Here’s more evidence that Samsung is working harder on software updates this year: The company is updating a mid-range device to the newest version of Android in early March. The Galaxy A8+ (2018) is now being updated to Android Pie in Russia. It’s rather surprising to see Samsung rolling out Pie for the A8+ before devices like the Galaxy A7 (2018), for which the company is running an Android Pie beta program, but we’re not going to complain as this means more mid-range Galaxies could be getting Pie in the very near future.

Of course, it’s best not to get too excited. This could just be a limited release for Russia and may not expand to other markets for a few weeks. It also remains to be seen if the Galaxy A8 (2018) will be getting the update as well. The A8+ (2018) update is already available over Samsung Smart Switch and our firmware database, and we are assuming it’s also available over the air. Along with Android Pie, the update brings the February 2019 security patch, but we’ll have to wait and see just how many of the Pie features have made their way to the device.

If you have a Galaxy A8+ (2018) in Russia, you can tap the Download updates manually option in the Settings » Software update menu on the phone to try and download the update over the air. You can use Smart Switch or grab the firmware from our database. Do let us know if you have received the update in Russia or another market by leaving a comment or by sending us an email with screenshots to our email addresses mentioned here.