HMD Global fails to update Nokia 9 Pureview to Android 11 despite its promise to offer 2 years of OS update

It appears that HMD Global has given up on updating the Nokia 9 PureView to Android 11. The Nokia 9 PureView is the company’s last proper flagship smartphone that comes with a rather unique Penta-camera setup. Despite the brand’s promise to offer 2 years of operating system updates, the flagship device will be stuck on Android 10 which was pushed in December 2019.

According to the official Nokia website, they had made a tough choice not to proceed with Android 11 for the PureView device due to incompatibilities between the camera and the software which would lead to a compromised experience that does not meet their high standards. It assured that the device will still continue to receive crucial security updates.

The Nokia 9 PureView had a total of five 12MP cameras at the rear with two cameras shooting in colour and the remaining three in monochrome. Nokia claims that this Penta-camera setup can capture more detail up to 1,200 different layers in a single image which gives more control to purists when shooting in RAW DNG. Although the camera hardware looks good on paper, the camera experience was laggy during our first hands-on and the Snapdragon 845 chip was quite outdated for a brand new 2019 flagship. The device was not officially released in Malaysia.

In an attempt to “bring the Android 11 experience to Nokia 9 PureView users”, HMD Global is offering a 50% discount for the Nokia XR20. The XR20 is a rugged MIL-STD-810H and IP68 water-resistant certified device that comes with a 6.67″ Full HD+ display and a Snapdragon 480 5G processor. Out of the box, the Nokia XR20 runs on Android 11 and HMD promises to offer an impressive 4 years of security updates.

As a comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S10 series which was launched a few weeks earlier than the Nokia 9 PureView, has gotten its Android 11 update in February 2021. Nokia smartphones with their stock Android experience under the Android One programme was supposed to be at the forefront of delivering the latest OS and security updates. Several months ago, it was reported that Nokia has delayed its Android 11 rollout for several models by a quarter.

Nokia’s inability to update their flagship device doesn’t really inspire confidence for its consumers, especially when they are charging RM1,599 for a Snapdragon 480 5G-powered smartphone that promises 3 years of warranty, software, and security updates.

Related reading

• Nokia 9 PureView: A device with a lot of hype and nothing to show for
• Nokia 9 PureView camera is worse than 2016 flagships according to DxOMark
• Nokia fixes the Nokia 9 PureView’s in-display fingerprint sensor by making it worse