This week, on our weekly firmware news roundup: A Pixel 4 device with 6 gigs of RAM was spotted running Android 11/R, Huawei announces the official list of devices that are set to receive EMUI 10 within the year, and more!
What's New This Week?
- Android 11 spotted running on a Pixel 4
Huawei
- The full list of Huawei devices that are expected to get EMUI 10 is here
- P30 Lite is now receiving the latest version of Android in South Africa
Samsung
- Samsung reps insist on the fact that the S8 and Note 8 are eligible for an Android 10 update
- Galaxy A70 receives a minor update with January's security patch on top of it
Xiaomi
- Mi 9T is now getting Android 10 in Europe
- Pocophone F1 is now getting Android 10 stable as well
Android 11
As we all know, Android 10 is currently the latest version of Android. However, according to our sources, a Pixel 4 device was recently spotted running Android 11 on Geekbench!
Surprisingly enough, the dashboard mentions Android R instead of Android 11 - which is kind of strange if you consider that Google themselves mentioned that they are ditching the naming system for a numerical one. Mostly to avoid confusion - but also because they probably couldn't come up with a dessert that starts from Q.
This could be an indication that an early version of Android 11 is in the works. However, at the same time, don't forget that Geekbench results can be edited with relative ease. So, take that information with a grain of salt.
Still, we wouldn't be surprised to see Google pushing out developer previews from now. True - most smartphones aren't even running Android Pie, let alone the latest version of Android. But, this has been the case for years now anyway.
Huawei
Numerous Devices
The P30 Lite may be already receiving EMUI 10 (More on that down below), but there are still a ton of other Huawei devices that are waiting to get that very same update.
Huawei has officially announced that the Mate 20 and the P30 are expected to get the update this more while the rest will follow later this year. To be more specific, this is the full list:
- Huawei P30 and P30 Pro
- Mate 20, Mate 20 Pro, Mate 20 X, Mate 20 X 5G
- Huawei nova 5T
- Mate 20 RS Porsche Design
- Huawei P30 Lite
- Nova 4e
- Huawei P20 and P20 Pro
- Mate 10, Mate 10 Pro, and Mate 10 Porsche Design
- Huawei Mate RS Porsche Design
- Mate 20 Lite
- Huawei P Smart 2019 (sold in Japan as Huawei nova lite 3)
- Huawei P Smart+ 2019
- P Smart Pro and P Smart Z
- Nova 4
According to our sources, this only refers to the variants that were purchased outside of China. Those that have been imported or are were bought without Google Services included are likely to get their update at a later date.
P30 Lite
The P30 Lite is now receiving the latest version of Android in South Africa. So, we suppose that more regions will follow suit in about a few weeks from now.
The update weighs a lot - 3.82 gigabytes. So, make sure to connect to a Wi-Fi network before downloading.
Apart from EMUI 10 and the latest version of Android, it also includes all of their features including, but not limited to: System-wide dark mode, HiCar, UI changes, improved privacy controls, Focus Mode, and more!
Samsung
Galaxy Note 8 and S8
The Galaxy Note 8 and the S8 series are not on Samsung's official roadmap for Android 10. But, Samsung reps seem to insist that both devices are actually eligible for Android 10!
According to their words, "Deployment will take place during this year 2020". But, the fact that Samsung has never been known to take of their older devices along with the fact that these devices are not included in the roadmap makes us, and many others, very doubtful of that statement.
Some of our sources indicate that this is nothing but the customer support being ignorant while others go as far as to say that Samsung is outright lying to keep users satisfied. You can draw your own conclusions - but take all that information with a grain of salt.
Galaxy A70
The Galaxy A70 is now receiving a minor update in various regions of Europe. Apart from the latest Android security patch, it also includes stability improvements and small fixes as well.
Apart from fixing Android-related issues, the update also patches 17 vulnerabilities that are exclusive to Samsung devices.
At this point in time, we don't have any more information about this update. So, if you notice anything else that hasn't been mentioned here, make sure to let us and everyone else know about it in the comments section down below!
Xiaomi
Mi 9T/K20 Global
A week or two ago we mentioned that the Mi 9T had started receiving the stable version of Android 10 in an incremental rollout. However, many people came out to say that they hadn't received anything.
Naturally, many of us assumed that it was a false alarm, a closed beta, or anything like that. However, it turns out to be true as our Mi 9T unit received that very same update during this Monday!
That was in Greece. So, we suppose that the update should become available for other European regions soon enough as well - if it's not already.
We had to perform a manual check through the settings in order to get it. So, try doing that yourself by going to:
- System settings
- About phone
- System update
If it's not available yet, just wait for a few more days. It should reach you soon enough now.
On our side, we have to report that Android System seems to be taking quite a lot of battery under the "Battery usage" settings. But, on the other hand, we haven't noticed a massive difference in everyday usage. So, take from that what you will.
Ignore the massive dip in the battery from 90 to 58%. That happened because we were messing around with super slow-mo recording at 240FPS for quite some time.
That aside, we also noticed that scrolling through the comments on YouTube while watching a video is a bit laggy - something that never happened before. Not a massive issue but one that we must mention anyway.
Pocophone F1
While Poco is now an independent brand from Xiaomi, the Poco F1 was released under them which is why we're going to be listing it under this category for now.
Apart from Android 10, this update also brings January's security patch along with everything that you can expect to find in MIUI 11 and the latest version of Android 10.
This includes Game Turbo, new sounds, wallpapers, themes, Google's improved privacy controls, and more!
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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