MetroPCS Huawei Premia to Receive Jelly Bean Update

• 4.0-inch Corning Gorilla Glass fronted display
• 1.5GHz dual-core processor and 1GB RAM
• 5.0 megapixel auto-focus camera with rear-facing LED flash
• Video recording and playback
• Android 4.0 operating system (Ice Cream Sandwich)
• joyn powered services like video calling and Wi-Fi calling, integrated instant messaging with chat, image, video and file sharing.

The Huawei Premia is available now for $149.99. With the confirmation of Android Jelly Bean for the Premia in the future, this will make it the first MetroPCS Android smartphone to receive an Android update in a timely manner.

What remains to be seen is how the update will be delivered, as MetroPCS typically does not deliver over the air updates via its legacy CDMA network or its LTE network and usually relies on manufacturers to provide updates for its devices, with exceptions made for select devices, such as the first 4G LTE device in the Samsung Craft, which is long discontinued.

Outside of the Premia, none of the other smartphones in the current MetroPCS lineup have had significant Android updates confirmed, with the aforementioned being the most recent example of a MetroPCS device with a forthcoming update. Previous Android smartphones on MetroPCS were typically left stuck with their shipping Android versions and receiving few, if any updates at all and the carrier usually relied on constant hardware releases to offer updated versions of Android.

Even the carrier’s own version of the the Samsung Galaxy S III has yet to be updated to Jelly Bean, while other versions with nearly identical hardware have received their respective Jelly Bean updates from other US carriers, with more updates for those versions expected as they are approved for roll out by each carrier.

With the MetroPCS reverse merger with T-Mobile USA now lying in the hands of its shareholders after receiving all of the necessary regulatory approvals, the possibility of more device releases on MetroPCS with timely Android updates becomes more remote by the day as the carrier works to prepare itself for the merger, which will mean many changes to its operations, including its device lineup and makes the Premia a rare example of a device with proper post-launch support.

Update: Huawei has retracted the statements that they provided to PhoneNews.com. Read more in our follow-up article.