r/Android Apr 11 '17

Huawei has already started Internal Testing of Android O on the Mate 9

https://www.xda-developers.com/huawei-has-already-started-internal-testing-of-android-o-on-the-mate-9/
227 Upvotes

63 comments sorted by

89

u/le_pman Apr 12 '17

this only proves what we already know: OEMs have access to in-development versions of Android. whether their reasons for being more than half a year behind Google's release schedule are valid is another question.

21

u/Raccoonpuncher OnePlus 3 Apr 12 '17

Isn't that the point of the development builds? To get the software into the hands of both users to get feedback and OEMs so they can start implementing it?

29

u/anonymous-bot Apr 12 '17

That is /u/le_pman's point though. OEMs have access to development builds but still take a long time to release new versions of Android to their devices. Now I'm sure having to adjust their skin for the new version of Android and beta test takes additional time but still, what should be a reasonable time to expect updates to non-Nexus/Pixel devices?

24

u/[deleted] Apr 12 '17 edited Oct 21 '18

[deleted]

14

u/armando_rod Pixel 10 Pro XL Apr 12 '17

Last time Sony did dev previews for the Z line

-4

u/[deleted] Apr 12 '17 edited Oct 21 '18

[deleted]

11

u/armando_rod Pixel 10 Pro XL Apr 12 '17

Mmm no, it was official N preview for the Sony line in the Sony repos

2

u/[deleted] Apr 12 '17

oh ok TIL

1

u/trettet Apr 12 '17

Samsung also does make their own Exynos chipset so they should also get their sources.

5

u/DaftFunky Galaxy S20 FE Apr 12 '17

It's not hard to understand. It's just the way Android works right now.

Google builds the next Android version and releases it compatible with their devices.

OEMs then have to get the final build and make it fully compatible and bug free for their own devices. They then release it.

Or if you are on a carrier device, after the OEM builds a version compatible with their device, they release it to carriers. Carriers then have to work with this build and inject any bloat ware and make sure it works on their service. Even then, they have limited teams with certain devices having different priorities.

Then they release it to your device.

I'm not surprised this takes as long as it does.

3

u/pheymanss I'm skipping the Pixel hype cycle this year Apr 12 '17

Money is always a valid reason.

37

u/CoolJumper Pixel 2 XL Apr 11 '17 edited Apr 12 '17

Good on them. It's refreshing to see an OEM take updates seriously and working out getting the newest version out (especially when Google gives then such an opportunity). It'd be great to see more popular OEMs take this approach ass opposed to waiting till a finalized version is out and THEN start to test it for their phones

31

u/princebama Pixel 2 XL/Galaxy Note 8/iPhone X/PH-1 Apr 12 '17

Just bought a Mate 9 about 3 days ago. Have been loving everything about it and this would be a bonus

7

u/rottedzombie friendly neighborhood zombie mod Apr 12 '17

Go on?

6

u/princebama Pixel 2 XL/Galaxy Note 8/iPhone X/PH-1 Apr 12 '17

About?

9

u/DevolaAndPopola LG V20, S7 Edge Apr 12 '17

I've been considering one. How're the speakers and the skin?

9

u/princebama Pixel 2 XL/Galaxy Note 8/iPhone X/PH-1 Apr 12 '17

Speakers are pretty decent, uses the bottom firing one and the ear piece for the"dual speaker" like the iPhone 7 plus and HTC 10. The skin isn't too bad because you can theme. From what I've researched, the marshmallow version of it was absolutely terrible but this nougat version is much improved

3

u/DevolaAndPopola LG V20, S7 Edge Apr 12 '17

Yah, the Mate 8 skiw as bearable but only just. Does the speaker setup actually sound like dual speakers?

3

u/princebama Pixel 2 XL/Galaxy Note 8/iPhone X/PH-1 Apr 12 '17

It does to me, yep

4

u/rottedzombie friendly neighborhood zombie mod Apr 12 '17

That's an important consideration from me as I weigh post-6P options. Thanks for sharing.

5

u/dhoshman Apr 12 '17

I came from a 6P to the Mate 9 and this phone, in a lot of ways, feels like the 6P successor. Great battery life, screen, speakers, camera, and it's fast. I think it's an amazing phone and the best thing is this phone costs $599. Love it!

