Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge Android Oreo updates starting in UK

Got yourself a Samsung Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 Edge in the UK and lamenting your inability to watch picture-in-picture? Good news: a new update will add that, as well as an all-new version of Android.

While Android Oreo is the latest software from Google for phones running on its platform, Samsung has been somewhat slower in bringing the updates to its handsets, with last year's models only just getting the treatment.

However, according to XDA Developers Forum, the new 'Samsung Experience 9.0' is landing on the S7 and S7 Edge in the UK, which contains the new software.

Android Oreo, or Android 8, brings a number of new features to the phone, including the aforementioned ability to watch picture-in-picture, better battery management, notification dots and support for new emoji too.

What's new, GalaxyCat?

We've not tested the new update on a Samsung Galaxy S7 yet, so we can't confirm what features it brings, but according to the original post it offers an enhanced keyboard, improved edge lighting effects, new ways to play with the lock screen and other improvements.

According to the logs checked by the XDA bods, the phones in question are the unlocked UK versions, which would make them among the first in the world to get the update - which would mean that further countries are likely to follow suit soon.

We've contacted Samsung to confirm whether the update is rolling out officially and what changes it will bring - we'll update this story when we get confirmation.

Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.