After seeing all of the US carrier variants of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ pick-up Oreo updates within the past two weeks, it’s no wonder that a number of you have asked us about the unlocked versions. Why haven’t the US unlocked Galaxy S8 and S8+ been updated yet (same for the Note 8)? According to Samsung, they take longer to prepare, so the update will be another 2-3 weeks out.
A Samsung community moderator posted an update to the Oreo situation for US unlocked models on Friday, stating that these unlocked units “must go through more rigorous testing than Carrier-specific devices” because Samsung needs to make sure they work on all supported networks. And that certainly makes sense when said in a vacuum. But then you remember that the unlocked units are the testing units for Oreo, likely because they are easier to test because they are so open to all networks and should require less carrier interference.
Either way, Samsung is saying that we’re 2-3 weeks out from these devices, which again, were a part of the entire Oreo beta test, from receiving the stable build. Meanwhile, phones like Verizon’s S8 and S8+, which were not a part of the Oreo beta, picked up stable Oreo first. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Then again, we told you in November that Samsung had already begun slipping on US unlocked updates. So, apologies if I don’t seem that open to this idea that these units in particular are the hardest to update.
Also, if it wasn’t clear, they did suggest that the unlocked Note 8 will grab the update at around the same time.
// Samsung