This Nokia phone breaks Google’s rules

Bitter news from HMD Global: The manufacturer behind the current Nokia smartphones cannot deliver a promised Android update. The reason given is an “impaired user experience”. However, owners of the affected Android smartphone will receive a small compensation.

Actually, the matter is clear: Smartphones with Android One receive at least two Android updates. These are the crystal clear rules that Google has given the special Android version on the way. With the Nokia 9 PureView, manufacturer HMD Global breaks the rule.

Nokia 9 PureView does not receive an update to Android 11

It was launched in 2019 with Android 9 and was updated to Android 10 the following year However, there will be no update to Android 11 (Source: HMD Global).

The reason for the absence is given with “Incompatibilities between the camera and the software”that would have led to an “impaired user experience”. HMD Global did not reveal what that means exactly.

In doing so, HMD Global is breaking the rules that Google actually set up with Android One. The guidelines clearly state: “Android One smartphones will be upgraded to the current version of the operating system for at least two years.” The Nokia 9 PureView will continue to receive security updates.

In hands-on, the Nokia 9 PureView made a promising first impression:

50 percent discount on a new Nokia smartphone as compensation

In order to alleviate the understandable annoyance that many owners of the Nokia 9 PureView are now feeling, HMD Global has come up with a small compensation: when Buying a Nokia XR20 or any other X-series device is said to be a 50 percent discount depending on regional availability. For this purpose, HMD Global has also published a special page that is used for registration (to HMD Global).

That is praiseworthy, but whether the lacquered owners of the Nokia 9 PureView will use a Nokia smartphone again in the future is at least doubtful.