When it came to longevity, earlier it was the Apple iPhone that was considered the best, as its update cycle ranges from five to seven years. Google tried to catch up and crossed the mark by announcing seven years of software updates for its Pixel 8 phones.
Well, how can one of the world"s biggest smartphone makers, Samsung, stay behind in this race? Samsung also jumped on the software update bandwagon and decided to offer seven years of Android upgrades with the launch of its 2024 flagships, the Galaxy S24 series.
Now, what happens to the older phones? Recently, the Galaxy S20, Galaxy S20+, and Galaxy S20 Ultra completed four years on the market, making them ineligible to receive regular software updates. Samsung put them under the quarterly update schedule, meaning the Galaxy S20 lineup will receive an update every three months.
What came as a shocker was that the Galaxy Note 20, Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, and Galaxy S20 FE were also put under the quarterly update schedule, even though these devices were released six months after the Galaxy S20 series. Thankfully, it seems like Samsung made an error, and the Korean giant has rectified it.
In a new update to its security bulletin, Samsung has brought the Galaxy Note 20, Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, and the Galaxy S20 FE back to its monthly schedule, allowing the devices to continue receiving updates each month. They will stay on a monthly update schedule for another six months, after which they will be demoted to a quarterly update schedule (one update every three months).
The Note 20 series and the Galaxy S20 FE are currently on the March 2024 security update and are expected to pick up the April security patch later this month. Samsung has also adopted Android seamless updates, where you no longer need to be locked out of your phone for eternity until the update is installed. Instead, most of the process will be done in the background without taking you offline.