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Honor 8 a viable choice in 2017?

Hello.
I'm looking for a new phone, my budget is around 340 USD and therefore Honor 8 has really caught my eye. I'd like to ask a couple questions.
1. Is the bootloader unlock process problematic? Have you faced any issues with it or is it hassle-free? Coming from an LG device, I want to be extra careful with this.
2. I plan to have this device for a longer period of time, around 3-4 years. Is Honor 8 a viable choice, despite the fact that it will soon be a year from the release? Will it be able to hold off for that long, in terms of ROM support and general performance/usage?
3. How do custom ROM development prospects look right now for the device? From what I've seen, Huawei still hasn't released sources for Nougat. Can I expect good custom ROM support from this device?
4. How satisfied are you with your phone? Would you recommend it to me? Are there anything you don't like about the phone?
Thanks in advance.

Hi , i will just speak about question 4 ....
I had iphone7 , Huawei P9, Galaxy s7 and since 2 month : Honor 8
Yes for me you can buy this phone in 2017
It's a very good phone , very fluid, no lags, the phone is not too big , not to small, you can use with one hand . Screen is good , photo too but not like Iphone7 or Galaxy S7 . I am very happy with quick charge . For me the phone is more faster than an Iphone7, or Galaxy S7 . You can personalize like you want , You have a lot of nice themes on XDA or Google+ Emui Community . Sound is good, with headset is not like an Iphone or Galaxy s7 but to listen music is suffisant for me . Voilà, my advice is very good phone, just photo and music with headset can be better but stay ok for daily use .

The device is solid. Runs fast, pretty good specs, and looks nice.
Expect zero updates. Zero custom ROM support, and even rooting is a pain in the butt.
If you're into it for the dev scene, move on. If you want a half decent device for daily use, not bad at all.
Personally I regret buying it because Huawei is terrible at updates and keeping promises.
But as a daily driver device, it's fine.

Don't buy it's an alright phone but no custom ROM support is like a death sentence for a phone. This phone has been out for like 9 months and doesn't have a fully working custom ROM, that right there tells you that this phone has no future. Also who keeps wants to keep a low to mid range phone for 3-4 years? Must be in a 3rd world country!

I am happy with the phone but I'm disappointed with Huawei/Honor when it comes to updates and I am not going to buy more phones from them.
I would get something else right now, it was a good choice when it was released
Next time I will just pay 200 extra euro and get a real phone

Yeah it is a good phone but i am disappointed i expected few roms by now...i wish i could turn time back and go for xiaomi rednote 3 pro

1. Is the bootloader unlock process problematic? Have you faced any issues with it or is it hassle-free? Coming from an LG device, I want to be extra careful with this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's hassle-free.
2. I plan to have this device for a longer period of time, around 3-4 years. Is Honor 8 a viable choice, despite the fact that it will soon be a year from the release? Will it be able to hold off for that long, in terms of ROM support and general performance/usage?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huawei offer 2 years of updates, but not monthly updates. Taking a look at honor 6 released in august 2014 - it is indeed so. Latest update for honor 6 is september 30th 2016.
3. How do custom ROM development prospects look right now for the device? From what I've seen, Huawei still hasn't released sources for Nougat. Can I expect good custom ROM support from this device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. Don't expect good custom ROM for this device.
4. How satisfied are you with your phone? Would you recommend it to me? Are there anything you don't like about the phone?
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Click to collapse
I'm pretty satisfied. I enjoy it's dimensions, design, performance and battery life. Games aside, it's faster than any SD820 phone and most SD821 phones (take a look at performance comparison videos on youtube), so it's definitely going to be quick enough for 3-4 years.
If no custom ROM support, lower than SD820 GPU performance and only 2 years of official updates are OK for you (as it is for me) - I definitely recommend it.

