Android 8.1 can now display WiFi speeds before connecting

Oreo was a bit of a lackluster update on first launch, but the mobile operating system is getting some nice new tricks as with 8.1’s updates. The new Speed Labels feature is one of the more compelling of the bunch, offering estimated network signals prior to logging on.

Starting this week, users with 8.1 installed will see one of four qualifiers next to open WiFi networks: Very Fast, Fast, OK and Slow. Pretty straight forward, that. Fast is fine for most videos, according to Google, with Very Fast required for much higher quality. OK should suffice for reading sites and streaming music, while Slow is basically okay for WiFi calling and texts.

It’s not exactly a speed test rating, but it should make the job of decided between networks a bit easier. The feature was announced in December and is finally starting to roll out to 8.1 users this week. Of course, that version of Android is still in relatively limited supply at the moment, with support on Google’s own phones, including the Pixel and Pixel 2, Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X.

Speeds won’t show up for protected networks, and admins who are sensitive about that sort of thing can also opt-out from having their speed displayed in Android.

Published at Mon, 22 Jan 2018 22:16:26 +0000