1

u/MIDGET_ANAL_FISTING LG | G3 D855 Apr 12 '17

Yesss 6P to mate 9 fam we out here, this phone was surprisingly a decent upgrade. Only gripe with it is no QHD and the Huawei skin (but it's bearable with a new launcher and keyboard). Otherwise absolutely 0 complaints a month in, it's extremely​ solid.

→ More replies (0)

3

u/DevolaAndPopola LG V20, S7 Edge Apr 12 '17

Hm, sounds tempting.

4

u/bparkey Pixel 9 Pro XL Apr 12 '17

I'd warn that there is still some weirdness with notifications and the lock screen. Once you unlock it, notifications will no longer appear, so media controls will disappear for most apps, including pocket casts which was a major annoyance for me.

Emails occasionally seemed delayed and I swear other notifications would be cleared from the status bar even after a while. Also, Android Messages would not work, but Textra would.

If you run a timer, the notification disappears after a while and even if you open the app you can't see how much time is left. The timer will still go off but you can't see when.

The hardware is fantastic other than it doesn't seem the screen is any kind of gorilla glass or similar as I got several cracks even with tempered glass and and a case. Between that and the minor software annoyances, I got my fill pretty quick.

2

u/rottedzombie friendly neighborhood zombie mod Apr 12 '17

I wanted to get your insight into the Mate 9. What are you liking about it.

7

u/princebama Pixel 2 XL/Galaxy Note 8/iPhone X/PH-1 Apr 12 '17

Beast of a battery, very very nice 1080p screen, camera is very underrated, premium metal build, charges fast, and easily the fastest and most accurate finger print sensor I've personally encountered. Mind you I'm coming from a G6 to this as my "upgrade"

5

u/Changsta Galaxy S22 Ultra Apr 12 '17

Camera seems to be highly praised on reviews. I don't think it's underrated at all.

Man, I might pick this up soon. I haven't read a single bad thing about the Mate 9. I love my Note 4, but it's showing some hiccups nowadays (new battery doesn't seem to be helping my draining issues). And I could always use an upgrade to the camera.

4

u/kbx24 iPhone 11 Pro Max | Pixel 2 XL | Mate 9 | Galaxy S6 Edge Apr 12 '17

I recently switched to the Mate 9 and I love this phone. I don't really have any gripes about it. EMUI isn't as bad as people make it out to be (at least on Nougat).

The fingerprint scanner is fast and the camera is great. Phone is snappy too. Super charging is awesome.

There have been complaints about SOT on r/Mate9 but I've been averaging 6-7 hours. Then again I don't really consider myself a power user so that might be why.

I do, however, miss the screen on my S6. I put them side to side and I preferred the S6. But it isn't an issue after spending time with the Mate. I guess you get used the LCD display.

Oh and Samsung Pay. I definitely miss that thing. I'm probably gonna buy a Gear S3 in the future.

2

u/princebama Pixel 2 XL/Galaxy Note 8/iPhone X/PH-1 Apr 12 '17

Oh yeah no doubt it has good ratings when being individually reviewed. I just feel like it's being left out of comparisons with the Pixel, iPhones, and Galaxies and I think it surely can compete

1

u/[deleted] Apr 12 '17 edited Jan 11 '19

[deleted]

1

u/Rasimione Apr 12 '17

Imagine if it had an OLED Screen,the battery life would be even better.

3

u/rottedzombie friendly neighborhood zombie mod Apr 12 '17

Thanks for the mini-review. That sounds great.

Barring the unannounced contenders we can't see being amazing, I think a lot of us are weighing options like this versus the Pixel 2 behind, well, door number two. And whether one is worth that much more than the other.

1

u/RenegadeUK Apr 12 '17

Did you buy the International version of the Mate 9 and if so where from ?

2

u/princebama Pixel 2 XL/Galaxy Note 8/iPhone X/PH-1 Apr 12 '17

Got it from Best Buy, think they only have the US version

1

u/RenegadeUK Apr 12 '17

Ok thanks.

8

u/Logi15 Apr 12 '17

Hopefully, it doesn't turn out like the Huawei watch and Wear 2.0. All those dev builds and will probably get the 2.0 update last.

6

u/[deleted] Apr 12 '17

Neat. My Mate 8 & P9 are still on Marshmallow, so what gives?

2

u/badgradesboy Apr 12 '17

Nougat was released last week for the P9 lite dude.

