The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 appears to be on track to receive the highly anticipated Android 8.0 Oreo update at the end of the month, according to new information that recently popped up on Samsung Turkey’s outlet Güncel Miyiz. Specifically, the official page dedicated to the international variant of the Galaxy Note 8 bearing the model number ‘SM-N950F’ now suggests that Android Oreo is “planned” to be released on March 30, though this date might still be subject to change and might not reflect the update’s availability in every region where the SM-N950F was released.
Whether or not the date will stick remains to be seen, but either way, the Galaxy Note 8 should technically receive the Oreo update soon given the fact that the Galaxy S8 series made the jump to the same Android iteration earlier this year. The Galaxy S8 series took priority over the Galaxy Note 8 because it was released earlier in 2017, and both models in the lineup were treated with a fairly lengthy and somewhat problematic beta period preceding the launch of the public build. Although the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 wasn’t subjected to a beta testing period like its older siblings, this was largely due to the hardware and software similarities across both series, and as a result, a successful Android Oreo release for the Galaxy S8 should theoretically translate into faster software development for the S Pen-equipped phablet.
As a reminder, the Galaxy Note 8 bearing the model number ‘SM-N950F’ is equipped with the Exynos 8895 SoC manufactured by Samsung’s chipset division, so given these recent events, there is a possibility that variants powered by the Exynos SoC could receive the update before the models powered by Qualcomm’s solution, which were released in North America and China. Then again, an Android Oreo build for the Qualcomm-powered Galaxy Note 8 leaked in early February and seemed to be a release candidate, so there is a chance the two main variants of the device will be updated simultaneously. According to the previous leak, the upcoming software designed for the Galaxy Note 8 is nearly identical to the Android Oreo update previously launched on the Galaxy S8 series, except for the inclusion of certain features pertaining specifically to the S Pen.