The Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro appears to be making progress towards the Android Nougat update, as the device was recently spotted in the database of both GeekBench and GFXBench running Android 7.0 Nougat. This suggests that the software update is currently being tested on the device and indicates that Samsung is preparing for an upcoming public release.
Samsung previously confirmed that Android Nougat will be distributed on the entire Samsung Galaxy A lineup released in 2016, and that includes the Galaxy A9 Pro. Since the official announcement last December, the company managed to bring Android Nougat to the Galaxy A5 (2016) in Europe last month, and more recently the Galaxy A3 (2016) in Hungary. While Android Nougat will likely continue to expand in other regions across Europe on both the Galaxy A3 (2016) and Galaxy A5 (2016), the update now also appears to be getting closer to the family’s top-tier smartphone model, the Galaxy A9 Pro. Unlike the rest of the Galaxy A (2016) series excluding the Galaxy A8 (2016), the Galaxy A9 Pro was released running Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out of the box, as opposed to Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, meaning that Android Nougat will be the first major OS update to be distributed on the device.
The Galaxy A9 Pro was released in May 2016 featuring a 6.0-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 system-on-chip (SoC) under the hood coupled with the Adreno 510 graphics chip, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of storage expandable by up to an additional 256GB via a microSD card slot, and a 16-megapixel main camera with optical image stabilization (OIS), coupled with an 8-megapixel front-facing shooter. The Galaxy A9 Pro carries one of the largest batteries for a smartphone at 5,000mAh, providing decent battery life even for demanding consumers. However, a large screen and generous battery come at a cost, as the Galaxy A9 Pro is also one of the heaviest smartphones on the market, tipping the scales at 210 grams, or roughly 7.4 ounces. In theory, battery life should only be improved once Android Nougat arrives, but only time will tell exactly when Samsung will make the update available to consumers and how the Galaxy A9 Pro perform in everyday use after it receives Nougat.
