It has been just a few months since Google rolled outAndroid 14in earnest, but the company has already dropped thefirst Android 15 Developer Previewandprovided its release timeframe. Like the last few years, the company expects the OS to hit platform stability and finalize the underlying APIs by June 2024, with the release of the third beta. After another beta in July, the company plans to release the OS to the public after July. But when will your phone getAndroid 15? August? September? The answer might be more complicated than that.
Android 15 is currently in the developer preview stage. As the name indicates, the OS in its existing form is strictly for developers. With this build, Google is allowing developers to play around with all the underlying API changes in the OS and inform them of significant platform changes ahead of time.
Since Android 15 is months away from public release, it’s not surprising that none of the major Android OEMs have provided any updates on its availability. Still, based on the last few years, we can make a reasonably accurate guesstimate of when your phone should get Android 15.
Google Pixel
Google’s Pixel phones and tablets are the first in line to get the Android 15 update whenever the OS is ready for its public launch. Going by the release timeframe ofAndroid 12in 2021 andAndroid 14in 2023, Android 15 might be released in early October, alongside the Pixel 9 announcement. With Android 13 coming out in August 2022, Google may also pull forward the launch, though.
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All compatible Pixel phones, starting from the Pixel 6 and newer to thePixel Tablet, should then get the OTA update within a week or two of Google’s announcement. This release should also coincide with Google pushing Android 15 to AOSP.
Android 15 won’t come to Snapdragon-powered Pixels at all, with Android 14 being the last major OS update for the Pixel 5 and 5a.
Samsung Galaxy
Samsung has been among the quickest third-party manufacturers to update its entire Galaxy lineup to the latest Android release in the last few years. That should still be the case this year, with theGalaxy S24 serieslikely being the first phone in the company’s stable to get a taste of Android 15.
If the Korean giant’s past track record is anything to go by, we can expect an Android 15-based One UI beta program to launch for the S24 in late July or early August 2024. After a few months of testing, the stable build should drop to the public in late October or early November.
Samsung’s release schedule will depend on when Google will push Android 15 to its Pixels and AOSP. If the latter releases Android 15 in mid-August, as it did with Android 13 in 2022, Samsung can get the update out for its devices earlier.
Apart from Galaxy S24, all major Samsung flagships launched in the last few years will get Android 15 by the end of this year. This includes theGalaxy S23 series,Galaxy Z Fold 5,Flip 5, Fold 4, Flip 4, Galaxy S22, S21, A54, A53, and others. If yourSamsung phone is eligible to receive four years of OS updatesor longer, it will likely get Android 15.
However, the OS won’t come to the Galaxy Note 20 and S20 series. These devices were only eligible for three OS updates, with Android 13 being the last build.
OnePlus has been inconsistent in rolling out timely OS updates for its devices. The companyreleased Android 14 for the OnePlus 11in mid-November, around 1.5 months after Google pushed the OS’s source code to AOSP. However, it took its time in bringing the OS to its other older devices, with its much-praised foldable — theOnePlus Open— getting thestable Android 14 update in late January.
TheOnePlus 12should get the stable OxygenOS-based Android 15 build in late October or November. OnePlus could beat Samsung in updating its 2024 flagship phone to Android 15. However, going by the company’s past track record, there’s a high probability that the firmware is buggy and filled with issues.
The OnePlus 11 should get Android 15 within a few weeks of the OS arriving on the OnePlus 12. Since the 2022 OnePlus 10 Pro and OnePlus 10T are eligible for three OS updates, they will receive an OTA to Android 15 — their last major OS update. However, don’t expect the firmware to arrive soon after Google releases the OS. It will likely arrive in early 2025.
Motorola is not the quickest in updating its phones to the latest Android release. The company only confirmed whichdevices will get Android 14 in January 2024, more than three months after Google released the OS.
Going by the company’s past track record, do not expect Android 15 to arrive on your Moto phone until the late end of 2024 or early 2025. All recent Motorola phones, like the Edge line and the Razr series, will get the update, though you will likely have to wait for a few months.
And the rest
The above make up the lion’s share of Android phones in the US, but there are several brands that occupy smaller, but still significant, niches in the stateside market.
Nothing is not amajorplayer in the US smartphone market, but it is making inroads. And so, it is important for the company to stand out with speedy software rollouts. Sadly, Nothing is nowhere close to the competition, as it has so far been relatively slow in rolling out new OS builds to its phones. The Nothing Phone 1’s Android 13 update arrived six months after it was seeded.
Things improved with theNothing Phone 2’s Android 14 update last year, as it arrived three months after the OS’s debut. Given the improvement, we hope to see Android 15 arrive on Nothing’s phones by the end of 2024.
Sony has little presence in the US market. The company launches a couple of Xperia phones every year, but they find few takers in the West. This is not surprising, given Sony’s half-hearted attempt at bringing them to the US. However, the company has always been quick to update its phones to the latest Android release. Itrolled out the update to the Xperia 1 Vwithin a couple of months of the OS landing on the Pixel phones. In 2022, itreleased Android 14 to its flagship Xperia phoneswithin a month of the OS being pushed to AOSP.
So, based on Sony’s track record, you may expect Android 15 to land on its flagship Xperia phone within a month or two of its stable release.
Asus is not among the fastest in rolling out updates to its phones. But it is not the slowest either. In 2022 and 2023, the company released Android 13 andAndroid 14 for its flagship Zenfone in December.
Given the consistency, you should expect Android 15 to land on the company’s flagship 2024 Zenfone around the same time this year as well. This will be followed by the update rolling out to older Zenfone models in the following weeks.
Try Android 15 early through its public beta program
You don’t need to wait until October or the end of 2024 to experience Android 15 on your phone. If you own a Pixel, Google will launch the Android 15 beta program in April, right before it holds its yearly I/O conference. For Galaxy owners, Samsung’sOne UI7 beta program should go live in August for its 2024 flagship phones before expanding to other devices in the following weeks.
OnePlus should also release a beta Android 15 firmware for the OnePlus 12 around the same time Google makes the beta program live for Pixel phones. But remember, like the developer preview, the public beta build will have bugs. If you are eager to try out Android 15 ahead of its public release, though, this may be a price you’re willing to pay.
