How Long Does the Samsung Galaxy Nougat Update Take?

How long will the Samsung Galaxy Nougat update last is a common question we receive from friends, family, and readers. Mileage may vary but this guide will help you fill the time it takes to get this brand new update on Galaxy S8, Galaxy S7 or any other device.

Samsung’s Android 7.0 Nougat update is moving at a skewed pace as we enter the summer months. Some users like Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S7 owners are getting new Nougat builds that provide improvements and fix bugs. Others are getting Android Nougat for the first time.

Galaxy smartphone and tablet users wonder about many things about Nougat, including its features, performance and various issues. Many users are also concerned about the time it takes to install Nougat on a device.

Unfortunately, we cannot give you a definitive answer. The duration will vary based on your skill level, the device you have, and the update itself.

We can’t give you an exact time, but we can help you determine when and when to leave if Nougat or a new Nougat build appears for your phone or tablet.

Assuming you’re ready for the update and connected to a fast Wi-Fi network, it may only take a few minutes to complete installing Android Nougat. If you’re not prepared, the process can take much longer.

This guide gives some advice to early Android Nougat users and also summarizes what you can expect from Nougat bug fix updates.

Let’s get started with what to expect if this is your first time installing Samsung’s Galaxy Nougat update.

Samsung Galaxy Nougat Pre-Installation

Before installing an Android Nougat update on your Galaxy phone or tablet, you’ll want to be prepared. Even the smallest Nougat bugfix updates can cause problems, and this preparatory work will help keep issues to a minimum.

If you’ve already backed up all your files, check with your IT department (if you have one) and you should be good to go in a few minutes. If you’ve done nothing to prepare for Nougat, you may need an hour or more to make sure you and your device are ready to roll.

We have prepared a pre-installation guide that will explain step by step the process we use before installing Android updates on Galaxy smartphones and tablets.

You don’t need to follow every step there. At the very least, you’ll want to make sure your important files are backed up for migration.

Checking your backups is optional, but there’s always the possibility that something goes wrong when migrating from Marshmallow > Nougat and from one Nougat build to another. It is always better to be safe than sorry, especially if you are storing sensitive data on your device.

Android Nougat Download Time

If this is your first time migrating from Marshmallow to Android Nougat, expect your update to be over 1GB. There are a few exceptions, some of the updates for mid-range devices are smaller, but most Android 7.0 updates from Samsung are over a gigabyte.

If you can get a high-speed Wi-Fi connection, your Nougat download can be completed in as little as five minutes. If you are using a slow Wi-Fi network, the download may take up to 15 minutes.

Be sure to monitor the download for problems as you make progress. Android Nougat installation problems are extremely common.

If you’re already using Android Nougat and installing a bug fix update, your update is probably much smaller. Some patches were only a few MB. We’ve seen others with several hundred MB.

We recently downloaded a Samsung Galaxy S7 security patch and it only took a few seconds to download over a high-speed Wi-Fi network.

Android Nougat Installation Time

The actual installation part of the process will take longer than the download.

If you are installing Android Nougat for the first time, you are dealing with a rather large file. Installing Nougat on Galaxy S7 and Galaxy Note 5 for the first time took about 15 minutes. In the meantime, if you missed security patches and bug updates, your installation could take significantly longer.

We recommend taking 20-30 minutes to watch your device migrate from Marshmallow to Android 7.0 Nougat.

If you’re downloading a Nougat bug fix update to your phone or tablet, your update shouldn’t take more than 10-15 minutes to install. Of course, it will depend on the size of the update.

If your update is several MB, it should take less than 10 minutes. If it’s a few hundred MB, you might be looking at 10 minutes or more load time.

Samsung Galaxy Post Installation

After the installation is complete, you may need to spend some time logging back into your various apps and services. This sometimes happens after switching from one version of Android to another.

You’ll also want to spend some time making sure your important files are still there. You’ll also want to test your core apps and services to make sure they’re compatible with Nougat.

If this is your first time using Android 7.0 Nougat, you may need to spend 30 minutes or more to settle in. If you’re just migrating from one Nougat build to another, you probably only need a few minutes to get used to the environment.

All in all, we recommend taking an hour to make the transition from Marshmallow to Nougat properly. Less, and maybe even less, if you’re installing a bugfix update.