Android 8.1?

[vogador]

Hello all,
Q5/10 Pro was the first payer to receive Android N.
Could we have one day the last Android 8.1 on our Q5/10 Pro?

[Tex Texan]

Is there any reason the Q10 Pro hasn't been updated to Android 8.1 by now or even 9?

[tmihai20]

Do not compare these TV boxes with regular Android devices, because there are a lot of differences. HiMedia needs the SDK corresponding to the newer Android version. It did not have one for Nougat, but it improvised something. Newer Android does not mean it will run better. I prefer a more stable firmware than a new one with a lot of bugs. Think about the Oreo update for Mi Box, it was buggy as hell at first, it was pulled out, then they started to release it again and fixed the bugs in time.

[hanspampel]

We have been getting the same firmware for two years now (Security Patch: 01.01.2017). I don't think we'll see "Oreo" anymore. Although the S1 dongle with almost identical SoC with 8.1.0 should come on the market. Maybe you can port something.

[mulderfox]

There is basically one reason to want to update the android version on a TV box:
New Kodi support.
As Kodi updates in versions, it drops support for older Android devices. In turn, so do Kodi Add-ons developers. That can become a problem if you use your box mainly for streaming.

Just my two cents on the matter.

[Mount81]

But exactly what makes you think than on Android 8.1 KODI 18.x will work -by any means- better than on Android 7?

Anyway: does even IP TV / other streaming work yet as good in any recent 18.x version as it works on 17.6? (On these Boxes of course). Didn't tried my self it since 16.1, but I guess 17.6 could have also troubles with audio at least, as streams with DD audio aren't supported anymore with KODI on these Boxes.   

[tmihai20]

@Mount81 summarized my thoughts exactly. There is not much we can obtain, other than new possible issues that would come with a newer Android TV version. It took Himedia a considerable amount of time to iron out the issues with Nougat over previous Lollipop based firmware. Again, a similar SoC is not identical and support is not guaranteed for an older SoC. Hardware manufacturers often conveniently forget about older SoC. Q5/Q10Pro are more than 2 years old now.