Samsung didn't treat the 2016 iterations of its two most popular budget phones, the Galaxy J5 and Galaxy J7, equally with the Nougat update. When the Galaxy J7 (2016) was updated, it received version 7.0 of Android Nougat, while the Galaxy J5 (2016)'s Nougat update came out a few months later with Android version 7.1.1. Thankfully, things may not be the same for the 2017 models. The Galaxy J5 (2017) was spotted running Android 8.1 Oreo back in May, and the J7 (2017) is now being tested with Android 8.1 as well.
Galaxy J7 (2017) Oreo update is in the works
Like the Galaxy J5 (2017), the Galaxy J7 (2017) has been listed on the GFXBench website with Android 8.1. This means that when the official Oreo update arrives for these devices, it will be based on the newest version of Oreo. And given the time Samsung takes to release major updates for its budget phones, that's the least the company can do. The J series phones will probably start receiving Oreo after the Galaxy Note 9 has hit retail, though, so they won't be the first Galaxy devices to be running Android 8.1. And, well, they aren't going to be updated to Android 9.0 P, either, as Samsung currently provides only one major OS upgrade to budget smartphones.
