Essential Products has made Android 8 Oreo available to its PH-1 smartphone in beta form.
Essential hopes users will test the beta platform and report bugs or other problems so the code may be cleaned up ahead of the software’s general release. The beta cannot be installed over the air and will require a bit of know-how to shoehorn onto the PH-1.
Interested PH-1 owners will need to download the operating system to their PC and then sideload it to the handset via ADB. Anyone not familiar with that process should not attempt to install Android 8 Oreo on their PH-1. Essential did say that testers will be able to revert back to the latest production software if they find the beta too buggy. The beta will not negate the PH-1’s warranty, though Essential warns that it has not been carrier tested.
The instructions and necessary files are available from Essential’s web site.
