Good news this morning for those of you who have an unlocked Essential Phone. The company has begun rolling out an update that brings the December Android Security Update to the device. It will make Essential one of the first beyond Google themselves to get the December update out to end users.
The update is build NMJ51B for those keeping score at home and, based on Essential’s twitter post about the update, it appears that the update contains only this security patch.
We’re currently rolling out a software update (build NMJ51B) with December security patches.
— Essential (@essential) December 5, 2017
It is possible (likely) that there are some other minor updates in the build but clearly the main focus is on the December security update.
After getting off to a slow start, Essential has really ramped up when it comes to software updates for the Essential Phone. The company has rolled out major updates to the camera app as well as other performance and stability improvements over the handful of months that the phone has been available. The company has also stuck to their commitment to keeping the phone up-to-date with the latest security patches.
Look for the update in the Software Update section of Settings on your PH-1. It make still take a day or two to get out to everyone. Also note that this is for the unlocked variant of the phone. If you have the Sprint locked variant, the update will be later as it has to go through Sprint for approval.