For a while earlier this year, HMD Global was on a roll with the release of Android 10 for its Nokia smartphones, and that majority of the lineup got the update in the first half of the year. In July, the rollout appeared to resume with the Nokia 1 receiving the update to the Go edition of Android 10, but in the nearly two months since then, no other phones have been targeted.
That changes today, as the Finnish company announced that it"s rolling out Android 10 to the Nokia 2.1, originally released in 2018. Just like the Nokia 1, the Nokia 2.1 runs the Go edition of Android, designed for entry-level devices with 1GB or less of RAM. As usual, the update is rolling out in waves, and the initial wave only includes a handful of countries:
- Bangladesh
- Cambodia
- India
- Laos
- Malaysia
- Myanmar
- Nepal
- Philippines
- Sri Lanka
- Thailand
Also in line with its previous rollouts, only 10% of the devices in these markets will see the update today. By Friday, 50% of devices should see it, and by Sunday, September 7, it should be available to everyone.
It"s not often that devices in the low end of the price spectrum get major software updates, especially two years into their lifetime, but HMD Global has done a fairly good job of supporting its smartphones over time. Two devices that released alongside the Nokia 2.1 - the Nokia 3.1 and 5.1 - are now the only ones on HMD"s roadmap that have yet to receive Android 10.