Android 12 is coming: Here's the latest info on when your phone will get it
We break down which phones will get Android 12 and our best-educated guesses as to when.
Android 12 is here ... sort of. The Android team released the final Android 12 source code. But for the first time in recent memory, the Android 12 build didn't release same-day on Pixels, so we have longer to wait than expected.
Other manufacturers are using the final source code to go full steam ahead with their own betas. The first Samsung One UI 4 beta has begun, as has the initial OxygenOS 12 beta. But because Android 12 took longer than any other software release before it, your flagship phone could take longer than average to get a non-beta update.
You're here to determine which of the best Android phones will get Android 12 - and when. Unfortunately, companies haven't officially announced this information yet, and it will depend on how long it takes to iron out bugs in their respective betas. But we can extrapolate from previous years what to expect. Generally speaking, recent flagships are likely to see stable releases by the end of 2021, while older phones may have to wait until early-to-mid 2022.
The Android 12 beta season has begun, but official launches won't happen for some time. For those Android users asking, "When will my phone get Android 12?" Here's everything we know.
Jump to:When will my Google Pixel phone get Android 12?
We previously wrote that Google Pixel owners would get access to Android 12 on the day it launches. Unfortunately, we were dead wrong, and we apologize for the false assumption. In a statement to Android Central on October 4, Google informed us that it would need more time to perfect its Pixel software:
We're putting the finishing touches on a special release with Pixel-exclusive and Pixel-first experiences on Android 12. This will roll out to Pixel users in the next few weeks.
The "next few weeks" could mean anytime from mid-to-late October. Our resident Android guru Jerry Hildenbrand threw out a prediction of October 27, based on the fact that Google will be running its annual developer conference starting that day - with programs specifically focused on Android 12.
We could also theoretically see the "Pixel-first" software launch the same day Google announces the Pixel 6. Several leaks - one from Google itself - indicate it could unveil the phone on October 19. We're not sure if two weeks qualifies as a "few," but this is all speculation at this point.
Whenever Google decides to release Android 12, here is the list of phones expected to receive the update (the Pixel 6 will have Android 12 pre-installed):
- Pixel 3
- Pixel 3 XL
- Pixel 3a
- Pixel 3a XL
- Pixel 4
- Pixel 4 XL
- Pixel 4a
- Pixel 4a 5G
- Pixel 5
- Pixel 5a
- Pixel 6
Samsung typically starts its beta after the official Android launch. Yet, given how delayed Android 12 has been and how massive the changes, the company already launched the One UI 4 beta on the Galaxy S21 series. In our tests, it's been a bit of a buggy mess, which could mean Samsung has a long way to go before a final release. The beta should come to older flagships like the S20s next.
As for when your Samsung phone will get Android 12 (One UI 4), that link will give you a definitive rundown of compatible devices and estimated timetables. But we'll break down the highlights below.
One UI 3.0 arrived on the Galaxy S20s in December 2020. Then, its Note 20s, S10s, and other major phones in January 2021. Theoretically, we would see a similar pattern with 4.0, with the S21s getting Android 12 in December, followed by the Note 20, foldables, and recent Galaxy A phones in January. Then older phones and tablets will arrive between spring and summer 2022.
Just keep in mind that we're in uncharted territory with Android 12. Samsung may end up needing more time than usual to implement One UI 4, which could delay your updates. We'll be testing out the betas ourselves through the end of 2021 to determine Samsung's progress towards a stable build.
Here is the current Samsung Android 12 update list for its phones:
- Galaxy S21 / S21 Plus / S21 Ultra
- Galaxy S20 / S20 Plus / S20 Ultra / S20 FE
- Galaxy S10 / S10 Plus / S10 Ultra / S10 Lite / S10e
- Galaxy Note 20 / S20 Ultra
- Galaxy Note 10 / Note 10 Plus | Note 10 Lite
- Galaxy Z Fold 3
- Galaxy Z Flip 3
- Galaxy Z Fold 2
- Galaxy Z Flip
- Galaxy Fold
- Galaxy A72 / Galaxy A52s / Galaxy A52 / Galaxy A42 / Galaxy A32 / Galaxy A22 / Galaxy A12 / Galaxy A02s / Galaxy A02
- Galaxy A71 / Galaxy A51 / Galaxy A41 / Galaxy A31 / Galaxy A21s / Galaxy A21 / Galaxy A11
- Galaxy A03s
- Galaxy A Quantum
- Galaxy M62 / Galaxy M42 / Galaxy M32 / Galaxy M12 / Galaxy M02s / Galaxy M02
- Galaxy M51 / Galaxy M31s / Galaxy M31 Prime / Galaxy M21s / Galaxy M21 / Galaxy M11 / Galaxy M01s / Galaxy M01
- Galaxy F62 / Galaxy F52 5G / Galaxy F22 / Galaxy F12 / Galaxy F02s / Galaxy F41
- Galaxy XCover 5 / Galaxy XCover Pro
OxygenOS 12 will be an intriguing Android 12 release for several reasons. For one thing, its foundational software is merged with ColorOS, the operating system made by OnePlus's parent company Oppo. And for another, OnePlus had trouble getting the OxygenOS 11 operating system onto most of its phone lineup last year, causing delays.
