One of the most talked-about aspects of owning an Android is how long the phone will receive updates. Will it get one or two major Android updates? How many years of security patches will the device get?
Samsung is sweetening the pot by announcing that it intends to start offering four years of security patches for its devices, which is a great deal for device owners that won't cost them anything extra. This comes right after Samsung announced that it was bringing Galaxy S21 features to older Galaxy devices.
Samsung's New Galaxy Update Plan
Samsung was already a leader in the market when it came to keeping phones secure by offering three years of updates. With today's announcement from Samsung.com that the company will offer four years of updates, it has pushed itself even further ahead of many other smartphone makers.
Making this deal even sweeter is the fact that Samsung isn't limiting it to only new Galaxy devices. Instead, Samsung announced that most Galaxy devices released from 2019 through the present would get four years of security updates. This includes phones and tablets from Galaxy Z, Galaxy S, Galaxy Note, Galaxy A, Galaxy M, and Galaxy XCover series.
Here's the complete list of devices that will now receive an extra year of security patches:
- Galaxy Foldable devices: Fold, Fold 5G, Z Fold2, Z Fold2 5G, Z Flip, Z Flip 5G
- Galaxy S series: S10, S10+, S10e, S10 5G, S10 Lite, S20, S20 5G, S20+, S20+ 5G, S20 Ultra, S20 Ultra 5G, S20 FE, S20 FE 5G, S21 5G, S21+ 5G, S21 Ultra 5G
- Galaxy Note series: Note10, Note10 5G, Note10+, Note10+ 5G, Note10 Lite, Note20, Note20 5G, Note20 Ultra, Note20 Ultra 5G
- Galaxy A series: A10, A10e, A10s, A20, A20s, A30, A30s, A40, A50, A50s, A60, A70, A70s, A80, A90 5G, A11, A21, A21s, A31, A41, A51, A51 5G, A71, A71 5G, A02s, A12, A32 5G, A42 5G
- Galaxy M series: M10s, M20, M30, M30s, M40, M11, M12, M21, M31, M31s, M51
- Galaxy XCover series: XCover4s, XCover FieldPro, XCover Pro
- Galaxy Tab series: Tab Active Pro, Tab Active3, Tab A 8 (2019), Tab A with S Pen, Tab A 8.4 (2020), Tab A7, Tab S5e, Tab S6, Tab S6 5G, Tab S6 Lite, Tab S7, Tab S7+
If you own any of the devices above, you don't have to do anything to receive the additional updates. Just keep using your phone and checking for new updates regularly. Generally, Samsung pushes out a new security update every month, though it has occasionally been late.
The Pros of Owning an Android Device
Because Google leaves updating devices to the OEMs that make them, we can have situations like this where a company elects to go above and beyond for its customers. After all, while it builds goodwill, extending the security update period actively discourages people from upgrading to new devices.