Fobos531 said:
Hello.
I'm looking for a new phone, my budget is around 340 USD and therefore Honor 8 has really caught my eye. I'd like to ask a couple questions.
1. Is the bootloader unlock process problematic? Have you faced any issues with it or is it hassle-free? Coming from an LG device, I want to be extra careful with this.
2. I plan to have this device for a longer period of time, around 3-4 years. Is Honor 8 a viable choice, despite the fact that it will soon be a year from the release? Will it be able to hold off for that long, in terms of ROM support and general performance/usage?
3. How do custom ROM development prospects look right now for the device? From what I've seen, Huawei still hasn't released sources for Nougat. Can I expect good custom ROM support from this device?
4. How satisfied are you with your phone? Would you recommend it to me? Are there anything you don't like about the phone?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can easily get a code from Huawei to unlock the bootloader, but there's not much point to rooting the phone with development on it pretty nonexistent.
The hardware is really nice. The phone's a great size, the CPU is a beast, the GPU kind of sucks (but that doesn't matter if you're not playing new/demanding games on it like me), but the security updates are TERRIBLE. The most recent software update for the US version of the phone came out in the beginning of January. So we're almost four months into the year and the December 1st security patch is the most recent one available.
If you'd be happy with Nougat 7.0/EMUI 5.0 in a year from now and don't do anything that having security up to date matters it's fine, but otherwise I'd look elsewhere.

EMUI 5.1

Hello guys, I read somewhere (still trying to get the link) that EMUI 5.1 will soon be coming to Mate 9 with 7.1.1.
Anyone with idea if it is true?
Thanks

its true
but from everywhere ive read itll be in the second half of 2017

zayidhs said:
Hello guys, I read somewhere (still trying to get the link) that EMUI 5.1 will soon be coming to Mate 9 with 7.1.1.
Anyone with idea if it is true?
Thanks
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What's new and improved in 5.1?

aknotts415 said:
What's new and improved in 5.1?
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A lot of things including memory management, predictive touch recognition and response, cleaner, faster with smoother transitions and visuals, improved battery consumption management, probably Nougat 7.1.1 or 7.1.2 and more.

zayidhs said:
A lot of things including memory management, predictive touch recognition and response, cleaner, faster with smoother transitions and visuals, improved battery consumption management, probably Nougat 7.1.1 or 7.1.2 and more.
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Is this a fact or just speculation and wish list?

sobelixtus said:
Is this a fact or just speculation and wish list?
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There are a few people who already tested a beta version with 5.1 and reported this. I guess they are telling us the truth.

This is answer from EMUI FB:
Hi Krešimir, EMUI 5.1 will not be offered to devices that have EMUI 5.0, EMUI 4.1 or lower systems for now. Please rest assured that some of the new functions from EMUI 5.1 will be built into a debugged, featured-enhanced version of EMUI 5.0 that will be released after June 2017. Thank you for your understanding and patience. Stay tuned.

kpangercic said:
This is answer from EMUI FB:
Hi Krešimir, EMUI 5.1 will not be offered to devices that have EMUI 5.0, EMUI 4.1 or lower systems for now. Please rest assured that some of the new functions from EMUI 5.1 will be built into a debugged, featured-enhanced version of EMUI 5.0 that will be released after June 2017. Thank you for your understanding and patience. Stay tuned.
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that makes sense since everyone on 5.1 beta currently reports EMUI 5.0 in their about phone

Any idea about the build numbers on those phones?

As long as there are updates, I don't mind EMUI 5.0 ?

kleinhev said:
Any idea about the build numbers on those phones?
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I've seen Chinese betas mentioned with Mate 9 MHA-AL00C00B203-log, B205-log and B206-log.. but these are beta builds and most likely dont resemble any public release build numbers... tho going off the current available update build numbers, seem to be on par.. would assume a final build in the 200 number range would be the new EMUI 5.1 features build (and like mentioned, probably still show 5.0 in about phone).

