For a while after its release and before the Samsung Galaxy A9 was introduced, the Samsung Galaxy A8 was the largest and most powerful A-series smartphone launched by the Korean company last year. As expected, the smartphone ran Android 5.1 Lollipop flaunting Samsung’s proprietary user interface out of the box, but as the manufacturer keeps bringing Android 6.0 to more and more models, new evidence suggests that the Samsung Galaxy A8 might receive the Marshmallow treatment soon, too.
The Samsung Galaxy A8 – model number SM-A800F – was recently spotted in the Wi-Fi Alliance database running Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. Of course, officially the Samsung Galaxy A8 still operates under Android 5.1 Lollipop, so the reason why the SM-A800F was spotted running Marshmallow is because the terminal and the newer OS need to be certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance before the Android 6.0.1 update can be released to the public. Evidently, with approval from the Wi-Fi Alliance, the Marshmallow update for the Galaxy A8 is now one big step closer to the finish line. Although Samsung has yet to spill the beans regarding the update’s release schedule, generally speaking, it takes roughly one or two weeks for a smartphone maker to start rolling out new software updates once they have been approved by the Wi-Fi Alliance. In other words, with a bit of luck Samsung Galaxy A8 owners should start receiving the OTA (over the air) update notification for Marshmallow by the end of the month.
The Samsung Galaxy A8 was introduced in July 2015 and released one month later, in August. The handset is equipped with a Qualcomm MSM8939 8-core CPU, an Adreno 405 graphics chip, 2 GB of RAM, and 32 GB of internal memory expandable by up to 128 GB via microSD. The smartphone also accommodates a 16-megapixel main camera with an f/1.9 aperture, a secondary 5 MP front-facing sensor, a fingerprint scanner embedded in the home button, and a non-removable 3,050 mAh battery. Other recent rumors suggest that a Samsung Galaxy A8 (2016) sequel with Android 6.0.1 out of the box is on the way, but by the time the 2016 variant hits the shelves, it’s likely that the original model will have already made the official jump to Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow.