Samsung Electronics already started the development of Android 8.0 Oreo for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus, industry sources said on Friday, speculating that the Oreo builds for the two devices could bear the firmware numbers G955FXXU1BQI1 and G950FXXU1BQI1, respectively. The South Korean original equipment manufacturer (OEM) has yet to update its flagship duo to Android 7.1 Nougat that it reportedly started sending to wireless carrier partners for testing in early August, and not all of its devices on Marshmallow which are set to receive Android 7.0 Nougat have yet been upgraded to a newer build of Google’s mobile operating system.
It’s currently unclear when exactly did the company start developing its customized build of Android 8.0 Oreo for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus, but provided that the newly uncovered information is accurate, it stands to reason that the Seoul-based tech giant is also already working on an Android 8.0 Oreo build for the Galaxy Note 8. Samsung traditionally always prioritizes its operating system updates based on how new its supported devices are, meaning that the firm’s upcoming phablet which is only set to be officially released next Friday is likely to be the first handset that will be updated to Android 8.0 Oreo, possibly as early as this year. Likewise, Samsung has a history of organizing beta programs for its upcoming OS builds and has held an extensive Android 7.0 Nougat beta test for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge last year, suggesting that a similar initiative could also take place this holiday season.
Given the current state of affairs, it’s unlikely that the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus will start receiving stable Android 8.0 Oreo updates before late 2017, whereas the company’s older (premium) handsets likely won’t be upgraded to a new OS version before winter or early spring. The first smartphones from Samsung which are expected to run Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box will almost certainly be the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus which some insiders claim may be launched as early as January. As always, the official Oreo builds for Samsung-made handsets and tablets are likely to be heavily reskinned with the company’s proprietary mobile software suite which is nowadays advertised as the Samsung Experience, having succeeded the now-discontinued TouchWiz.