Samsung finally released the Galaxy Note 8 Oreo update on March 16 and it's now being rolled out gradually in more markets across the globe. The firmware for the international unlocked variant is already available for download. Galaxy Note 8 owners in the United States have yet to receive the update and the company has now revealed that it's going to release the Galaxy Note 8 Oreo update for all US variants in 2-3 weeks. It has also made a similar promise for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+.
Galaxy Note 8 Oreo update
All four major carriers – Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint – have released the Android 8.0 Oreo update for the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8+ on their networks. However, the update hasn't been released for the unlocked variant in the United States.
As you can probably imagine, those who own the unlocked variants aren't pleased as they were mostly purchased with the hope that they will receive updates ahead of their carrier-locked counterparts. Mobile carriers tend to delay updates because they run their own tests before rolling out the firmware.
However, they only have to test the firmware to ensure that it works properly on their network. Samsung points out in a post on its official US forums that unlocked models have to go through more rigorous testing than the carrier-locked models because the company needs to make sure that proper network functionality has been achieved across all supported networks.
The company says that this is why the unlocked Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ haven't received Oreo in the United States as yet even though the country's major carriers have rolled it out already. The handsets should receive it in a couple of weeks. The rollout is yet to begin for the Galaxy Note 8, though.
Samsung has also confirmed in its post that it's going to release the Galaxy Note 8 Oreo update for both the carrier-locked and unlocked variants in the next “2-3 weeks.” We'll be sure to let you know when the firmware starts rolling out.
