Edited by Devasish_Saikia at 2016-09-10 13:26

Google recently announced their latest version of Android (7.0) codenamed Nougat. But Nougat compatible and not compatible mobile list has left people uncertain as unsupported names include many big guns that were expected to get Nougat like the Samsung Galaxy S5, Samsung Galaxy Note 3, HTC ONE, Sony Xperia Z3, Nexus 5, Oppo Find 7 etc. while some little known and cheap models got support for Nougat like Micromax Canvas Nitro 4G(Indian), Alcatel One Touch Pop Up. For some of us it is hard to believe how is this possible. In fact in our forum few among us are surprised to see that M1 note gets Nougat support but not M2 note. Let me explain this unfitting differentiation and why this is not a reason Meizu to be blamed for.

The previous upgrade by Google from Lollipop to Marshmallow was not at all a major overhaul like what was for kit-kat to lollipop, so a major update was always in the cards of Google and they have provided this with Nougat this year. Among all important changes made by Google is alteration of the Development Platform by moving to open JDK based java environment and most notably providing support for next generation OpenGl initiative - 'Vulkan' API for 2D and 3D graphics rendering. I don't want to be too technical about this but would like to mention that this is a huge step and will boost app and gaming performance considerably in our phones and that too giving very less stress to our batteries.

Coming to the incompatibility issue of Nougat, for 2D and 3D graphics rendering in smartphones we have been using OpenGl Es API for long time but the next generation Vulkan API is supported if your phone got support for OpenGl Es 3.1 or above. Now problem is that Google has released a series of compatibility tests which a smartphone has to pass for supporting Nougat and support for Vulkan API is one of those many tests. To be straight, the processor inside your phone must support Vulkan API (for which it has to support OpenGl Es 3.1 or above) to be eligible for Nougat update. Whether a processor would support OpenGl Es 3.1 and above or not entirely depends on the choice of GPU made by the manufacturer. For instance the Snapdragon 800 and Snapdragon 801 both uses Adreno 330 GPU but this GPU can support up to OpenGl Es 3.0 so they can't support Vulkan API and good phones like Sony Xperia Z3 with SD 801 processor won't get Nougat Update.

Another question which people asks me most is that why there are some processors which support OpenGl Es 3.1 and above but still won't be getting Nougat update ? I would take this opportunity to clear questions raised in our forum about why M1 note and M1 support Nougat but not M2 Note and M2. Firstly coming to the GPU used in M1 note and M1 is a Mali T760 based GPU while M2 note and M2 runs on weaker Mali T720 GPU, interestingly both Mali T760 and Mali T720 supports OpenGl Es 3.1. If you are surprised, then why one support Nougat and other don't, the Answer is here. For supporting Vulkan API OpenGl Es 3.1 or above is must but Supporting OpenGl Es 3.1 or above does not necessarily mean it would support Vulkan API. For that you will need appropriate graphics driver and its up to the manufacturer whether they will release an updated graphics driver or not. At present there is no graphics driver for Mali T720 but we do have drivers for Mali T760. Its not in the hand of Mediatek or other manufacturer using this GPU in their chipset but its ARM who has decided not to release supporting drivers for T720 GPU.

I hope, now you have an idea about the incompatibility issues raised with Android Nougat.

Thank You all