Official: Honor 8 will receive Android 7.0 Nougat this February

To the surprise of many, the Huawei-made Honor 8 was actually a damn good phone, so good in fact, it placed #7 on our Top 10 list for the best Android smartphones of 2016. Huawei’s software — EMUI 4.1 — although full featured, was actually one of the low points for us, mainly because of how drastically it changed the regular Android Marshmallow interface into something more akin to iOS. It wasn’t horrible, especially considering the performance of the phone was top notch, but it definitely takes some getting used to.

A lot of the bad that comes with EMUI was supposed to be addressed in the next big software update — EMUI 5.0 — Huawei’s modified version of Android 7.0 Nougat. Now, we’ve already seen a few leaks and beta tests, but the real question is when Huawei plans on pushing this update to devices, something they’re finally announcing today.

Although Android 7.0 Nougat + EMUI 5.0 isn’t ready quite yet for the Honor 8, Honor did announce that it will officially begin rolling out this upcoming February. Honor says the update will focus on “user friendliness, efficiency and security” thanks to a more streamlined user interface (EMUI 5.0) which is supposed to cut down on the steps needed to perform certain functions. This includes an app drawer for those that don’t bother with 3rd party options. Here’s a quick feature list:

New EMUI 5.0 features

• Ability to run different profiles in parallel – switch effortlessly between their professional and personal lives.
• Machine learning enables EMUI 5.0 to dynamically optimize processing resources by analyzing the user’s behavior over time and prioritizing frequently used apps.
• EMUI 5.0 comes with improved capabilities and flexibility around security. For example, the user can ensure specific apps stay ultra-secure with such features as App Lock.
• EMUI 5.0 also features a more intelligent power management system, with a selection of power saving modes so you can manage your device’s battery consumption more easily.

For those keeping track, Android 7.0 Nougat only officially began rolling out to Nexus devices on August 22nd, about 4 months ago. Since then, not too many manufacturers have jumped on board, and we’ve only just recently seen updates on the LG G5, Lenovo Moto Z, HTC 10, but not many others. Android updates are important and it’s refreshing to see manufacturers finally begin to make it a priority — especially those with their more affordable flagships like the Honor 8.

For those interested, you can find the Honor 8 on Amazon for only $350 (64GB). It’s one helluva deal.