After months of testing and teasing, the Android Oreo update for the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ are starting to roll out. The update brings Samsung Experience 9, the company’s skin on top of Oreo, to the 2017 flagship devices and weighs in at 487MB. Right now, it appears that the release has only happened on the unlocked variants of the phones in Europe. No indication on if it has hit US users yet but it will likely be soon. Also keep in mind that beta testers will be the first to get the update so if you did not participate, you have a bit longer to wait.
Public beta testing of the Oreo build on the Samsung Galaxy S8 lineup began last November with the beta period ending January 15th of this year.
The update brings the February Android Security Update patch along with all of the Oreo goodness to the S8 and S8+. As for Experience 9, the UI that Samsung has sitting on top of Oreo, this is the first official view of it. This is the UI that is expected to launch on the Galaxy S9 lineup when they are announced later this month at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
If you were in the beta program, start checking for the update now. Samsung likely will roll it out globally in short order. Next will be the unlocked variants of the S8’s that were not in the beta followed by carrier locked variants. As to when those carrier versions will get update, it is likely going to be a few more months.
