LG phones are dead — but these models will get Android 11 upgrades
LG phones will get Android 12. Eventually
LG may be leaving the smartphone business, but that doesn’t mean its existing devices are going to be left out in the cold. Some of the company’s smartphones are still due to get upgraded to Android 11 and Android 12.
This news was confirmed on LG’s Korean website, though the company hasn’t specified which devices will get Android 12. It’s not all bad news, though, since LG Germany has revealed which devices are set to get Android 11 later this year.
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Anyone rocking the LG Velvet 5G should be getting Android 11 by the end of April 2021, since work on the update is now complete. The LG G8X, LG Velvet 4G, LG G8S, LG Wing, LG K52, and LG K42 are also due to get the upgrade before the end of this year.
Unfortunately, we don’t know exactly when those updates will be ready. At the moment, these phones are still in the testing stages. The G8X should get it before the end of Q3 2021, but we don’t have anything more specific.
Presumably, many of the same devices will be getting updated to Android 12 as well. After all, it would be pretty silly to jump from Android 10 to 12 when Android 11 is just sitting there waiting to be utilized.
Unfortunately some of the older devices, like the LG G8S. which arrived in July 2019 running Android 9, may miss out. It does make sense for LG to prioritize its newer phones, however. Plus, since most companies stop offering full Android updates after two years, the G8S is already getting towards the end of its official lifespan.
The same may well be true of the LG G8X, which launched in November of the same year, and also came running Android 9 out of the box.
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There’s no word on when LG might start rolling out Android 12, though it definitely won’t be before LG’s smartphone division shuts its doors for the final time. LG has announced its plan is to be done with smartphones by July 31, and Android 12 isn’t due to arrive until some time in the fall.
LG fans are just going to have to be patient and wait to see what the company has in store.
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Tom is the Tom's Guide's UK Phones Editor, tackling the latest smartphone news and vocally expressing his opinions about upcoming features or changes. It's long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He’s usually found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining about how terrible his Smart TV is.