The Galaxy S21 and S22 series, as well as a small number of Galaxy-A mid-range devices, will get four years of Android updates and five years of security updates. This announcement, which Samsung made during the most recent Unpacked event, is in line with a promise that it would keep its high-end phones and tablets safe with Android security updates for four years.
Samsung also mentioned that the Galaxy Fold and Z Fold 2, as well as their respective generation clamshell foldables, would be receiving the aforementioned treatment, in addition to the Galaxy S phones. This does not mean the upgrades will come at the same pace. As a phone gets older, the frequency of updates will drop from monthly to quarterly or even less frequently.
The Korean smartphone company also unveiled a new plan that includes four generations of Android updates as well as the promise of security updates for a period of five years. Among the qualifying smartphones are the Galaxy S series and foldable phones. It’s mostly the Galaxy S22 and the Galaxy S22+, the Galaxy S21 and the Galaxy S21+, the Galaxy Z Fold 3, and the Galaxy Z Flip 3. Updates for all new phones in the Galaxy Z foldable and Galaxy S high-end series will be the same, too. The company says that “select A series devices” that are coming out in the next few months will also get the same updates.
One reason people like the iPhone better is that they get new software faster than Android. Suppose you want to talk about the iPhone 6s. Even though the iPhone 6s was released in 2015, it still runs the most recent version of Apple’s software. Google doesn’t support any Android phones like this when it comes to software updates, let alone big software changes like OS updates. Google’s Pixel phones have become very popular because they get updates faster than any other Android phone, and for a longer time. This isn’t the first time Samsung has been slammed for not keeping its high-end phones up to date.
It’s been a good year for Samsung, though. The company delivered updates to its phones at a breakneck pace, both new and old. This welcome streak is likely to continue in 2022 as well. And despite it falling well short of what Apple delivers, four OS upgrades is a great improvement over what Google promised to those who wish to purchase Pixel 6.
A Samsung phone now makes more sense to buy. Also, the company isn’t leaving out tablet and smartwatch buyers, either. From now on, Samsung’s top-of-the-line tablet devices will get four OS updates and an extra year of security fixes. This starts with the new Galaxy Tab S8 trio. It will also provide four years of One UI Watch and Wear OS updates for all Galaxy Watch 4 smartwatches.
