Nokia 2 Gets Its First Android 8.1 Oreo Beta

Very often, budget devices often come with an antiquated version of Android with no update path in sight. The story still holds true for most low-end devices, which often never see even a single major software update. To make matters worse, there aren’t too many third-party ROMs out there either. The only hope one has is a random security update now and then. Thankfully, none of this applies to the Nokia 2, as HMD Global just announced that they’re launching an Android Oreo beta program for the device. In true HMD style, their product manager Juho Sarvikas Tweeted:

What makes it even better is the fact that the device will skip Android Oreo 8.0 altogether and make a leap to Oreo 8.1. Mr Sarvikas had promised an Oreo update for the Nokia 2 a few months ago. Granted, it’ll be a while before a stable release is rolled out, but at least one can rest easy knowing that they’ll receive it eventually.

The Nokia 2 isn’t the most powerful smartphone on the lot and is powered by an ancient Snapdragon 212 SoC along with 1GB of RAM. It does, however, offer a massive 4,100mAh battery backup, ensuring that you’re good to go for at least two days on a single charge.

The Nokia 2 is one of the first devices to run Android Go—a fork of Android designed specifically for devices that lack the processing power to run a full-fledged release of Oreo. It also comes with Go versions of popular Google apps such as Maps, YouTube and Gmail.

If you own a Nokia 2 and want to get a taste of Oreo, head over to Nokia’s Beta Labs, register an account if you don’t have one already, and enrol your phone’s IMEI number in the test. You should receive a software update OTA shortly after which bumps the device up to Android Oreo 8.1. Do bear in mind that it’s a beta release and some functions might not work as intended, so its best if you back up your data before attempting the upgrade. You can opt out of the program anytime, but the only catch is that your device will be wiped afterwards.