Galaxy S9 S9+
A hostess holds two new Samsung Galaxy S9 mobile phones during the Samsung Galaxy S9 Unpacked event on February 25, 2018 in Barcelona, on the eve of the inauguration of the Mobile World Congress (MWC). Getty Images/Lluis Gene

Samsung Electronics surprised many Galaxy S9 and S9+ owners when the new major OS upgrade arrived in time for Christmas and way ahead of its scheduled rollout in January. If you haven’t upgraded your handset to the Android 9.0 Pie update, then now is the perfect time for you to do it.

Earlier this week, a few sites including Sammobile and Android Authority reported that Galaxy S9 and S9+ owners in Germany already gained access to the Android Pie update even though the major OS upgrade wasn’t expected to be released until early next year.

Then some Reddit users also confirmed the earlier rollout of the new software update by sharing online that they, too, have received the update. Users from Italy, Switzerland, Greece and the United Arab Emirates have already been spreading the good news online, as pointed out by Engadget.

Samsung didn’t make an official announcement about the release of the Pie update for the Galaxy S9 and S9+. Interestingly, the release isn’t just for beta users. Many users who claimed to have received the update were non-beta users whose handsets were still running Oreo OS prior the update.

It isn’t clear how the rollout is taking place. But from the looks of things, it’s likely that the update has reached most users on Christmas day. To check if Samsung’s Christmas present arrived for your device, connect your Galaxy S9 or S9+ to Wi-Fi and open Settings. Scroll down the options and tap About Phone > Software Update. Should the update be available in your area, you should click Install Now to commence the update process.

The software version for the Galaxy S9 is G960FXXU2CRLI, while the one for the Galaxy S9+ is G965FXXU2CRLI. The update package is around 1744.24MB. The hefty size is to be expected from a major software release that comes with One UI — a rebranding of Samsung’s Android skin.

“One UI brings you Android Pie, with exciting new features and a whole new look and feel based on feedback from users in Samsung and Google,” an excerpt from the software update notification reads. Some of the new features this new UI brings include Night mode, new clock styles and support for HEIF images. Sadly, call stickers have been discontinued. Check out the full changelog here.

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