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Android 7 Nougat is finally doing the rounds, sort of. As with every major Android update, not every Android OS-powered phone will actually see the fancy new upgrade in the end – and it’s never rolled out to supported devices at the same time anyway.
A select few devices have already seen the upgrade, which adds in-line message replies, a data-saver and a much-needed Night mode, but there are plenty more smartphones out there in dire need of the Nougat goodness. We don’t have an official timeline in some cases, but we can make reasonable predictions of when we expect Android Nougat to make an appearance based on previous rollouts.
Here’s the definitive list of when we expect Android Nougat to appear on your phone.
Android Nougat: Which phones have it?
So far, the list of smartphones and tablets with the Android Nougat update is on the small side. If you’re a Nexus owner, you’re always one of the first to get to try it out – and indeed the Nexus 6, 5X, 6P, Player and Pixel C have already received the update.
Android Nougat: Samsung
It took a while for last year’s Marshmallow update to make its way to Samsung phones, with some regions not getting the update until the end of March 2016. It would be nice to see Nougat appear much earlier this time, but we might see a repeat of last year and get it in early 2017 instead.
Android Nougat: HTC
We’ve actually got a HTC release window thanks to confirmation from official sources. Android Nougat will be making an appearance on the HTC One M9, HTC One A9 and HTC 10 by the end of the year.
Android Nougat: Huawei
The Mate 8 launched with Marshmallow way back in November 2015, so when we see the Mate 9 rear its head this year, we’re pretty certain Huawei will follow suit once again. Expect the rollout for Huawei phones to start before the new year.
Android Nougat: Sony
Nougat will be making an appearance across pretty much all recent Sony phones as soon as possible, at least according to the bosses. Obviously, the phrase is a little vague, but we’d expect Android Nougat to crop up in the first part of 2017.
Android Nougat: Motorola
Putting the Nexus devices to the side for a second, Motorola is typically the first to see the fancy new Android upgrades make an appearance. I don’t expect much to change this time around, so let’s jot down winter 2016 for the time being.
Android Nougat: BlackBerry
BlackBerry is pretty new to the Android game, after ditching their old OS in favour of the more widely used, and easier to support, Android OS. We might be seeing new BlackBerry handsets on the horizon, so it wouldn’t surprise me to see them Nougat-powered at launch. You can expect Nougat to appear on both existing and new handsets at the beginning of 2017 at the earliest.
Android Nougat: LG
Like Motorola, LG is usually pretty speedy at updating their handsets with the latest software version, and I can’t see 2016 being an exception. We might be lucky to see Nougat appear before the end of the year, but January/February is more likely.