I don't get it. P10 and Honor V9/8 Pro are on EMUI 5.1 and with the same hardware (Kirin 960 CPU/SOC, etc.) as Mate 9 , but Mate 9 which is flagship device by price and by marketing materials/adds distributed by Huawei is not getting full EMUI 5.1, but just some of the features of it and stays on EMUI 5.0.
Where's the logic in that?

why does some random number matter to you?
If it has all the same features and benefits as 5.1, why would you care if its called 5.0. 5.1 or 69.99999???

wase4711 said:
why does some random number matter to you?
If it has all the same features and benefits as 5.1, why would you care if its called 5.0. 5.1 or 69.99999???
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I don't talk about the number, I was reading that the difference is not only the number. I think that Huawei has stated that we will get SOME of the features of 5.1, not all of them.
EDIT:
Huawei statement from few post's back:
"Hi Krešimir, EMUI 5.1 will not be offered to devices that have EMUI 5.0, EMUI 4.1 or lower systems for now. Please rest assured that some of the new functions from EMUI 5.1 will be built into a debugged, featured-enhanced version of EMUI 5.0 that will be released after June 2017. Thank you for your understanding and patience. Stay tuned."

we'll just have to be patient and see what shows up..

ytgbg said:
I don't get it. P10 and Honor V9/8 Pro are on EMUI 5.1 and with the same hardware (Kirin 960 CPU/SOC, etc.) as Mate 9 , but Mate 9 which is flagship device by price and by marketing materials/adds distributed by Huawei is not getting full EMUI 5.1, but just some of the features of it and stays on EMUI 5.0.
Where's the logic in that?
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Used to get the same problem with Samsung devices, the S models would come out with a specific BloatWhiz UI and then the Note model would come out a few months after with a newer BloatWhiz UI but the S models would not get an upgrade to that new UI version... rinse repeat for next years models... Same UI version would stick around, but you would get new Android version and Security patches until such time the next model of that Type would get released, then they'd normally hang you out to dry on new major android versions, but get some security patches...
From what I've read on beta stuff tho - we are getting functionality atleast, if not all of 5.1..

Leighm0 said:
Used to get the same problem with Samsung devices, the S models would come out with a specific BloatWhiz UI and then the Note model would come out a few months after with a newer BloatWhiz UI but the S models would not get an upgrade to that new UI version... rinse repeat for next years models... Same UI version would stick around, but you would get new Android version and Security patches until such time the next model of that Type would get released, then they'd normally hang you out to dry on new major android versions, but get some security patches...
From what I've read on beta stuff tho - we are getting functionality atleast, if not all of 5.1..
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There you have it. This is exactly the problem in Android world. If you buy a device from major Android manufacturer, you can be pretty sure that the support will start to slow down when new flag ship device is launched.
2 years is really the maximum support time for Android devices, except for Google Pixel / Nexus devices.
I don't like Apple or the iOS devices but I have to admit that the support in iWorld is in much better shape than in Android world.
I hope this will be addressed in Google level.
Edit. And Huawei is one of the worst manufacturer in what comes to updates. Two updates in 6 months (even security fixes) happens only for new device launched. Then the support will be gradually ramped down and good luck for getting security updates.

sobelixtus said:
There you have it. This is exactly the problem in Android world. If you buy a device from major Android manufacturer, you can be pretty sure that the support will start to slow down when new flag ship device is launched.
2 years is really the maximum support time for Android devices, except for Google Pixel / Nexus devices.
I don't like Apple or the iOS devices but I have to admit that the support in iWorld is in much better shape than in Android world.
I hope this will be addressed in Google level.
Edit. And Huawei is one of the worst manufacturer in what comes to updates. Two updates in 6 months (even security fixes) happens only for new device launched. Then the support will be gradually ramped down and good luck for getting security updates.
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Well.. it's really the manufacturer at fault and shouldn't really fall back on Google as they create the software and it's up to Samsung, Huawei, LG, etc to all support it on their devices so if they choose not to do any future updates then that's their choice.. you can't compare to iOS/Apple because their software is only built for their devices and no other manufacturers can make an iOS based device period, so to that degree you could compare it to the Nexus devices or Pixel which run the vanilla Android and get constant upgrades because that's devices that have no UI slapped on top of it and supported by Google and manufacturer hasn't got to make its own custom update with their UI etc

