always hope.
T-Mobile's Galaxy Note 10+ 5G
Most of us were expecting that the Galaxy S11 series would be the first to get Android 10 stable out of the box. And to be fair, this has always been this case with Samsung. Their next flagship is always the one to come with the latest version of Android - and it makes sense.
However, it looks like we're going to have a small exception this time as the Galaxy Note 10+ 5G from T-Mobile is the first Samsung device that's going to ship with Android 10 stable out of the box!
Or at the very least, that's what the specifications are saying. It could be a small typo on T-Mobile's part. But, we highly doubt it.
The only weird thing in all this is that the other variants of the Galaxy Note 10 are still on Android Pie.
We can only assume that Samsung is now getting ready to push the stable version of Android 10 to Galaxy Note 10+ 5G units worldwide. After all, if T-Mobile is promising to deliver Android 10 out of the box, then it should be ready for the device. All that remains is for Samsung to push it out worldwide.
But, still, do take that last bit of info with a grain of salt. We're still waiting for official confirmation. So, we'll let you know once we find out.
Galaxy A50
A couple of weeks ago or so, the Galaxy A50 received an update that was supposed to improve the overall performance of the fingerprint sensor. However, ironically enough, it ended up breaking it instead.
What basically happened here is that users got a message which said that they should try cleaning the sensor and try again. In other cases, the new fingerprint registration would stop halfway through for no reason due to too many "Failed attempts".
Thankfully, the latest update for the Galaxy A50 not only brings the latest Android security patch - but it also fixes this issue. So, from here on out, your fingerprint scanner should work just fine again.
Galaxy S10
As we mentioned last week, Android 10 stable is already being delivered in Germany. However, even though we already knew that multiple markets were likely to receive the update soon afterward, we didn't have any information on when.
Thankfully, it looks like a wider rollout is already taking place now as that very same update has been spotted in numerous regions already.
To be more specific, according to the info that we've got at the moment, you can expect to get this update in:
- UAE
- India
- Germany
- Spain
- UK
- Poland
- Russia
- Vietnam
- France
- Netherlands
- Panama
- Argentina
- Italy
- South Korea
- Peru
- Chile
- Taiwan
- Vietnam
- And Ireland
We expect that the update will soon reach everyone. But, at the moment, that's all we've got.
Do keep in mind that this may be an incremental update - which means that even if your country is on the list, you may have to keep on waiting for a while.
That's all for now. We'll let you know if anything else comes up. So, stay tuned!
Galaxy Note 8 and S8 Series
Everyone is hoping that their phone is going to receive the latest version of Android. But, unfortunately, we're sorry to let you know that the Note 8 and S8 series are not going to get it.
After all, Samsung's update roadmap has mentioned a ton of devices that will eventually get upgraded to Android 10. But, the Note 8 and S8 are nowhere to be found.
So, that confirms our suspicions that Samsung is not intending on pushing another big update to them. The reason being that they only guarantee 2 big updates after release, and, well, these devices have already got them.
There is always a chance that Samsung is going to change their mind at some point. But, we honestly highly doubt it.
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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