This year’s Google Pixel release was very different from all the other years that we’ve witnessed. It’s the first year since Google really got into the groove that it released new Pixel smartphones with the same operating system version as its predecessors. Yep, the Google Pixel 9 series came out with Android 14, and up until now, that’s still it.
The Pixel smartphones are always meant to be first in line for the new OS, but even when Google released Android 15 to AOSP some weeks back, there was no news to be heard about the Pixels. Well, for the first time I can remember, another company has beaten the Pixels to release Android 15 for consumers. It’s Vivo.
Vivo Is Rolling Out Funtouch OS 15 To The Vivo X Fold 3 Pro Already
If one of the reasons that you got a Google Pixel smartphone was because of the software, that’s a very fair reason. Not only do you get every aspect of Android exactly as Google intended it to be, but you also get the preferential treatment that comes with being Google’s first-born child. However, this year, nepotism didn’t win and the Pixel 9 series failed to launch alongside the newest version of the Android OS.
We expected the Google Pixel 9 series to get Android 15 late yet still be first to the party, but that’s also not what reality has dictated. Instead, the unlikely form of Vivo somehow came out of the shadows to beat Google’s Pixel devices to it. Yep, as of now, Vivo is the first and only Android manufacturer to have a release version of Android 15 rolling out to users, in the form of its Funtouch OS 15 on the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro. That’s impressive.
Technically, any other manufacturer could do this, as Google launched Android 15’s source code to AOSP at the beginning of this month, making it possible for any company to start developing their takes on Android 15. Vivo was quick with it but with enough dedication, it does seem very doable; I guess they just proved that it is, in fact, very doable.
If Google Slacks, Yet Another OEM Could Come In Before Them
Right now, Pixel 9 owners aren’t having a great time. They’ve bought into a smartphone series contending with a bunch of software issues and they couldn’t even get one of the usual perks of being an early Pixel adopter—being the only ones on the mobile streets who can boast of Android 15.
As of now, the Android 15 beta is available, but the average Pixel 9 owner doesn’t know that; plus, a beta isn’t the same thing as a release version. If Google doesn’t hurry up with finalizing its release, we’re going to end up seeing potentially another manufacturer or two somehow beat them to the punch, and that’s not going to be great for the Pixel’s rep, I think we can all agree.
For now though, owners of Vivo’s excellent foldable should let us know how green the grass is on the other side.
