Nokia 8.1, Nokia 2.3 Getting Android 11 Update in Select Regions

Nokia 8.1 and Nokia 2.3 have started receiving the Android 11 update. Nokia 8.1 was launched in December 2018 with Android 9 Pie and was updated to Android 10 in October 2019. Nokia 2.3 was launched in December 2019 with Android 9 Pie and received an Android 10 update in April 2020. As per Nokia licensee HMD Global, both the smartphones will be receiving the update in select regions in the first wave. There is no information on when the rest of the world will get the update.

In an announcement on the Nokia Phones Community Forum, HMD Global released a list of eight countries that will be part of the first wave that receive the Android 11 update for Nokia 8.1. The countries include India, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam. In another announcement, HMD Global announced that Nokia 2.3 will be receiving the Android 11 update in 18 countries — Bangladesh, Cambodia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hong Kong, Iceland, Latvia, Laos, Lithuania, Macau, Malaysia, Nepal, Norway, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sweden, and Vietnam.

Nokia also mentioned that for both these smartphones, 10 percent of the units will receive the update immediately, 50 percent of the units will receive the update by April 10, and the rest of the devices will receive the update by April 12. There hasn't been much information regarding the firmware version or the Android security patch that these smartphones will receive.

HMD Global launched Nokia 8.1 with a 6.18-inch full-HD+ display. Under the hood, it is powered by Snapdragon 710 SoC, coupled with up to 6GB RAM and up to 128GB of onboard storage. On the back, it features a dual camera setup that comprises a 12-megapixel primary sensor, a 13-megapixel depth sensor. It also sports a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. At the front, it has a 20-megapixel selfie camera. The phone packs a 3,500mAh battery with 18W fast charging capabilities.

Nokia 2.3 was launched with a 6.2-inch HD+ display and a waterdrop-style notch for the selfie camera. It is powered by a MediaTek Helio A22 SoC, coupled with 2GB of RAM. It features 32GB of onboard storage that is expandable with a microSD card. On the back, there is a dual camera setup that features a 13-megapixel primary sensor, a 2-megapixel depth sensor. The phone also features a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. For selfies, it has a 5-megapixel sensor. Nokia 2.3 packs a 4,000mAh battery.

Is Android One holding back Nokia smartphones in India? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.