The U.S. carrier editions of Samsung’s Galaxy S8 Active may be getting Android 8.0 (Oreo) sooner than expected following a new sighting of the devices on the Wi-Fi Alliance website. More specifically, the new listings show a Samsung Galaxy S8 Active for Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T – which are sold under the model numbers SM-G892U and SMG892A, respectively. Both newly certified devices hit the site as of January 2 and, among other Wi-Fi radio-related information, show the new operating system to be “Android, version:8.0.”
Unfortunately, there’s nothing there to provide any details about exactly when the hyper-ruggedized variation of Samsung’s Galaxy S8 will be getting that update. Reports had previously speculated that it would still be several months before Android Oreo hits the Galaxy S8 Active. Moreover, the carriers in question could still need to perform their perfunctory software alterations. So, as is often the case with these kinds of reports, it bears repeating that there’s no guarantee that this certification will lead to that update arriving any faster than expected. However, it is worth pointing out that after months of beta testing, the other members of the Samsung Galaxy S8 family – namely the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus – are expected to receive an update before the end of this month. That’s expected to include the company’s Android overlay, Samsung Experience 9.0, which is, of course, built on top of Android Oreo.
With that said, while the Galaxy S8 Active has been left out of the tests so far, it is worth noting that the internal specifications and software environment is effectively identical to those other devices. For those who may not recall, the primary difference between the devices is that the Galaxy S8 Active was designed for durability. Aside from IP68 certification for dust and waterproofing – in addition to military-grade salt, humidity, vibration, radiation, and thermal shock resistance – it effectively is a Galaxy S8. So, it may be reasonable to suspect that this new certification means that it will receive the same update at the same time. Bearing that in mind, and as already mentioned, all of that is speculative until either the updates start rolling out or Samsung makes an official announcement.