HMD Global is currently enjoying the positive response it received for the newly launched Nokia 8.1. But just a week back, the company was in the news for a bad reason and that's because of the Nokia 8. Right after the Nokia 8.1's announcement in Dubai, a report surfaced online stated that HMD Global is intentionally delaying the Android 9 Pie update rollout for the Nokia 8 because it's looking to boost the sales of the new Nokia 8.1 which runs the latest iteration of Android out of the box. HMD rubbished the report by saying every chipset requires its own tweaking and it's currently facing some issues with the Nokia 8's Pie update. But the company did not stop right there. Today, it announced Android 9 Pie beta update for its first flagship smartphone, which is a good thing to see from the two-year-old smartphone brand.
Nokia 8 Gets Android 9 Pie Beta Update
It has been a long wait for Nokia 8 owners as the company chose to release Android 9 Pie update to the mid-range phones such as Nokia 7 Plus, Nokia 7.1 and Nokia 6.1 Plus first. Since every Nokia 8 owner is complaining about the delay of the update, HMD decided to throw in a beta version first so that users can experience it and give feedback to the brand. Juho Sarvikas, the Cheif Product Officer at HMD, announced this new on Twitter by quoting "Thank you for your patience. Since you had to wait a bit longer than expected for Android 9 on your Nokia 8, we decided to make an immediate Beta Labs release. Please join us in finalising the commercial release – your feedback is extremely valuable."
Being an Android One handset, the Nokia 8 boots stockish version of Android 8.1 Oreo right now. Except for the customised Nokia Camera app, the experience on all the Nokia phones is pretty much similar to the Google Pixel devices.
HMD Global Now Has Four Android 9 Pie Devices
HMD Global is the only manufacturer to push Android 9 Pie update to four devices after Google. The company has already pushed the update to Nokia 6.1, Nokia 6.1 Plus, Nokia 7 Plus and the new Nokia 7.1. All the four smartphones are currently available for purchase in India. The Nokia 6.1 Plus is available at Rs 15,999, Nokia 7 Plus at Rs 25,999, Nokia 7.1 at Rs 19,999 and the Nokia 6.1 at Rs 14,000. All the four smartphones now come with Android 9 Pie out of the box, which is a great feat for a company of two years old. Also, the newly launched Nokia 8.1 comes with Pie out of the box, so HMD has a total of five devices with Android Pie. The company is slated to release Android 9 Pie update to Nokia 8, Nokia 8 Sirocco and Nokia 5.1 Plus by the end of this year.
Only Google has more devices than HMD Global running Android 9 Pie. The Google smartphones currently running Android 9 Pie are Google Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL, Pixel 3 and the Pixel 3 XL.
