HTC U11 Android 8.0 Oreo rollout begins in Taiwan

The steady rollout of Android 8.0 Oreo continues. This time it’s the HTC U11’s turn, as Android’s flagship OS has begun rolling out in Taiwan via an OTA update.

The major update (build number 2.31.709.1) clocks in at 1.33GB and includes the vanilla Oreo upgrade, as well as November’s security patch. The update also enables Voice over Wi-Fi support, although this has been enabled specifically for Chunghwa Telecom customers in the region.

While the update is currently exclusive to HTC’s home country, its arrival should pave the way for a global rollout very soon. HTC had previously promised that the U11 will be updated to Oreo before the end of 2017.

Of the elite Android OEMs, HTC has emerged as one of the earliest adopters of Google’s latest update. Earlier this month, HTC unveiled its successor to the U11, the U11 Plus, which will become one of the first flagship smartphones to run Oreo out of the box.

OMG, Oreo update is live for #HTCU11! (TW unit)

Totally didn’t expect @htc to drop the update this early.

cc @LlabTooFeR http://pic.twitter.com/dJwJAfmO9l

— Shimon Das (@shimonips) November 15, 2017

While HTC apparently has no plans to launch the U11 Plus in the US, the U11 is still a fantastic handset, especially if you can ignore those chunky, circa-2016 bezels. The Oreo update, with all of its brand new features and tweaks, will only make the U11 an even better proposition for consumers.

HTC also confirmed back in August that the HTC U Ultra and HTC 10 will be updated to Oreo alongside its more recent flagships. These are likely to follow shortly after the U11’s international Oreo rollout.

Google recently revealed Android’s distribution numbers for November. The statistics showed that Oreo has moved from 0.2 to 0.3 percent, which is a promising start for the fledgling update as many OEMs are currently only rolling out the update in beta form.