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While the whole world and its dog waits to find out when their personal devices will receive the now seemingly magical Android 5.0 Lollipop update. They should spare a moment to reflect on those devices that have still not even made it to Android 4.4 (KitKat). Well, before you all start shouting they should buy a newer device, it is not that clear-cut. Take Huawei’s International version of the Ascend Mate 2. This is a device which was only released in June of this year in the US and it is only running Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. Now to be clear this is not meant as a top spec device, but that said, it is not a real low spec device either. The Mate 2 comes a 6.1″ screen with a 1280 x 720p resolution. Inside the Mate 2 comes with 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor (clocked at 1.6GHz) and powered by a 3,900mAh battery. The mate 2 also comes with a 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front shooter. So in reality there is no hardware reason as to why the Mate 2 should not be already running on KitKat.
For the Mate 2 owners who bought the device in the US (remember only available since June 2014) it was probably fair to say that they did expect KitKat to land as an update sometime soon. Well, horror amounted when at the end of October Huawei publically (and bravely) came out defiantly stating that the international Ascend Mate 2 would NOT be receiving a KitKat upgrade. As you can imagine, this caused a furor among its customers.
Well for all you angry Mate 2 customers, well done. Huawei do seem to have heard you. Now before you get too excited this is not about to say KitKat is on its way to you. BUT, Huawei did yesterday post a statement saying that they are now reevaluating the situation. According to the post “We’ve shared your comments with our product and development teams and are evaluating all our options“. So what does this mean? Well, not much in its present form as Huawei still could turn around and say they are definitely not going to provide the KitKat update. That said, if that was the case they run the risk of igniting the already burning fire. Either way, the post concludes “We will be updating everyone by the end of next week“. So it looks as though it really won’t be long before we find out a definite answer one way or the other. You see, waiting ninety days for a guaranteed Lollipop update does not sound so bad now, does it?