Essential Phone owners can now get Android Oreo beta updates via OTA

Great news for all you Essential Phone owners out there: you can now get beta builds of Android Oreo on your device via over-the-air updates (OTA). Previously, the only way to try out the beta version of the OS was to sideload it onto the handset. This option is still available but is only recommended for advanced users.

If you want to try out the beta version of Android 8.1 Oreo on your Essential Phone before the stable variant becomes available, you have to visit Essential’s website and fill out a simple form with some basic info. This includes your name, email address, and the serial number of your smartphone — you can find it by going to Settings > About phone > Status. Once that’s done, the update will make its way to your device within 72 hours.

As a refresher, the update has all the standard Oreo features on board including picture-in-picture mode, smart text selection, improved notification settings, and more. It also brings a beta fix for the “Slow Scrolling Jitter” issue to the smartphone along with the February security patch.

Those of you interested in trying out the Oreo beta update now can do so by signing up on Essential’s website via the button below.