Recently, Google has announced that the Android 7.1.2 Nougat beta version is ready to be downloaded. If you check the release notes, you will see that the most recent build is actually available for the early adopters, meaning people who are enrolled in the Android Beta Program. Whoever wants to try out the latest Nougat release can still do it. You just have do download the files and then flash them to your device manually.
However, the number of supported devices is really small right now, and the factory images released by Google can be used only on Google Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel C and Nexus Player. According to some sources, the Nexus 5X and 6P models will also be included on the list with compatible devices, but for now this is not possible.
The latest build was in fact a surprise for everybody since people are still discovering the previous 7.1.1. update. The news were not largely reported, and the company itself was quite scarce with the details in the description. However, up until now we know that it was a minor upgrade and that it won’t bring any crucial changes or other new features. Its goal seems to be to bring some bug fixes and to improve a thing or two about performance.
Pro tip: if you download and install the factory images for this open beta, you should enroll the phone in the Android Beta program. If you do this, you will automatically receive all the milestone builds for this recent version over the air. This saves you time when a new update is released, plus you will also receive the final build whenever it will be released.
However, you should be careful because installing the latest build may cause some issues with battery, performance or stability.