Huawei appears to be preparing to roll out the Android 8.0 Oreo update to its Mate 9 device officially. It has now launched the firmware beta programme for the handset, hinting that it would be made available to the public soon.

The Chinese mobile phone manufacturer has now made Android 8.0 Oreo beta programme available for download for the Huawei Mate 9. However, only 250 early birds with devices running firmware version MHA-L29C432B194 can taste Oreo before the official launch.

Also read: Android 8.0 Oreo update on the cards for Huawei Mate 9?

The Android 8.0 Oreo beta programme for Huawei Mate 9 comes weeks after it was spotted running the new firmware on benchmarking website Geekbench.

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

Those interested can now download and install the Beta Friendly User Test from Huawei official website by signing in with Huawei ID. The Android 8.0 Oreo beta OTA (over-the-air) will be rolled out to the selected handsets. 

Huawei has confirmed that its handsets like the Honor 8 Pro and Honor 6X would receive the Android 8.0 Oreo update before the end of this year but no mention has been made on the Mate 9. Now, it appears like the Mate 9 will be the company's first handset to get the latest OS.

Huawei Honor 9 was released in December last year with Android 7.0 Nougat operating system and has been upgraded to Android 7.1.1 Nougat. It sports a 5.9-inch screen with 1,080x1920 pixels (373 ppi density), and powered by Hisilicon Kirin 960 processor.