For all the Nokia 6.1 Plus users out there, here's a news to rejoice. At the launch event of Nokia 7.1, HMD Global confirmed that it would be rolling out Android 9 Pie update to the Nokia 6.1 Plus by the end of this month. Alongside the Nokia 6.1 Plus, its sibling Nokia 6.1 will also get the much-awaited Android 9 Pie update this month, followed by the newly launched Nokia 7.1 in November. And in December, Nokia's two flagship smartphones- the Nokia 8 and the Nokia 8 Sirocco will get the slice of Pie. Already, HMD rolled out the Pie update to its best smartphone till date- the Nokia 7 Plus, and it has changed the device drastically.
Nokia 6.1, Nokia 7.1 Will Also Get the Update by November
HMD Global is the only manufacturer which is rolling out quick software updates to its smartphones. The Nokia 7 Plus users in India are already enjoying Android 9 Pie update, while by the end of this month, the update will reach the users of Nokia 6.1 Plus. Earlier this year, HMD introduced the Nokia 6.1 with upgraded hardware and it will receive the update too within this month itself. The Nokia 7.1, which was launched yesterday with Android 8.1 Oreo will also get the Android 9 Pie update sometime November.
Having said that, the update is delayed a bit for HMD's flagship smartphones such as the Nokia 8 and Nokia 8 Sirocco as HMD has put a release timeline of December. It seems like HMD wants to push the update to its smartphones with 18:9 displays, and later on focus on the phones with 16:9 displays.
Nokia 7 Plus Users Enjoying the Pie Already
The first smartphone under HMD's portfolio to receive the Android 9 Pie update is Nokia 7 Plus. Last week, HMD Global rolled out the update to the 7 Plus which improved the performance of the smartphone drastically. Android 9 Pie includes features such as adaptive brightness, adaptive battery, refreshed user interface, app actions, Digital Wellbeing, app slices among others.
Nokia 7.1 Unveiled as a Successor to the Nokia 7
Last year, HMD Global launched the Nokia 7 smartphone with Snapdragon 630 SoC. Yesterday, the company announced the Nokia 7.1 with Snapdragon 636 chipset, which could be making its way to the Indian market next week. The Nokia 7.1 has a 5.84-inch Full HD+ display with PureDisplay technology, meaning it's compatible with HDR10. With this technology, HMD is aiming to bring HDR displays to the mid-range segment.
The Nokia 7.1 also sports a notched display like the Nokia 6.1 Plus and Nokia 5.1 Plus and it comes powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 chipset, which is the same processor that powers the Nokia 6.1 Plus as well. The phone comes in 3GB/4GB and 32GB/64GB storage options along with a microSD card slot for storage expansion. The Nokia 7.1 has Zeiss optics on the front and rear side and it's armed with a 3060mAh battery. The Nokia 7.1 runs Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box, but Android 9 Pie update is coming in November.
HMD Global Keeping Up the Android One Promise
All the Nokia smartphones released by HMD Global are part of Android One programme, which means they'll come with a promise of faster software updates. So far, brands such as Xiaomi, Motorola, HMD released smartphones under Android One, but Xiaomi has failed miserably in rolling out software updates to the Mi A1. It will be interesting to see if Xiaomi changes that with the Mi A2.
Motorola released the Moto X4 Android One smartphone in the US, but it's yet to receive Android 9 Pie. So HMD Global is way ahead of these two major players as it already rolled out Android 9 Pie update to one of its smartphones and planning the same for other smartphones.
