HMD Global will update the Nokia 2 to Android Oreo, but not with Android Go

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HMD Global has, by and large, knocked it out of the park when it comes to updating their devices. Their updates are generally pretty quick, even if they aren’t without their issues. The Nokia 2 is next in line from the company to get updated to Android Oreo, but there is a caveat. Despite having only 1GB of RAM, the Nokia 2 will not have Android Go support. Android Go features a number of under-the-hood changes that make it possible for smartphones with a low amount of RAM to run newer Android versions.

…we’ve done extensive work together with Google & Qualcomm to enable Android Oreo for Nokia 2. Given that Oreo requires more from the system than Nougat, there is a trade off on snappiness of the experience. … — Juho Sarvikas (@sarvikas) January 25, 2019

This is made even more interesting as the company is actually giving end users the option to stay on Android Nougat if they choose. If they want to upgrade, there will be a form users can fill out to get it “shortly.” HMD Global’s Chief Product Officer, Juho Sarvikas, has said that they have worked extensively with Google and Qualcomm to ensure that it can work. As Sarvikas also notes, it’s not possible to convert an Android smartphone from regular Android to Android Go.

Device owners may well be bothered by the fact that, despite the fact that Android Pie is now available, the Nokia 2 still doesn’t even have Android Oreo. At the very least, it’s good that there’s a technical reason for it rather than HMD Global simply forgetting about it. Users will have the option to upgrade, gaining new features at the cost of UI performance. “New features” include battery gains, performance gains, Autofill API, Picture in Picture mode, and a whole lot more. That impact on UI performance is why the company will make the update optional. It’s rare that companies do that, so it may genuinely be an issue for some. As such, when the update comes out, we recommend waiting to see what users think about it before you update yourself.