Nokia 2 gets Android 8.1 Oreo, though trade-offs and restrictions apply

Pocketnow

By Jules Wang

Published Mar 7, 2019

The advent of Android Go software for lightweight smartphones and Google's mandate on coupling them together has made the update difficult.

The difficult part about working with a low-spec Android device in an era where Google has started to lock down the software for such devices is making sure that an older phone is able to upgrade operating systems.

Which never happens if you have a low-end phone from most any manufacturer. But HMD Global is special.

In the case of the Nokia 2, which launched in 2017 with a full build — and, at the time, the only build — of Android 7.0 Nougat, it has had the challenge of working out how to upgrade the device when Google is pretty much adamant that a device with 1GB of RAM should use the Android Go version of any particular build.

Unfortunately, HMD could not format the Android Oreo upgrade for the Nokia 2 into the Go edition as it would’ve wanted. But it still wanted to provide an OS upgrade regardless of the challenges.

So, according to our partners at XDA-Developers, the company has been working with Google and Qualcomm to bring up the full version of Android 8.1 to the Nokia 2. The company is warning users that performance may not be at “the same level as enjoyed with Nougat” and that some applications could become incompatible with the device. That’s why users who want the upgrade must sign into the software beta testing program for the Nokia 2.

Existing users who are on the beta track will receive an over-the-air upgrade. However, due to network clearance issues, new signees to the program from the countries or with the following carriers will not be able to receive the upgrade, period. More details are at the source link below this story.

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