This week, on our weekly firmware news roundup: seems like the Samsung Galaxy Fold is not going to receive Android 10 beta, the Galaxy Note 10 series is now receiving the latest version of Android, and more!
What's New This Week?
OnePlus
- OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro are now receiving OxygenOS 10.0.3
Motorola
- Motorola One Power is now receiving the latest version of Android
Samsung
- Galaxy M20 and M30 are now receiving Android 10 in India
- Galaxy S10 5G is now receiving stable Android 10
- The Samsung Galaxy Fold is not going to receive a beta version of Android 10
- One UI 2.0 has a neat Dark Mode feature that many of us missed
- Galaxy Note 10 is now receiving the stable version of Android 10
OnePlus
OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro
Both the OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro are now receiving OxygenOS 10.0.3. However, don't expect to get a lot of new stuff with this update. In fact, there is little next to nothing included.
As far as the changelog mentions, we should only find November's security patch along with the usual minor bug and system stability fixes. Not even December's patch.
That's a bit of a shame considering that most of the Samsung updates that we've seen till now bring December's patch instead.
It shouldn't be a huge deal. But, many people are voicing their disapproval of OnePlus' behavior in the forums. Are you one of them? Do you feel like security updates are a big deal? Let us know about your thoughts in the comments.
Motorola
Motorola One Power
The Motorola One Power has been running Android 10 beta for about a month now. It's only just about a couple of days ago or so when it started receiving the stable variant.
Apart from the latest version of Android, you're also getting the latest Android security patch along with any new features that Android 10 may bring. Things like the improved Digital Wellbeing, Focus Mode, improved privacy, system-wide Dark Mode, Google's gesture-based navigation system, and more.
As per usual, there are also a few minor performance and stability enhancements that are included in the update as well. And that's about it for now.
Samsung
Galaxy M20 and M30
To the massive surprise of, well, most people actually, the Galaxy M20 and M30 are now receiving the latest version of Android!
As far as we know, both of these devices were expected to get this update somewhere in January. But, Samsung ended up pleasantly surprising us all (Almost).
Apart from the M20 and M30, only the Galaxy S10 series has received this update. Not even the Note 10 and Note 10 Plus. (Update: Turns out that the Note 10 started receiving it just a few hours ago as well. More info about that down below)
Some people are particularly dissatisfied with this. Especially Note 9, S9, and Note 10 users as they paid a premium for a flagship only so that they'll have to wait more than budget to mid-range users.
To be honest with you, we're not sure why Samsung gave priority to their cheaper devices. It could be that the specific lineup just happened to present fewer bugs in testing or something like that.
In any case, the update should be available for all of you any time soon now. It comes in at 1.3 gigs for the M20 and 2 gigabytes for the M30 while also bringing the latest Android security patch on top of it.
Andriod 10 and One UI 2.0 don't bring any big changes on the surface. But they do have a lot of improvements under the hood.
You get more privacy options, Google's new gesture-based navigation system (You can still use the traditional one if you wish), Focus Mode, and more!
Galaxy S10 5G
The rest of the Galaxy S10 started receiving the Android 10 stable update about a couple of weeks ago. However, the S10 5G was the only device that was left behind.
Thankfully, that's changing now as Samsung's flagship is now receiving the latest version of Android in a lot of different regions already! If you were one of the beta participants in South Korea, you should be able to download the Android 10 update right now.
Now, for the rest of you, the situation is still a bit unclear. We suppose that those who generally participated in the betas take priority while the rest will have to wait for their turn. After all, most of these updates are being pushed out in waves.
Still, do keep in mind that these last bits of info are nothing but pure speculation. So, take them with a grain of salt.
Apart from Android 10, the update also includes the latest Android security patch. If you were already running the beta version, then this one should come in at 130 megabytes. If not, it probably should weigh at least 1 to 1.3 gigabytes upwards to 2!
Galaxy Fold
The Samsung Galaxy Fold is by far the most expensive flagship that Samsung can offer. In fact, it's one of the most expensive devices that any manufacturer can offer.
One would logically think that the most expensive device would get the best treatment as well. However, that doesn't seem to be the case with Samsung and their Galaxy Fold.
Not only it's meant to receive Android 10 three months after the appointed schedule of the S10 (Even though that one already got its upgrade), but it looks like it's not going to receive a beta version at all!
This could largely be due to the fact that there are obviously not nearly as many Galaxy Fold users. After all, the foldable tablet costs twice as much as any other flagship.
There is also a good chance that Samsung is intending on adding special features that take advantage of the foldable design. But, we'll just have to wait and see about that.
One UI 2.0
Samsung's One UI came with system-wide Dark Mode before Google implemented it as a core feature of Android 10. That much we knew.
However, one thing that we didn't notice is that One UI 2.0's Dark Mode comes with a neat feature that darkens/turns down the contrast of the wallpaper as well!
This is how it looks with and without Dark Mode enabled. The option for enabling or disabling that feature can be found over at the Dark Mode's settings. To be more specific: Settings -> Display -> Dark Mode -> Apply to wallpaper.
Note 10 and Note 10 Plus
Some people were justifiably upset to see that lower-end devices such as the Galaxy M20 and M30 were receiving the latest version of Android while those who paid a premium were left with Android Pie. Thankfully, the Note 10 and Note 10 Plus joined the club almost immediately.
As you can see, if you're already running the latest beta, then upgrading to the stable version will cost you nothing but 144 megabytes in download size. Obviously, we expect that those who are upgrading from Android Pie will have to download at least a gigabyte or two.
That being said, the update is currently only available for those who participated in the beta. We still expect that it'll become globally available in a matter of days. So, be patient.
Apart from Android 10, you're also getting the latest security patch along with Android 10 and One UI 2.0 features. Things like the improved Digital Wellbeing, Focus Mode, improved privacy options, and more.
That's all for now. We'll let you know if anything else comes up. So, stay tuned!
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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