Android 12 has proven both much more substantial and much more buggy an update than Android 11. So does this mean OnePlus will have even more trouble getting timely updates out to its phones?
Alongside the "launch" of Android 12, OnePlus began the OxygenOS 12 beta on October 4 for OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro phone owners. Unfortunately for fans of past OxygenOS iterations, we've found that OxygenOS 12 has merged with ColorOS so completely that it has lost its distinctive identity. That might make you in less of a rush to update.
On the other hand, this merger should help OnePlus phones get the update more quickly than before. In terms of when your OnePlus phone will get Android 12, we expect the OnePlus 9 series to get a stable build by the end of December. From there, we expect the update order to go as follows: OnePlus 8 series, OnePlus 9R, 8T, Nord 2, Nord CE, Nord, and the OnePlus 7T/7 series. All of these phones should get the update in 2022.
We also know the rumored OnePlus 9 RT is supposed to have OxygenOS 12 out of the box and currently has a leaked release date in mid-October. But we're still waiting on official confirmation on that front, and given that the OS is still in beta, it's unclear how well it'll perform for new phone owners.
So far as we know, the OnePlus Android 12 update list consists of the following phones:
- OnePlus 7
- OnePlus 7 Pro / 7 Pro 5G
- OnePlus 7T
- OnePlus 7T Pro / 7T Pro McLaren
- OnePlus 7T
- OnePlus 8
- OnePlus 8 Pro
- OnePlus 8T
- OnePlus 9
- OnePlus 9 Pro
- OnePlus 9R
- OnePlus Nord
- OnePlus Nord CE
- OnePlus Nord 2
- OnePlus Nord N200
OPPO has made a concerted effort to bring more of its phones to Western markets. So OPPO phone owners will be happy to know that ColorOS 12 is on its way. The ColorOS 12 beta began on October 4 with the Find X3 series, though only in certain territories.
Reportedly, OPPO plans to bring the update to over a hundred phones, including every 2021 and 2020 phone and most 2019 phones. The long list of phones likely to be updated is below:
- Find X3 / Find X3 Pro / Find X3 Neo / Find X3 Lite
- Find X2 / Find X2 Pro / Find X2 Neo / Find X2 Lite
- Reno 6 / Reno 6 Pro / Reno 6 Pro+ / Reno 6Z
- Reno 5 / Reno 5 Pro / Reno 5 Pro+ / Reno 5 Lite / Reno 5K / Reno 5F
- Reno 4 / Reno 4 Pro / Reno 4F / Reno 4Z / Reno 4 Lite / Reno 4 SE
- Reno 3 / Reno 3 Pro
- OPPO A95 / OPPO A94 / OPPO A93 / OPPO A93s
- OPPO A74 / OPPO A73 / OPPO A72
- OPPO A55 / OPPO A54 / OPPO A53 / OPPO A53s / OPPO A52
- OPPO A35 / OPPO A33 / OPPO A32 / OPPO A31
- OPPO A16 / OPPO A15s / OPPO A12s / OPPO A12e
- OPPO K9 / OPPO K7x / OPPO K7
- OPPO F19 Pro / OPPO F19 Pro+ / OPPO F19
- OPPO F17 Pro / OPPO F17
- OPPO F15
As for an actual timeline, we only know OPPO's ColorOS 12 beta schedule for Chinese markets so far. We don't know yet when it'll come to global markets. Here is the current beta schedule until we learn more:
- October: Find X3 series, OnePlus 9 series
- November: Find X2 series, Reno 6 series
- December: Reno 5 series, K9, A95, Ace 2 series, OnePlus 8 series
Xiaomi's MIUI 12.5 Android 11 OS is the company's best software in years. So we're excited to see how MIUI grows with Android 12.
