Android M 6.0 Marshmallow Update Release Date: Huawei Lists Devices Slated For Upgrade OTA Rollout
Now that Google's Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X are shipping and the Android 6.0 Marshmallow (or Android M) update is rolling out to the Nexus family of devices, the natural question for those with Android devices outside of Google's flagship line is, Which handsets will get the update, and when?
For Huawei owners, the answer to the first question has been revealed, though the second question remains up for debate.
On the website Weibo (via NDTV), the fast-growing Chinese smartphone maker has listed the devices in its lineup that are eligible to receive the update to Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Luckily for Huawei fans, a lot of them make the cut.
For the popular Huawei Ascend and Mate series, the following variants are all slated to receive the Android M OTA update: Ascend P8, Ascend P8Max, Mate S, P8, Ascend G7, Ascend G7 Plus, and Ascend G8.
In the Honor series, Huawei also announced the following smartphones and phablets as eligible for an upgrade to Android 6.0 Marshmallow: Honor 7, Honor 7i, Honor 6 Plus, Honor 6, MediaPad X2, Honor 4X, and Honor 4C.
The company is planning on beginning the rollout at some point in November 2015, but as this is the official list for the Chinese versions of Huawei's handsets, the update schedule for Huawei's global customers may not follow the same schedule.
In fact, it's likely that those in the U.S. or elsewhere with a Huawei device will have to wait until sometime next year before the Android M OTA rollout hits their phones.
Android 6.0 Marshmallow, while not being a complete facelift like last year's Android 5.0 Lollipop, comes with some major enhancements under the hood to device performance and user privacy.
Android M extends the battery life of smartphones and tablets with a new power saving idling feature called "Doze" mode, while giving users a lot more control over privacy by giving them the chance to deny or allow individual app permissions as they come into play. Android M also brings Google's rival mobile payment system to Apple Pay, called Android Pay, and brings native OS support for fingerprint scanners on devices.