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Nokia delays Android 11 for most of its phones
You might be waiting a while for a new software update
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- Nokia has now officially revealed the Android 11 update timeline, and it appears to be identical to the previous leak. The Nokia 8.3, 2.2, 5.3, and 8.1 will be first in line for the upgrade, and the rest of the company's supported lineup will have to wait until 2021.
HMD Global's Nokia phones come with some of the cleanest Android builds around, but that still doesn't make the company the fastest to update its devices. Despite a roadmap shared with users last year, some of the phones slated for Android 11 still haven't received new software versions. To better reflect when updates might actually be ready, Nokia has expanded its roadmap up to Q3 and added a couple of new devices onto its list.
Google's been working on a call recording feature for its Phone app for some time, and it looks like the wait is almost over. As previously anticipated, the feature has started rolling out in India, seemingly beginning with Nokia's Android One phones, according to an announcement from the company today.
OnePlus 8 phones join the club supporting 3D objects and animals in Google Search
4 other devices are in the mix with this update
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There are a lot of fun 3D objects like skeletons, cars, planets, and animals you can view in Google Search, which might be perfect to pass the time while you and your kids are stuck at home. The underlying technology enabling this is called Google Play Services for AR, formerly known as ARCore. It's an engine that powers most games and applications on Android that use augmented reality effects. However, since the framework has to be tuned for each device, Google has to periodically update Play Services to support new phones and tablets. Since the last time we covered the library, 42 more devices have been added to the roster.
Nokia 7.2 mid-ranger receives Android 10 update
It was due by the end of Q1 and Nokia's right on time
The Nokia 7.2 is in direct competition against Google's Pixel 3a, and as such, it needs to offer frequent software updates to users. The phone initially shipped with Android 9 Pie but is now starting to receive the latest OS version.
Nokia adds 3 more devices to its Android 10 upgrade plans (Updated)
Some late releases hop onto the list
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- With Android 10 Go edition made official, Juho Sarvikas has clarified Nokia's plans for its Go devices. The newer 1 Plus will get it first in Q1 2020, while the older 2.1 and 1 will receive their updates in Q2 2020.
Quick to promise software upgrades when Android 10 was announced, HMD Global has since revised its update roadmap for its Nokia smartphones with more of them expected to make the jump than initially claimed last fall.
TWRP is the most popular custom recovery for Android devices, allowing you to do anything from flash ROMs to perform full storage backups. Now the project has officially added support for more phones, including the Nokia 7.1, Xiaomi Mi 9T, and others.
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- According to the folks at Nokiamob, HMD states that this was an "inadvertent miss" (which we take to mean "accident") and a future update will remove the option to unlock the bootloader.
For most people, a locked bootloader is no big deal. However, some Android users demand an unlockable bootloader so they can tinker with the software on their phones. Many devices are completely locked down, but HMD might be easing up a bit. The recently launched Nokia 7.2 is apparently the company's first phone with an unlockable bootloader.
As much as I like to credit to HMD Global for giving Motorola some desperately-needed competition here in America, some of the company's latest phones have been... problematic. The Nokia 4.2 suffers from performance issues, the 9 PureView had a buggy camera and fingerprint sensor, and last year's Nokia 7.1 has a handful of hardware and software problems.The newest device in Nokia's lineup is the 7.2, a mid-range device priced at $350 in the United States and €299 in Europe. It has a similar design to last year's 7.1 (gotta love the notch-and-chin combo) with the same price, but the hardware has received a minor refresh, and there's an all-new camera setup.The Nokia 7.2 is a good phone in its own right, but at only $50 less than the Google Pixel 3a (in the US, anyway), I think it's going to be a tough sell.
Nokia is well-regarded for clean, bloat-free software coming with fast, reliable updates. We can assume that the same is true for the company's new mid-range phone, the 7.2, launched during IFA in Berlin. The company has announced that it's coming to the US starting September 30, and you can already pre-order it now.Other than its 48MP triple camera array, Nokia 7.2's equipment is pretty standard for its price point of $350. It's coming with a Snapdragon 660, 4GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a USB C port – with no word on US availability for the model sporting 6GB of RAM. The device ships with Android 9 Pie, but Nokia already promises an update to Android 10, saying it's "Android Q ready." Additionally, customers in the US receive three months of Google One cloud storage for free, for what it's worth.
The recently-announced Nokia 7.2 has a lot going for it considering its modest $350 MSRP: a 48-megapixel primary camera, 128 gigabytes of internal storage, and Android 9 Pie with an upgrade to Android 10 guaranteed thanks to its Android One software. If you're enticed, you can get in line to get your hands on one now at B&H.
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- It turns out that the published spec sheets for the two phones were in error. Chief Product Officer Juho Sarvikas explained the mix-up on Twitter. NFC will only be omitted from the phones in the Indian market, the US and Latin America will get NFC.
One significant detail regarding Nokia's newly-announced mid-range 6.2 and 7.2 slid under the radar yesterday, but it turns out the company's published spec sheets were in error. Although Nokia's website initially claimed the devices wouldn't get NFC in the US, Latin America, or India, those details were apparently incorrect. Only India will be missing NFC support.
HMD Global has just unveiled two new mid-range phones in the Nokia 6.2 and 7.2. CounterPoint rates HMD the number one OEM for the fast updates it delivers to Nokia phones and the company says it's committed to being even faster with Android 10. At today's event at IFA in Berlin, the renewal of the mid-tier Nokia lineup was the hot topic, with the same focus on delivering a premium Nokia experience at a fraction of flagship prices.
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- More images of the Nokia 7.2 have surfaced courtesy of techmesto, this time showcasing the phone in a dark cyan color. Thanks, NokiaLover!
Out of all the Android phones HMD Global has released under its Nokia brand license in the past few years, the Nokia 7.1 seems to have made the best impression in certain western markets like the United States. We're now coming close to a year since its announcement and there's a swell of excitement for an update. Fortunately, we do have some tacit confirmation that the Nokia 7.2 is a thing, thanks to optics supplier ZEISS.