The original Galaxy A lineup was unique in that it was the only non-flagship smartphone series in Samsung's stable to have received two major Android upgrades, and it looks like the company is looking to do the same for the 2016 Galaxy A smartphones. We have received confirmation that the company will be updating the Galaxy A (2016) series smartphones to Android 7.0 Nougat.
We don't know when Nougat will hit the Galaxy A lineup; with quite a few flagship devices to be taken care of, Samsung is likely going to take its time with rolling out the update to its mid-range and budget devices. The 2016 Galaxy A lineup is huge itself – it consists of the Galaxy A3, Galaxy A5, Galaxy A7, Galaxy A8, Galaxy A9 and Galaxy A9 Pro, so we could be waiting until the second quarter of 2017 before these phones are running Nougat in every region. Do note that the Galaxy A8 (2016) and Galaxy A9 Pro were launched with Android Marshmallow, so support for the two might end with just a single upgrade to Nougat.
If you have been following the coverage here on SamMobile, you are probably aware that Samsung is currently working on Android 7. 0 for the Galaxy S6 devices, the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, the Galaxy Note 5, and the Galaxy Tab S2. Also in the works are 2017 iterations of the Galaxy A smartphones, which could be introduced sometime later this month. The 2017 editions are expected to ship running Android 6.0 out of the box, but we can hope to see them get Android 7.0 along with their 2016 brethren in the coming months.
Don't forget to check out Samsung's version of Android 7.0 Nougat in our What's New With Nougat series. There's no guarantee Samsung will include the same new features and user interface on devices other than the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, but we are certainly hopeful given how the company has focused on software consistency since the Galaxy S6 launched early last year.
