HUAWEI expands its Nougat beta program to the Nova

Imagine a flashy press conference full of die-hard technology journalists. Now imagine an interminably long presentation that literally involved a full half hour of a pretty girl on stage explaining how to take the perfect selfie. To a room full of tech journalists.

That was my first introduction to the HUAWEI Nova, which at the time didn’t seem anything too special. A nice looking phone lacking any real substance. But since then I’ve come to know the Nova as a decent mid-ranger with fairly solid battery life, an experience unfortunately let down by its ugly and dated EMUI software layer.

So it comes as a nice surprise to know that the HUAWEI Nova has just started receiving updates to Android 7.0 through HUAWEI’s Nougat beta program. Unfortunately the rollout is currently only available in China, so I can’t yet tell you if the Nova will inherit the excellent Nougat skin on the newer Mate 9. But for a device as obsessed with looks as the Nova, it was definitely in need of a software makeover.

Other HUAWEI devices on the same beta track include the HUAWEI P9 Plus and G9 Plus. Owners of the HUAWEI P9 and Mate 8 have already received their final Android Nougat update (at least in China). The firmware is version B321 and is currently available to select Nova units enrolled in the beta program.

How important are selfies to you? Do you like the old EMUI or the new one found on the Mate 9?

Up next: Learn how to master your camera’s manual mode