Right now, a few Xiaomi phones are eligible for the Android 12 beta: the Xiaomi Mi 11, Mi 11 Ultra, Mi 11i, and Mi 11 Pro, specifically. But they're using stock Android 12, not the new Android skin that Xiaomi will release. Xiaomi did release a MIUI 12.5 Android 12 beta on the Mi 11 in late August, but only on Chinese-territory models. We haven't seen it on other phones yet.
A huge number of Xiaomi phones got the MIUI 12.5 Android 11 update, and most Xiaomi, Redmi, and POCO-brand phones tend to get two Android OS updates per life cycle. But Xiaomi hasn't given official notice of which phones will receive it. This is our best estimate of the Xiaomi Android 12 update list:
- Xiaomi Mi 11 / Mi 11 Pro / Mi 11 Ultra / Mi 11i / Mi 11 Lite
- Xiaomi Mi 11T / Mi 11T Pro
- Xiaomi Mi Mix 4 / Mi Mix Fold
- Xiaomi Mi 10 / Mi 10 Pro / Mi 10 Youth / Mi 10i / Mi 10s
- Xiaomi Mi 10T / Mi 10T Pro / Mi 10T Lite
- Redmi 10 / Redmi 10 Prime
- Redmi Note 10 series
- Redmi Note 9 series
- Redmi Note 8 2021
- Redmi K40 series
- Redmi K30 series
- Redmi 10X series
- POCO F3
- POCO F2 Pro
- POCO X3 / X3 Pro
- POCO X2
- POCO M3 / M3 Pro
- POCO M2 / M2 Pro
- POCO C3
As for when your Xiaomi phone will receive it, we don't have an estimate yet. Its phones didn't start to get Android 11 until early this year, even its flagships. But given it has started to push MIUI 12.5 Android 12 on the Mi 11, it's possible that your Mi phone could see the update before the end of 2021. Just don't hold us to that.
When will my Motorola phone get Android 12?
Motorola doesn't like updating its phones. As a result, most of them only get one platform update, meaning that phones released in 2020 and early 2021 won't get Android 12. So those who bought recent phones like the Motorola One 5G Ace and Moto G Power (2021) are totally out of luck.
The Motorola Android 12 update list mostly includes phones released this year that came with Android 11 installed. Only two Android 10 phones - the Motorola Edge+ and Motorola RAZR - will get a second update to Android 12, as far as we know. Here is the full list of phones likely to receive Android 12:
- Motorola RAZR 5G
- Motorola Edge+ (2020)
- Motorola Edge (2021)
- Motorola Edge 20 / Edge 20 Pro / Edge 20 Lite
- Moto G10 Power
- Moto G20
- Moto G30
- Moto G40
- Moto G50
- Moto G60
- Moto G100
Nokia is yet another phone company that's had some problems with updates. Despite being the only manufacturer still making Android One phones, Nokia has failed to live up to the promise of simultaneous OS releases with Pixel phones. Instead, it released an Android 11 update schedule and then missed its deadlines for many of its phones.
With Nokia stuck playing catch-up on Android 11 throughout 2021, we're unclear how it'll handle Android 12's even more weighty changes. We can't give any real clues to when you'll receive it, only which Nokia phones will receive it. Because they typically receive two software updates, these Nokia phones are guaranteed to get an Android 12 update:
- Nokia X20
- Nokia X10
- Nokia XR20
- Nokia G50
- Nokia G20
- Nokia G10
- Nokia 8.3 5G
- Nokia 8 V 5G UW
- Nokia 5.4
- Nokia 5.3
- Nokia 1.3
- Nokia 2.4
- Nokia 3.4
LG finally confirmed suspicions that it would be exiting the smartphone market, but it also promised to update certain LG phones to Android 12. These are the eight LG phones that'll jump up to Android 12 (we've marked which of the two will also update to Android 13):
- LG Wing (+ Android 13)
- LG Velvet (+ Android 13)
- LG V50S
- LG V50
- LG G8
- LG Q31
- LG Q52
- LG Q92
While we appreciate that LG isn't abandoning its loyal customers while fleeing the smartphone industry, there's still reason for concern. Before LG's decision, it struggled to release timely updates for its phones. Now that its executives pulled the plug on the business, will it really have the resources to release updates in a timely manner? One Android Central editor even argued that we shouldn't believe LG when it promises three years of software updates.
So while we know the phones LG intends to support, it's a toss-up when it'll happen. However, we can at least say with certainty that the LG Wing, LG Velvet, and LG V50 are the phones most likely to get timely updates.