This week, on our weekly news roundup: the latest update for the Galaxy Note 8 brings Super Slow Motion recording capabilities along with AR Emoji support, 4K video recording is now possible on the Vivo 11 Pro thanks to an update, and more.
As you can see in the image above, the Open Beta 3 is now available for the OnePlus 6 and it mostly brings a bunch of fixes and improvements. Just do keep in mind that Google Pay is still not working.
It's not rare for certain hardware functions to be enabled through software updates. Such is the case with the Vivo V11 Pro now as the latest update that's available for it allows you to record videos in 4K.
However, do keep in mind that EIS is disabled in these resolutions. So, if stabilization is a priority for you, then chances are that you'll have to stick with 1080P anyway.
Sony Xperia XZ Premium was spotted running Android Pie on Geekbench - which means that as Sony promised, it'll likely receive a stable version by November.
The bad news is that at the moment, it seems to be greatly underperforming. While it normally hits a single core score of about 1900, it only managed to get 1247 with Android Pie.
Why? Well, there are two case scenarios here.
Huawei Honor 8 users in India still haven't received the Oreo update. So, you can imagine how happy they must have felt when they heard from a fellow Indian over Twitter that the Oreo update was finally ready for them.
However, when people checked for this update, they didn't find it. What happened? Well, according to everyone who is storming the comment section of the above-mentioned post on Twitter, the Honor 8 owner used some sort of firmware finder/updater - which means that there still is no official Oreo update for the Honor 8 in India.
That's all. We just wanted to let you know that these news that have spread all over the internet may possibly be fake. If you're an Honor 8 user in India then please do confirm for us if this is true or not in the comments section down below.
Good news for Asian Galaxy Xcover 4 owners - Android 8.1 is finally here for you. To be more specific, Xcover 4 users have been receiving this update in Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia.
There is the possibility that it's available in other parts of Asia as well. We currently don't know when it'll arrive in other countries but we'll keep you updated once we learn.
Even if it's not officially available in other countries yet, if you're up for it, you can still try to manually download and install it by using a computer. Apart from Android 8.1, this update also includes the August security patch and various Oreo features.
This model is getting kinda old and it's also a budget phone. So, chances are that it will not receive Android Pie. Still, this is nothing more but pure speculation. You can never know what'll happen.
Moving on to the Galaxy Note 9, a new update is available for it and it brings the September security patch. It's currently available in Romania, Slovakia, Luxembourg and Bulgaria. If you receive this update while living anywhere else then please let us know in the comments.
It only weighs about 72MB. So, chances are that there really is nothing more but security patches in that package.
As for the Note 9's older brother, the Note 8, the latest update for it brings AR Emoji and Super Slow Motion recording support. A surprise, to be sure. But, a welcome one.
Other than that, it also seems to bring the September security patches along with multiple improvements and fixes in performance and stability.
It weighs 712MB and it has already bee seen in France. Other places are sure to follow really soon.
We also got news for the Galaxy S7. The latest small update brings September's security patches. Chances are that the S7 Edge will also get security updates.
Another update for the Android Pie Developer Preview is now available for the Nokia 7 Plus. You know what that means right? It means that the stable release should be pretty darn close. If no major bugs are detected, then this is going to be the final beta release and then the beta build should arrive in a few days/weeks time.
This update brings the September security update and a few Android Pie features with one of them being adaptive battery and adaptive brightness so that you'll be able to extend your battery life.
MIUI 10 Global Stable is now here for the Xiaomi Redmi Y2. Anyone who owns this particular device should now be able to update it OTA. If not, be patient for a little while as OTA updates will sometimes roll out in waves.
As for what this update brings, well, MIUI 10 is optimized/designed for a full-screen experience with a gesture navigation system which is often more convenient to use. The lack of on-screen buttons means that you'll be getting more screen space.
Other than that, MIUI 10 brings a new "natural sound system". What does that mean? Well, the only thing that was mentioned is that the system sounds were simplified and that smart filters were applied. We're still not sure as to how that works and how much of a difference it will make - guess that we're about to find out soon.
Portrait mode will now work on single camera devices (probably not as well as on dual-camera setups, though) and various small improvements to the system have been made as well.
On other news, the Poco F1 - the cheapest smartphone with flagship specs, was spotted running Android Pie on Geekbench. So, we can probably guess that an update will be coming pretty soon.
However, that most certainly won't be now because the device still seems to be underperforming with this version of Android.
Feel like we forgot something important? Then please let us and the whole world know about it in the comments down below!
Like what you see? Then don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news, reviews, listings, and more!
What's new this week?
OnePlus
- Open Beta 3 for the One Plus 6 is here
Vivo
- The latest update for the Vivo V11 Pro makes 4K video recording possible
Sony
- Xperia XZ Premium spotted running Android Pie on Geekbench
Huawei
- Honor 8 official Oreo update turns out to be fake?
