The Android 7.1 Nougat update for LG devices -- notably the LG G5, LG G4, LG G3, LG G Stylo, LG V10 and LG V20 should be in the pipeline pretty soon, taking into consideration that the Android 7.1 Nougat beta programme has been confirmed by none other than the folks over at Google. After all, there is nothing quite like having a spanking new operating system update to your smartphone -- the sooner the better, most of the time. There are exceptions to the rule of course, where certain updates end up botching your device, to the risk-reward factor is always there for early adopters.
We do know that Google began to introduce Android 7.0 Nougat from August 22, 2016. In that rollout, Google also set in stone that their collection of newer smartphones: the Nexus 6, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus 9, Nexus Player and Pixel C will all be on the receiving end of an Over The Air (OTA) Android 7.0 Nougat update which is fine and dandy, although the Nexus 5 misses the sweet, sweet Nougat boat this time around.
Of course, following that announcement, it seems that all is not well for Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P owners after installation of Android 7.0 Nougat. There were issues of battery drain in those two models (not all users complained though, so it could be a case of selective “prosecution”, so to speak), as well as a bootloop issue. Fret not -- perhaps Google has a fix in store with the announcement of their Android 7.1 Nougat beta programme.
In the Android 7.1 Nougat beta programme, Daydream VR support is now a possibility, in addition to a slew of other updates and goodies for the respective devices on which it will be released on. As for LG’s stable of smartphones, where do they stand in view of Android 7.1 Nougat?
With the Android 7.1.x Nougat final release being due some time in early December, apart from the Nexus stable of devices (Nexus 6, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus 9, Pixel C, Pixel and Pixel XL and select Android One devices), you can be sure that LG of South Korea would not be lagging too far behind. After all, LG beat Google to the punch this time around by releasing the first smartphone in the market with Android 7.0 Nougat right out of the box -- the LG V20. The other LG devices to pick up the Android 7.0 Nougat will not fare too badly either, where we know that LG G5 owners ought to get a whiff of the Android 7.0 Nougat update approximately a couple of months after the final build release is out.
Such optimism hails from the fact that LG’s Marshmallow push was rather exemplary among all of the other smartphone manufacturers. As for the older smartphone models like the LG G4 and LG G3, chances are there might be an additional few months of waiting, which would mean some time in the first quarter of 2017 being extremely plausible.
For those who have yet to purchase the flagship LG V20 which was released in South Korea at the end of last month, it remains to be seen whether the newer batches will arrive with Android 7.1 Nougat right out of the box in the future as opposed to having to perform a software update after unboxing the device.
