It’s that time of the year when we all desperately wait for official announcement by smartphone manufacturers, about giving our lovely gadgets a breeze of fresh air – software updates. Each year this time around, Google announces a new version of Android. This year, it’s a big one. A new milestone change, marked with new initial number. It’s time for number 5!
We’ve been stuck on four for long enough now. It has been three years since it was first announced with ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich), followed by JellyBean and lastly by KitKat that many of us were so excited to get. While 1/3 of Android devices are running KitKat 4.4.2+, there are still 2/3 on a lower base. As you can see a big majority is not even that lucky. Low budget and older devices are not really a top priority for OEMs when talking about updates.
From version 4.0 – 4.4, we’ve seen a big improvement in terms of stability, security, battery and fluidity with projects “Butter” on JellyBean 4.1 and “Svelte” on KitKat 4.4. KitKat was also refreshed with Google Nexus Launcher(GNS) or Google Experience Launcher (GEL), whatever you wanna call it, but the design language stayed mostly the same.
This time around though it’s all about design. Google totally overhauled the user interface and design language. Of course, they also added numerous features and options. But you are wondering if your device is the one to get that gorgeous Material design and new features L (Lollipop) has to offer. I still like to call it Android L, it’s kinda grew to me.
Update information about these devices were popping out lately one by one. If we recap those, the list goes something like this (remember, some are just rumours while other were actually confirmed):
The list is long….
Update 10/31/2014 – Added ASUS lineup
Nexus by Google
- Nexus 4 (late November)
- Nexus 5 (late November)
- Nexus 7 (November 3rd)
- Nexus 7 2013 (November 3rd)
- Nexus 10 (November 3rd)
Samsung
- Galaxy Note 4 (date unknown)
- Galaxy Note Edge (date unknown)
- Galaxy Note 3 (date unknown)
- Galaxy S5 (December)
- Galaxy S5 Mini (Jan-Feb)
- Galaxy S5 Dual SIM (Jan-Feb)
- Galaxy Alpha (date unknown)
- Galaxy S4 (date unknown)
HTC
- One M8 Google Play Edition (Nov-Dec)
- One M8 (Jan-Feb)
- One M7 Google Play Edition (Nov-Dec)
- One M7 (Jan-Feb)
- Desire Eye (Jan-Mar)
- Dual SIM One M8 & M7 (Jan-Mar)
- One E8 & One E8 Dual SIM (Jan-Mar)
- Butterfly 2 (Jan-Mar)
- One mini 2 (Mar-Apr)
- Desire 816 (Mar-Apr)
- One Max (Mar-May)
- One mini (Mar-May)
- Butterfly S (Mar-May)
Sony
(time not known, speculated from february starting with newest)
- Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact
- Xperia Z3 Compact
- Xperia Z3v
- Xperia Z3
- Xperia Z2 Tablet
- Xperia Z2
- Xperia Z1 Compact
- Xperia Z1
- Xperia Z1s
- Xperia Z Ultra
LG
(dates unknown)
- G3 (before the end of the year)
- G2 Pro (before the end of the year)
- G3 S, G3 Stylus, G3 LTE-A, G2 and others (not known, first quarter next year)
- G Pad 8.3
Motorola
(dates unknown)
- Moto X (1.gen & 2.gen)
- Moto G (1.gen & 2.gen)
- Droid Ultra & Max
- Droid Mini
- Moto G LTE & Moto G Google Play edition
- Moto E
Asus
- ZenFone 4 (Apr)
- ZenFone 5 (Apr)
- ZenFone 5 LTE (Apr)
- ZenFone 6 (Apr)
- PadFone S (Apr)
- PadFone Infinity (A86) (Jun)
Nvidia
(date unknown)
- Shield Tablet
OnePlus
(date unknown)
- One
Oppo
(date unknown)
- N1
- N1 mini
- Find 7 & Find 7a
- N3
- R5
Like you can see, most of them are without dates, which only indicates that manufacturers are going to take care of them, without giving specific timeframe. If you saw your device on that list, at least you can release your breath knowing it is not forgotten yet. Just wait patiently for update or flash a custom ROM once they start popping out after official release on November 3rd.
The list is live, meaning we will update it regularly when more information is know. Stay tuned!
sources: llabtoofer, youmobile, motorola
u forgot asus duds asus zenfone get android loilpop in -/4/2015
Thank you for your info! I will add that. Cheers