Samsung
- Android 8.1 is finally here for the Galaxy Xcover 4
- Galaxy Note 9 receives the September security patch
- The latest update for the Note 8 brings AR Emoji and Super Slow Motion recording
- September's security patch is here for the Galaxy S7
Nokia
- Nokia 7 Plus gets a new Android Pie Developer Preview update
Xiaomi
- MIUI 10 is here for the Xiaomi Redmi Y2
- Poco F1 spotted with Android Pie
OnePlus
As you can see in the image above, the Open Beta 3 is now available for the OnePlus 6 and it mostly brings a bunch of fixes and improvements. Just do keep in mind that Google Pay is still not working.
Vivo
It's not rare for certain hardware functions to be enabled through software updates. Such is the case with the Vivo V11 Pro now as the latest update that's available for it allows you to record videos in 4K.
However, do keep in mind that EIS is disabled in these resolutions. So, if stabilization is a priority for you, then chances are that you'll have to stick with 1080P anyway.
Sony
Sony Xperia XZ Premium was spotted running Android Pie on Geekbench - which means that as Sony promised, it'll likely receive a stable version by November.
The bad news is that at the moment, it seems to be greatly underperforming. While it normally hits a single core score of about 1900, it only managed to get 1247 with Android Pie.
Why? Well, there are two case scenarios here.
- The latest version of Android is a bit too heavy for this device
- The software is just not optimized yet
Huawei
Huawei Honor 8 users in India still haven't received the Oreo update. So, you can imagine how happy they must have felt when they heard from a fellow Indian over Twitter that the Oreo update was finally ready for them.
However, when people checked for this update, they didn't find it. What happened? Well, according to everyone who is storming the comment section of the above-mentioned post on Twitter, the Honor 8 owner used some sort of firmware finder/updater - which means that there still is no official Oreo update for the Honor 8 in India.
That's all. We just wanted to let you know that these news that have spread all over the internet may possibly be fake. If you're an Honor 8 user in India then please do confirm for us if this is true or not in the comments section down below.
Samsung
Good news for Asian Galaxy Xcover 4 owners - Android 8.1 is finally here for you. To be more specific, Xcover 4 users have been receiving this update in Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia.
There is the possibility that it's available in other parts of Asia as well. We currently don't know when it'll arrive in other countries but we'll keep you updated once we learn.
Even if it's not officially available in other countries yet, if you're up for it, you can still try to manually download and install it by using a computer. Apart from Android 8.1, this update also includes the August security patch and various Oreo features.
This model is getting kinda old and it's also a budget phone. So, chances are that it will not receive Android Pie. Still, this is nothing more but pure speculation. You can never know what'll happen.
Moving on to the Galaxy Note 9, a new update is available for it and it brings the September security patch. It's currently available in Romania, Slovakia, Luxembourg and Bulgaria. If you receive this update while living anywhere else then please let us know in the comments.
It only weighs about 72MB. So, chances are that there really is nothing more but security patches in that package.
As for the Note 9's older brother, the Note 8, the latest update for it brings AR Emoji and Super Slow Motion recording support. A surprise, to be sure. But, a welcome one.
Other than that, it also seems to bring the September security patches along with multiple improvements and fixes in performance and stability.
It weighs 712MB and it has already bee seen in France. Other places are sure to follow really soon.
We also got news for the Galaxy S7. The latest small update brings September's security patches. Chances are that the S7 Edge will also get security updates.
Nokia
Another update for the Android Pie Developer Preview is now available for the Nokia 7 Plus. You know what that means right? It means that the stable release should be pretty darn close. If no major bugs are detected, then this is going to be the final beta release and then the beta build should arrive in a few days/weeks time.
This update brings the September security update and a few Android Pie features with one of them being adaptive battery and adaptive brightness so that you'll be able to extend your battery life.
Xiaomi
MIUI 10 Global Stable is now here for the Xiaomi Redmi Y2. Anyone who owns this particular device should now be able to update it OTA. If not, be patient for a little while as OTA updates will sometimes roll out in waves.
As for what this update brings, well, MIUI 10 is optimized/designed for a full-screen experience with a gesture navigation system which is often more convenient to use. The lack of on-screen buttons means that you'll be getting more screen space.
Other than that, MIUI 10 brings a new "natural sound system". What does that mean? Well, the only thing that was mentioned is that the system sounds were simplified and that smart filters were applied. We're still not sure as to how that works and how much of a difference it will make - guess that we're about to find out soon.
Portrait mode will now work on single camera devices (probably not as well as on dual-camera setups, though) and various small improvements to the system have been made as well.
On other news, the Poco F1 - the cheapest smartphone with flagship specs, was spotted running Android Pie on Geekbench. So, we can probably guess that an update will be coming pretty soon.
However, that most certainly won't be now because the device still seems to be underperforming with this version of Android.
Feel like we forgot something important? Then please let us and the whole world know about it in the comments down below!
Like what you see? Then don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news, reviews, listings, and more!