HMD is keeping its word when it comes to Android updates. The company had committed to two years of software upgrades for its devices and has made sure that promise holds true, regardless of price and positioning. Today, the last hold-out in the line-up, the Nokia 1, is receiving its own slice of Pie, just in time before the end of Q2. And HMD can finally say that its entire portfolio of smartphones is running Android 9.
The Nokia 1 was introduced last year as a cheap Android Go Edition device. At $90 approximately and with just 1GB of RAM, it isn’t very impressive, but it might serve as a good first smartphone for newcomers. The fact that it’s receiving an update at all is commendable, especially considering there are more expensive and powerful devices from other companies that have yet to get a taste of Pie.
Excited to share that our most affordable smartphone, Nokia 1, upgrades to Android 9 Pie starting today. Now there is a Nokia smartphone for everyone running Pie – bringing to you the latest experiences from Google. Nokia phones just keep getting better #Getsmart #Nokiamobile pic.twitter.com/BYONKx6q5n
— Juho Sarvikas (@sarvikas) June 25, 2019
More impressive is that all 22 of HMD’s devices, starting with the two-year old Nokia 6, 5, and 3, and up to the more recent 2.2, or 3.2, 4.2, and 1 Plus, currently run Android 9 Pie. That’s a fact only Google and Essential may be able to brag about, and they have way fewer models to manage. But given that HMD has been releasing smartphones for two years only and has promised updates for just as long, this is as far as those bragging rights can go. With the arrival of Android Q, several of the company’s older devices will be dropped from the update cycle and will remain on Pie.
Still, let’s pause for a second and applaud this relative newcomer to the smartphone space for showing other OEMs how it’s done. Hopefully, the company will keep going just as strong in upcoming years.
Update 1: 2019/06/28 11:53am PDT by Ryan Whitwam
Nokia 2
HMD has clarified one important point about its Pie updates. The Nokia 2 will not get Android Pie or later. The company says it’s not powerful enough to offer satisfactory performance. That seems odd at first as the Nokia 1 has Pie, but that has the Android Go version of Pie. The Nokia 2 is a regular Android phone, so it’s not unthinkable that its anemic Snapdragon 212 would be unable to keep up.
- Source:
- @sarvikas