Galaxy J3 Oreo update: Android 8.0 development for J3 Prime begins

The Galaxy J3 series came about after the success of the budget J2 series. With time, Samsung found that Indian and other South Asian markets deliver excellent sales. The devices in this segment consist of the original Galaxy J3 which was launched in 2016, followed by the Galaxy J3 Pro, the Galaxy J3 Emerge which was released in March 2017, and the upcoming Galaxy J3 2017, besides the Galaxy J3 Prime that was released at T-Mobile in April 2017.

So, if we talk Galaxy J3, you have the basic 2016 edition, which basically has variants in the form of pro version, or J3 Emerge and J3 Prime, but would get a real upgrade in the form of Galaxy J3 2017 edition.

Samsung Galaxy J3 Oreo update: What to expect?

If we are considering Android 8.0 update for the Galaxy J3 series, well, it’s now emerging that not only will the Galaxy J3 2017 receive the update, but also the Galaxy J3 Emerge and all of its variants.

Of course, this argument is based on the fact that T-Mobile has confirmed that Samsung has started developing Android Oreo for the J3 Prime, which is just another name for the J3 Emerge. The same phone is also known as J3 Eclipse on Verizon and Amp Prime 2 on AT&T.

Samsung Galaxy J3 Nougat update: What to expect?

The original Galaxy J3 and J3 Pro shipped with Android 5.1 Lollipop out of the box mainly due to the fact that they were budget devices and because their release time frame was only a few months after Marshmallow’s own release.

Now, even though the J3 2016 never received Marshmallow, Samsung did launch its variant in J3 Emerge and J3 Prime on Marshmallow Android 6.0.1 — some specs differ, btw! — but it gave Nougat pre-installed to the Cricket Wireless’ J3 variant, called Galaxy Amp Prime 2.

So, while Samsung has been shy about updating its original J3 from Lollipop to Marshmallow, it does have a J3 variant on Nougat. So, what gives?

Well, we think Samsung doesn’t look at Galaxy J3 as the device to provide major updates to. So, we don’t the Galaxy J3 2016 (SM-J320) would receive Marshmallow or Nougat, while the likes of J3 Emerge and J3 Prime are out of contention in our books.

To further substantiate our claim, have a look at Samsung Turkey’s Nougat roadmap plan — you would notice there is no mention of Galaxy J3 whatsoever.

The upcoming Galaxy J3 2017 may release with Nougat on board, for all we know. But if Samsung decides to go with Marshmallow, it may paint a bad picture for the company given that we have already completed Q1. To add some hope to this fire, the company shipped its latest Galaxy Xcover device with Nougat, considering that it features a moderate set of specifications.

Galaxy J3 firmware [2017 edition, SM-J330F/FN/G]

The Galaxy J3 2017 comes with model no. that starts with SM-J330. As the device comes with Android 7.0 pre-installed, we fully expect it to receive the official Android Oreo update from Samsung.

When the Galaxy J3 2017 Oreo update is available as an OTA isn’t clear though, as Samsung hasn’t announced its 8.0 update plans yet. As of October 18, Samsung’s Oreo for S8 isn’t live either, so it’s hard to tell when the company would have its first Oreo build ready, which will enter beta testing first, and then be released as a stable update.

Galaxy J3 2016 update and firmware [SM-J320F/FD/G/FN/H/M/P/R4/W8/ZN]

Galaxy J3 Pro update and firmware [SM-J330G]

The J3 Pro is a slightly better version of the original J3 with a little more RAM. The device was launched in June 2016 with Android 5.1.1 on board. The J3 Pro shares the same fate as the original J3 and may not receive Marshmallow and Nougat updates too.

Galaxy J3 Emerge update and firmware

The J3 Emerge is the latest addition to the series and runs on the Snapdragon 430 processor. But the device took a step backward, by going with 1.5GB of RAM. The smartphone ships with Marshmallow and was released in January this year.

Though, we highly doubt Samsung will find time to update the J3 Prime to Android 7.0 Nougat build anytime in future.

Model no. SM-J327P is for Sprint J3 Emerge, while the SM-J327R4 is for US Cellular J3 Emerge.

Update [February 12, 2018]: T-Mobile has just confirmed the Oreo update for the Galaxy J3 Prime. On Sprint, the J3 Prime is known as J3 Emerge, which suggests that this model will also receive Oreo, probably somewhere in Q2 or Q3 2018.

Galaxy J3 Prime update and firmware

Having been launched with Nougat though, there were slim chances that the  J3 Prime will be upgraded to Android 8.0. Well, according to T-Mobile, Samsung has begun works on the J3 Prime Oreo update and even though there’s still no official release date, we believe the OS will be ready in Q2 2018.

Galaxy J3 Eclipse and J3 Mission update and firmware

Update [October 28, 2017]: Verizon is now rolling out a new update for their Galaxy J3 Eclipse, and its prepaid variant J3 Mission, coming in as software version J327VVRS1AQJ2 and J327VPPVRS1AQJ2 respectively. The OJ2 update brings fix for Blueborne security issue, and that’s all Verizon has told us about it. There should be latest security patches too that are part of the update, but the carrier’s update page hasn’t shed any light on which month’s patches we are looking at here. We assume it’s October 2017 security patch.

We do not have firmware for the Verizon J3 Eclipse and J3 Mission yet, but we would be sure to add it here once it’s available.

Update [February 12, 2018]: Also known as Samsung Galaxy J3 Prime on T-Mobile, the Galaxy J3 Eclipse Oreo update is now confirmed to be under development. When the update will be ready for release is still unknown. Also, this is just an assumption that since T-Mobile will be upgrading its version of the J3 Eclipse, Verizon will do the same too, but there’s no guarantee whatsoever.

How to download and install Galaxy J3 firmware

Well, we have provided the download link of the firmware along with their build no. (software version, that is) in the firmware column in the update table above.

Take care to download the firmware by matching the model no. of your Galaxy J3. Here are some examples of device model no. and firmware build.

• J320FD – J320FDDU0AQC3
• J320FX – J320FXXU0AQB3 (take care to not flash J320FN or J320FD firmware)
• J320FN – J320FNXXU0AQB3
• J320G – J320GXXU0APK1
• J320H – J320HXXU0AQC2
• J320M – J320MUBU0AQA1

When in doubt, sure ask us about the firmware version you are looking to install, using the comments section below. We’ll reply asap.

To install, find the guide on how to install Samsung firmware here. That’s all you need.

What are your thoughts on the updates for the Galaxy J3 devices?