The long wait is over -- Samsung has just released the long-awaited Android 7.0 Nougat update for their Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge smartphones. Selected owners of these two models did participate in a limited Android Nougat beta program which went into its fourth iteration, before being halted. That is because it signaled the end of the beta program which can only mean one thing: the Android 7.0 Nougat update is about to be finalized and released.

It is a good thing that Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge owners do not have to wait until the end of this month, as Samsung kept to their word for a January release where the Android 7.0 Nougat update is concerned. However, not everyone has started to receive this update yet, so please be patient. The Android 7.0 Nougat update for the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge will carry the build number G935FXXU1DPLR according to SamMobile, where it will also be accompanied by Google’s most recent Android security patch for January. Basically, whatever else that can be found in Samsung’s Android Nougat beta releases -- from the improvements and squashed bugs to new features, are also available here, and then some.

Seen as a “soak test” by many, it looks like there is still a little while more to go before a widespread release of Android 7.0 Nougat for Samsung’s 2016 flagship smartphones are released. It should not matter too much to the general public, taking into consideration how Galaxy S7 and S7 edge owners have been waiting for quite some time already. It would also help ensure that Samsung remains technologically relevant, considering how less popular Android smartphone manufacturers like Sony has already released Android 7.1.1 Nougat for their Xperia X smartphone. In other words, Samsung needs to work faster to close the gap with its smaller rivals.

Assuming there are no complications that arise from this particular soak test, then we ought to be able to see all Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge owners get their dose of Nougat in due time -- sooner rather than later, too. It remains to be seen just how many people have actually been picked out for the Android 7.0 Nougat soak test, and neither do we know in which regions the update has been made available, but at the very least, it is out and raring to go.

More importantly, you should start to free up some space on your Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge to make room for the Android 7.1 Nougat update when it is finally made available across the board.

Hopefully there will be no unexpected battery shutdown issues that follow this update -- and we are definitely keeping our fingers crossed that when the Android 7.1.1 Nougat update arrives (and it will), that sort of thing will not happen either. Perhaps there is a lesson that can be learned by everyone through the Nexus 6P, Pixel and Pixel XL's experience with sudden poor battery performance and unwanted phone shutdowns with the Android 7.1.1. Nougat update after all.