Surprise! Samsung’s Galaxy J7 2016 to get Oreo update, finally

When it comes to rolling out Android updates, Samsung really likes to take its own sweet time. Their flagship S and Note series devices get the latest Android versions a few months later, but the midrange A series and the cheaper J series hardly see newer Android updates in their life. Yet, Samsung relies on the J series to drive sales in the country, despite stumbling when the timely updates are concerned. However, for older Galaxy J series users, there’s some unexpected good news.

A recent listing on a Turkish website has detailed some of the Android devices scheduled to get the Android Oreo update. The list contains some of the popular J series smartphones such as the J6 2016, J5 Pro, J7 Pro, J7 Prime, On7 Prime and several others. These devices won’t be getting the update together — Samsung will roll out Oreo in a phased manner to these devices. You can check the list below for detailed information:

September 2018 — Galaxy J5 Prime, J7 Core

October 2018 — Galaxy A8 2016, J7 Pro, J5 Pro, J3 2017

November 2018 — Galaxy J7 Prime, Tab 2 Active

December 2018 — Galaxy Tab A 2016, J7 2016

While it's certainly good to know that Samsung hasn’t forgotten its mass market sales driving models of the past, it’s still not good to see an Android OS update from 2017 making its way to a smartphone by the end of 2018. However, in comparison, rivals brands have only offered a single Android update on their budget and midrange handsets from 2016. With Project Treble now a standard part of the Android OS since Oreo 8.0, manufacturers should be able to push out the latest versions of Android faster than before.