Leighm0 said:
Well.. it's really the manufacturer at fault and shouldn't really fall back on Google as they create the software and it's up to Samsung, Huawei, LG, etc to all support it on their devices so if they choose not to do any future updates then that's their choice.. you can't compare to iOS/Apple because their software is only built for their devices and no other manufacturers can make an iOS based device period, so to that degree you could compare it to the Nexus devices or Pixel which run the vanilla Android and get constant upgrades because that's devices that have no UI slapped on top of it and supported by Google and manufacturer hasn't got to make its own custom update with their UI etc
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True but you got me wrong
I didn't blame Google for this situation but I hoped that Google would use its muscles to solve the situation.
It is really 3rd party manufacturers fault and they should improve the situation as well.
It's also very common to compare Samsung, LG and Huawei to Apple because they are all trying to sell to same customers.
It is true that Apple is making the HW and SW and that gives a huge lead in integration and updates. However, Google is also providing monthly security updates and it is 3rd party companies responsibility to publish those security updates for their products.
This is not happening currently, or it takes ages to have the update (Huawei)
Owning Google pixel or Nexus is clear advantage, but I would like to see that other manufacturers would concentrate more to serve existing customers.
Sorry for offtopic [emoji52]

sobelixtus said:
True but you got me wrong
I didn't blame Google for this situation but I hoped that Google would use its muscles to solve the situation.
It is really 3rd party manufacturers fault and they should improve the situation as well.
It's also very common to compare Samsung, LG and Huawei to Apple because they are all trying to sell to same customers.
It is true that Apple is making the HW and SW and that gives a huge lead in integration and updates. However, Google is also providing monthly security updates and it is 3rd party companies responsibility to publish those security updates for their products.
This is not happening currently, or it takes ages to have the update (Huawei)
Owning Google pixel or Nexus is clear advantage, but I would like to see that other manufacturers would concentrate more to serve existing customers.
Sorry for offtopic [emoji52]
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Agreed 100% here.. but where I am sitting, I bought my Huawei Mate 9 Pro in Feb, and I know the device was actually out in December, but that aside, I have now managed to pull 2 OTA updates (first when I first turned on the phone at the store installed B139, second was B156 shortly after), and a 3rd is pending authentication (B181, just this weekend) - to me thats quite a few updates.. I don't recall getting 3 updates within first 3-4 months from Samsung when I had my Note 4 (I could be wrong here, but don't recall this amount of OTA from device launch... purchased it within a few weeks of release date, they stopped updating android when Note 5 landed, security updates kept coming tho). I'm more than happy with Huawei so far, and their efforts to release new updates to fix issues people are seeing - tbh I never had many issues and the ones I did have got fixed with the first 2 OTA's.
They do need to work on security fixes and Google should push them to get them out there... case in point - my Samsung Note Pro 12.2 has not had an update in months, and is still on Android 5.1.1, and of course Samsung will not even bother with any new builds, and probably won't get a security update for another 3 months... it's very disappointing that I spent over $1k on a tablet, which will not "officially" run Nougat, tho it probably doesnt need it the device runs perfectly fine as it is - tho we always want the latest and greatest..

Will the Honor 8 receive anymore further updates?

I just bought an honor 8 and I read somewhere that it now will no longer be receiving any further updates and no upgrade to Oreo. Is this by chance 100 percent correct? Amy info on this would be greatly appreciated. If it will not be receiving any further updates from Honor then I may return it. I just am not sure what's true on this. Thanks for the help on this.

