Huawei seems to be heading in the right direction by offering timely software updates to its flagship devices. The latest in the line to get the Oreo update could well be Huawei's flagship smartphone from 2016, Huawei Mate 9.

Huawei Mate 9 with Leica dual-camera
Huawei Mate 9 (Representational picture)Huawei Press kit

A Huawei Mate 9 running Android 8.0 Oreo has been spotted on benchmarking website Geekbench. But this is not the first time a Huawei Mate 9 has been reportedly spotted with Android Oreo on board. The smartphone was spotted running an early beta ROM of Android 8.0 back in April this year.

An appearance on a benchmarking site alone does not guarantee the Huawei Mate 9 Oreo update. But it does indicate that the final testing is underway and if everything goes fine, a roll-out should begin sooner or later.And if the Oreo update for the Mate 9 materialises, it could perhaps become the first flagship smartphone from last year to get the Oreo update.

The Mate 9 Oreo update could happen but it doesn't seem likely to happen soon, as many of this year's flagships are still stuck on Nougat and are still awaiting an Oreo update. Reportedly, an Oreo update is in the works for Samsung's Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ which are its flagship devices this year.

The Mate 9 is one of Huawei's most successful smartphones so far. With the success of its premium smartphones like the Mate 9 and P10, and a helping hand by some of its midrange smartphones, Huawei has been closing in fast on Apple and is vying for the 2nd spot in terms of Global smartphone shipments. Huawei has been outperforming Apple in some markets across Asia, Europe and Africa and could overtake Apple soon.

The Huawei Mate 9 phablet currently runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat.