The Honor 8 was one of our favorite affordable smartphones of 2016, or at least it would’ve been if it hadn’t launched with Huawei’s infamous EMUI software layer. Despite the polished hardware, the same couldn’t be said about the software. Now, Honor is looking to change that with an update to EMUI 5.0.

Update: Honor has adjusted the rollout date to February 11th.

As promised earlier this year, Honor is currently preparing to push Android 7.0 Nougat along with Huawei’s new and vastly improved EMUI 5.0 skin. As usual, Nougat brings split-screen multitasking, improved standby battery life, and dozens of little tweaks here or there that enhance the overall experience. The big story here, though, is EMUI 5.0.

This latest version of Huawei’s software layer was launched with the Mate 9 last year, and as we noted in our full review of that device, it’s a massive improvement. The new software layer cleans up the look of just about every major aspect of the device, including the notification shade, settings menu, and many of the various apps. Is it perfect? I wouldn’t say so, but after using it on the Mate 9 for a few months, I can honestly say I enjoy it, and it makes every older Huawei phone and much better device. Oh, and there’s an app drawer now too.

Honor will begin pushing Android Nougat with EMUI 5.0 to the Honor 8 starting tomorrow, February 10th, with the rollout completing for all Honor 8 devices by the end of the month. On a side note, the company’s recently launched Honor 6X will be getting this same update sometime during Q2.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news: