While Samsung flagship phones and tablets are among the best out there, lower-end Samsung devices are arguably not the best choice when in the market for a midrange device. They'll do the job just fine, don't get me wrong, but Samsung just doesn't pay the same attention to their middle-end and low-end devices (Galaxy J line, Galaxy C line, Galaxy On line, Galaxy Tab line) as they do to their flagship phones. Samsung normally skips on some "premium" features that are present in their flagships, making their lower end offerings look, feel, and perform cheaper than other midrange devices on the same price slot. Furthermore, these devices very rarely get updates aside from the occasional security patch, and while platform updates are not unheard of in these phones, they often take several months.
As Samsung prepares to announce the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 with Fortnite Mobile, their Android Oreo update roadmap for their midrange device lines has leaked in full, and users looking forward to this update can expect it to reach their devices during December and the first quarter of 2019. The decision to launch Android Oreo now on these devices is a bit odd: Android 8.0 first released in August 2017, while Android 8.1 released by the end of 2017. Android 9.0 Pie has been officially out for a couple of days, and it's already making its way to a handful of devices. By the time their midrange Oreo rollout ends, Android Pie will be available on most current flagship and even midrange phones, and we may as well be close to an Android Q Developer Preview release as well.
The Android Oreo update itself has also been available on higher-end Samsung devices---namely, the Galaxy S line, the Galaxy Note line, and the Galaxy A line---for several months now. Obviously, flagship devices are always the main priority, but given how these lower-end phones are still widely sold in developing markets like South America and India, and Samsung is one of the biggest phone manufacturers in the world (and a tech giant in itself), it's out of our mind how they could take over a year to roll out a platform update. The leaked update schedule goes as follows:
- Galaxy J7 Neo: December 2018
- Galaxy Tab A (2017): January 2019
- Galaxy A9 Pro (2016): January 2019
- Galaxy C7 Pro: January 2019
- Galaxy C9 Pro: January 2019
- Galaxy J2 (2018): January 2019
- Galaxy On5 (2016): January 2019
- Galaxy On7 (2016): January 2019
- Galaxy On7 (2018): January 2019
- Galaxy J7 (2017): January 2019
- Galaxy J7 Max: February 2019
- Galaxy J7 (2016): March 2019
The list is still up for changes if any complications with the update show up. If you have one of these devices, be on the lookout for an update coming soon. As for Android Pie, if previous years tell us something, Samsung should be preparing a beta program for their current flagship devices in the coming weeks/months, so stay tuned for when that comes by as well.