This is not true. Huawei has not officially confirmed or refuted anything. But I would personally prefer Honor 9 at this time, the price is not so much higher than Honor 8.

Yeah but I personally don't think we will ever see the Honor 9 in the US. My prediction is that we will get the Honor 8 Pro here in December before Christmas. Just a gut feeling as the Honor 8 name is already so widely known here that it just makes sense that they will feed off the Honor 8 name and release the pro model of next here. I just wonder about the current honor 8 and if it will in fact get more updates.

It Will receive further updates

SALENTINVM said:
It Will receive further updates
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That's good to know. How do you know this for sure though. It's that a definite? There is another thread that talks about the honor will now no longer be receiving updates. Was curious how you knew for sure?

Atm i'm running the B394 rom and on Firmware finder there are already B350, B351 and B135 Roma (all beta) so an update is coming soon.

SALENTINVM said:
Atm i'm running the B394 rom and on Firmware finder there are already B350, B351 and B135 Roma (all beta) so an update is coming soon.
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That's really good to hear. I'm glad to know that. I thought it was the end for the honor 8 to be honest.

Seems like after doing a lot of research on various forums the majority of people say the honor 8 will definitely keep receiving updates for a while to come. That's a very good thing bc I just bought my third honor 8 and this time I plan to keep it long term. I typically go through a lot of phones testing out new gear. I finally decided that the honor 8 is my all time favorite phone which I do not consider EMUI to be Android at all. In fact it's nothing like Android. It's so unique and different I've said many times in the past that EMUI could easily be branded and marketed as a third major mobile software choice in the industry. I believe since they could not be connected to IOS they were forced to be thrown in with Android but it's nothing remotely like pure android at all or what so ever. In fact I find EMUI to be as smooth interface wise as apple IOS where most Android interface with skins are rather choppy and sticky. Not EMUI as it's butter smooth and very fluid. Huawei Honor has definitely created a unique hybrid software that it cannot be compared to anything at all. It's in a league of its own and as soon as they officially entered the US market full blown watch how fast they over take Samsung for the top spot. The interface of the software is a joy to use. Zero lag at all. It's as fluid as IOS so there is no doubt it will fast become the most popular in the Android world if they don't decide to Branch out and brand their own software to be labeled as the third major software choice within the mobile industry. I can't wait until they enter the US market and I believe within two to three years they will be equal too or above Samsung for the top spot world wide. It'll be interesting to watch take place. As long as they stay true to their core roots in terms of pricing with high end budget phones such as the honor 8 and leave the Huawei side as their premium flagship phones there is no way they won't over take Samsung. Huawei honor is deep with their variety of offerings with the likes for example the honor 8 which is a very affordable phone but it indeed has flagship specs and a awesome camera. I hope their next US release for honor is the honor 8 pro. It has a 5.7 inch display and would be a great media phone for movies and YouTube and such. I'd love to have one to rotate out with my honor 8. The reason I believe the honor 8 pro will be their next US honor release is bc the honor 8 is already widely known in the US so it makes sense for them to keep feeding off the honor 8 name and release the pro model next.

Why will Honor 8 not get the Oreo update? It's last year Honor's flagship, every flagship gain two next androids versions at least...

Just what I had been reading on other forums and here lead me to that. I now think it will. I excited to know this now.

I don't know if we will get Oreo. However, in regards to general updates, my FRD-L14 just received the B389 update today. I think it mainly just updates security to the Oct 5th patch, at least it is an update.

Procrustinator said:
I don't know if we will get Oreo. However, in regards to general updates, my FRD-L14 just received the B389 update today. I think it mainly just updates security to the Oct 5th patch, at least it is an update.
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I sure hope we get Oreo. Technically we should and I really think it would be a bad business decision on Huawei honors part not to give the honor 8 oreo due to how close it is before they enter the US market full blown and officially. They don't want to enter this market on a bad note. Plus this is honors flagship phone for the US. They would loose a ton of US customer support if they choose not to update this phone to Oreo. They didn't climb up to number two in the world based off of bad decisions for their customers so I think we will get it but it will be very late to the party getting it.

OnePlus 3/3T will get Android P, your move Huawei

Like title says, OP 3/3T (July and November 2016) will get Android P:
The Android P update will be available on the OnePlus 6, OnePlus 5/T and OnePlus 3/3T, in this order. We will keep you all updated in the coming months.
I don't believe Huawei would bring Android P for P9, but I would be amazed if Huawei brings Android P for P9 (released April 2016).
TL;DR OnePlus 3/3T (2016) will get Android P. What about P9 (2016 too)?
Source: https://forums.oneplus.com/threads/android-p-is-coming-to-the-oneplus-3-and-3t.879545/

We didn't even get oreo

Finsku said:
Like title says, OP 3/3T (July and November 2016) will get Android P:
The Android P update will be available on the OnePlus 6, OnePlus 5/T and OnePlus 3/3T, in this order. We will keep you all updated in the coming months.
I don't believe Huawei would bring Android P for P9, but I would be amazed if Huawei brings Android P for P9 (released April 2016).
TL;DR OnePlus 3/3T (2016) will get Android P. What about P9 (2016 too)?
Source: https://forums.oneplus.com/threads/android-p-is-coming-to-the-oneplus-3-and-3t.879545/
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Highly Doubt Huawei will do that. Especially given the number of device they release per year. They don't have the time to develop for older phones. Best example is this Oreo update, its become almost an year and still we haven't got Oreo globally. I even doubt Kirin 95X devices will even get the GPU turbo update.

Don't expect too much with this brand even if they manufacture their own SoC.

udamster said:
Highly Doubt Huawei will do that. Especially given the number of device they release per year. They don't have the time to develop for older phones. Best example is this Oreo update, its become almost an year and still we haven't got Oreo globally. I even doubt Kirin 95X devices will even get the GPU turbo update.
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I was thinking the same like you. Well, P9 was great but they updates their phones too slowly or not at all. Time to move to another brand, for example OP or Nokia

Finsku said:
I was thinking the same like you. Well, P9 was great but they updates their phones too slowly or not at all. Time to move to another brand, for example OP or Nokia
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Same here next phone would probably be out of OP/NOKIA. P9 is a great device but it's software support is quite dissappointing.

Most pointless topic i red in a long time.

Topic for people who actually dont use phone at all, they just spend time staring at phone info tab and browsing other phones topic to see with one get update sooner...
Such people expect some miracles from updates, like they give them new battery, new camera, bring 10000% performances...
Seriously what is wrong with P9 now? its work perfectly for 2 years old device. From the beginning it was not fastest device so even at the premiere it was slower than competition, but it makes up in different categories: look, camera and stability. And that what it give. I didnt reset my phone for 42 days now, it work all the time with most of features turned on.
What you could expect more from device of that type? Its not powerhouse device, and it never was, it was fancy phone with nice camera. The End.
We getting constant security patches so paranoid people can feel secure, all apps work without a problem...
Orea will not change anything beside bigger number in phone info tab and some new features that most of you will turn off after week anyway....
You wanted phone that you could tinker with? Get that OnePlus 3/3T.... What is stopping you?

