Impossible is the word many will scream out when they hear this, but it seems Samsung already has Android 6.0 builds ready for the Galaxy Note 4, the company’s most badly treated flagship smartphone ever. The folks over at Napidroid say one of their editors has received the Android 6.0 update on the Galaxy Note 4, and based on our information we can say the firmware build (version N910FXXU1DOL3X) is certainly the real deal.
But we’re inclined to lean towards the possibility that the update was pushed out by mistake, unless Samsung is looking to make up for the poor software support Note 4 owners have seen until now by pushing Marshmallow to the device even before the 2015 lineup of Galaxy flagships. Heck, some regions are still getting Android 5.1.1, so it would be very odd for Samsung to start rolling out Android 6.0 already.
The update – final or not – does seem to bring new features to the Note 4, including the Note 5’s screen-off memo function that lets you start taking notes with the S Pen as soon as you take it out of its slot (though this was already possible through a simple hack.)
Performance is said to have improved as well (though with the multitasking menu lagging now and then), and we also see the new app icons and Air Command menu from the newer version of TouchWiz that debuted on the Note 5 and Galaxy S6 edge+. There don’t seem to be any other visual changes, and Napidroid doesn’t offer any details on what else is included in the Marshmallow build.
Again, someone at Samsung likely goofed up and made the Android 6.0 build available long ahead of schedule, so don’t start looking at your Galaxy Note 4 all day long in the hopes of getting Marshmallow. It’s not that Samsung isn’t welcome to surprise us, but this just seems too good to be true, especially after the treatment the company’s laggy flagship has gotten since it launched last year.