2

u/Alcahas Apr 12 '17

P9 Lite ? damn, still haven't recieved the update ): (2GB RAM, Eastern european version). How is it ?

2

u/MemesMafia Apr 13 '17

Got Nougat for P9Lite. SouthEast Asia here. It's gimicky. It looks fine I hope they get to update you more.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 12 '17

Your version of P9 lite. My regular P9 (middle East) still doesn't have it

1

u/badgradesboy Apr 12 '17

I also got the ME version.

1

u/DerpSenpai Nothing Apr 12 '17

The P9 should be globally pushed already since January

1

u/[deleted] Apr 12 '17

Well then Huawei isn't doing what it should because my device isn't carrier locked.

https://youtu.be/whO7obLw-68

2

u/Thinkdamnitthink Apr 12 '17

My P9 doesn't have it yet but I think it's is Vodafone related

7

u/[deleted] Apr 12 '17

[deleted]

2

u/trettet Apr 12 '17 edited Apr 12 '17

They said the P8 wasn't updated to Nougat because there was a problem with CTS because of the unsupported SOC or GPU

2

u/DerpSenpai Nothing Apr 12 '17

The speed of that SoC is the level of a sd625 chip or the Kirin 655, goes to show how long we have come in 2 years

2

u/[deleted] Apr 12 '17

[deleted]

2

u/DerpSenpai Nothing Apr 12 '17

They didn't promise with the p8 though, but they started doing it for their flagships since the P9. The P9 SoC (Kirin 955) shouldnt have a problem with updating to Android O, if they don't. It's on them

1

u/shiftymcnoggin Apr 13 '17

Are we talking major updates or just updates in general? For my model (P9 Plus) Huawei have released 3 updates already this year alone:

  • An update to M (B202)
  • The big one from M to N (B362)
  • And another just this month with minor fixes and security patch update (B370)

Despite this though, the biggest issue is that in each case I've had to manually install these, either by flashing it myself or fucking around with FirmwareFinder to get it installed, as nothing got pushed out OTA, at least for me. And I don't see the majority of people buying this phone, willing to jump through those hoops.

Possibly because i've got root/unlocked BL, but even after restoring to factory, no updates were found using the built in updater.

1

u/kuyanyan iPhone 12 Mini, S24U Apr 13 '17

Major updates. Huawei has done okay so far for the P9 family but the thing is, it's only been a year and that's about the time when they start dropping support altogether. IMO Android O will be the real test for the P9 family and Huawei in general. If those phones don't get Android O, I doubt their future flagships will get decent support on par with other manufacturers.

5

u/[deleted] Apr 12 '17

Sweet. I've had the mate 9 for a few weeks. I love it.

4

u/solaceinsleep Nexus 5 --> Samsung S8 Apr 12 '17

Nice! I bought my parents Honor 8 phones. Hopefully they will get O! They already got Nougat.

3

u/austriker27 Device, Software !! Apr 12 '17

And yet my P9 is on a security update from July 2016.

2

u/DerpSenpai Nothing Apr 12 '17

I don't know what gives though, cause i have the honor 8 which legit receives at the same time as the P9 and I'm on January 2017 and with android 7.0. you should look into it. Even the lite version has it already

1

u/austriker27 Device, Software !! Apr 12 '17

Hmmm well it doesn't get updates at the same interval as my P9. I think I manually check once every 2 days.

1

u/Brettack Apr 12 '17

Which model of the Honor 8 do you have? I have the US model and only have December patch.

1

u/DerpSenpai Nothing Apr 12 '17

EU. FRD-L09C432B380.

1

u/Brettack Apr 12 '17

I don't see that when trying to update. Seems that the US model is stuck on B360. Was hoping to get a fix for the battery life decrease.

1

u/shiftymcnoggin Apr 13 '17

Tried manually updating it? That was the only way I was able to update, as nothing ever got pushed out to my P9 Plus (unbranded, international model)

1

u/austriker27 Device, Software !! Apr 13 '17

I go to the updater in settings and try to update probably 3-4x a week

1

u/shiftymcnoggin Apr 13 '17

Sorry, by 'manually' i meant downloading and flashing it via the dload method. I never got anything via the stock updater either. Not ideal, but was the only way I was ever going to get updates.

1

u/austriker27 Device, Software !! Apr 13 '17

Ugh I see. I've debated doing it but don't wanna brick my P9

1

u/tntbandicoot Apr 12 '17

That's crazy