Akinaro said:
Topic for people who actually dont use phone at all, they just spend time staring at phone info tab and browsing other phones topic to see with one get update sooner...
Such people expect some miracles from updates, like they give them new battery, new camera, bring 10000% performances...
Seriously what is wrong with P9 now? its work perfectly for 2 years old device. From the beginning it was not fastest device so even at the premiere it was slower than competition, but it makes up in different categories: look, camera and stability. And that what it give. I didnt reset my phone for 42 days now, it work all the time with most of features turned on.
What you could expect more from device of that type? Its not powerhouse device, and it never was, it was fancy phone with nice camera. The End.
We getting constant security patches so paranoid people can feel secure, all apps work without a problem...
Orea will not change anything beside bigger number in phone info tab and some new features that most of you will turn off after week anyway....
You wanted phone that you could tinker with? Get that OnePlus 3/3T.... What is stopping you?
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You're absolutely right.:good:

What is this for a Thread and a absolutly Confused Question on Startpost. Android P for P9 to compare with One Plus 3T. It is very Logical for me that One Plus 3T became P that P9 Oreo. Dreamer

Probably he's one of those who still think that people from Huawei run this forum (or at least visit this). A bit bummed that we won't be getting Oreo, but hey just like what they said, it's pretty good for a phone released years ago.

Xperia 5 II - Any credible sources on promised software updates?

I'm considering to buy Xperia 5 ii on sale as successor to my OnePlus 6, but want to know how many software updates, major/ Android versions and security, Sony promises. If it's equal or worse to what OnePlus does these days, I'm not buying Sony. Then I rather get Samsung I think.
I can't find any other sources for this informations than a japanese news site, quoted/ covered by gsmarena and others.
https://androidnext.info/?p=6409
https://m.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_...will_get_android_13_rumor_says-news-45044.php
https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/sony-xperia-1-ii-and-xperia-5-ii-could-get-android-11-12-and-13
Anyone have a credible source on what Sony promises in regards to software/ firmware updates for Sony Xperia 5 ii?
Something like this, just for Sony, would be nice.
https://news.samsung.com/global/sam...g-to-three-generations-of-android-os-upgrades
Found nothing relevant in Sony press releases.
https://presscentre.sony.eu/pressreleases/tag/mobile#filter-list-items

I can't really give you an official source but as an unofficial source (eg. Owner of Xperia 5 II) then I've been impressed with the regularity of updates .
They seem to follow the standard Android security update frequency pretty closely.

wazzaworld said:
I can't really give you an official source but as an unofficial source (eg. Owner of Xperia 5 II) then I've been impressed with the regularity of updates .
They seem to follow the standard Android security update frequency pretty closely.
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That counts for something at least. Thanks for the insight.
I think Google minimum requirements is 2 years major, 3 years security. Samsung peomises 3 years major and 5 years security for all Galaxy phones. Would be great if Sony promised the same for their phones, at least the premium ones.
I still have my OnePlus 6 in almost mint condition, the Evutec aramid case is doing a great job protecting it (and so am I). Keeping a phone for at least three years is not that unlikely. Or 2.5 years, as I'll be buying into Xperia 5 II at >0.5 years late.

I contacted Sony support about this, and just received an answer.
Dear Olav,
Thank you for your email.
Your case number is: 22xxxxxx.
I am glad to hear that you are interested in our Xperia 5 II.
Unfortunately we do not have any information that we can share with you regarding future software updates.
I wish a had a more concrete answer to your question, however this is not information we have available or are able to procure.
Please do not hesitate to contact us again, should you need any further assistance. I wish you a pleasant day.
Med vennlig hilsen,
Xxxxx
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Don't know if I'm willing to risk getting disappointed then.

Now OnePlus also have promised to keep their flagship phones updated longer than Android minimum, with 3 years OS and 4 years security.
https://forums.oneplus.com/threads/...se-and-software-maintenance-schedule.1462181/
https://www.xda-developers.com/onep...android-upgrades-four-years-security-updates/
Where you at Sony?

The latest Sony flagship phones had received two major updates I believe, which indicates that 5ii would receive Android 12 and nothing more. I saw a rumor that updates would be extended to three major updates but have not seen anything official.
A little sad.

Sony officially supports AOSP. So even if you won't get OTA updates after 2 years, you will be able to build and install much newer Android version for a few years. Although you will probably lose "proprietary" features like audio/video enhancement or photo pro.