Samsung starts promising 3 years of Android updates for selected devices

At the announcement of the Galaxy Note 20 earlier this month, Samsung made a statement for future support on the Note 20 phones, offering 3 years of updates. They’re not stopping at the Note 20 though with a blog post outlining a number of their phones will also see three years of updates as well

The Galaxy S and Galaxy Note lines have always had excellent coverage for updates, but will now be guaranteed 3 years of updates. Joining these premium phones are the more modestly priced Galaxy A-series phones, as well as the new, and much higher priced Galaxy Z foldable line. Tablets too get a look in with Galaxy Tab S6 and S7 models in line to also receive 3 years of Android updates.

The full list of devices also includes future devices in those lines which will also see three years of updates. Samsung’s full list includes:

• Galaxy S series: Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G, S20 Ultra, S20+ 5G, S20+, S20 5G, S20 in addition to S10 5G, S10+, S10, S10e, S10 Lite and upcoming S series devices
• Galaxy Note series: Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G, Note20 Ultra, Note20 5G, Note20, Note10+ 5G, Note10+, Note10 5G, Note10, Note10 Lite and upcoming Note series devices
• Galaxy Foldable devices: Galaxy Z Fold2 5G, Z Fold2, Z Flip 5G, Z Flip, Fold 5G, Fold and upcoming Z series devices
• Galaxy A series: Galaxy A71 5G, A71, A51 5G, A51, A90 5G and select upcoming A series devices
• Tablets: Galaxy Tab S7+ 5G, Tab S7+, Tab S7 5G³, Tab S7, Tab S6 5G⁴, Tab S6, Tab S6 Lite and upcoming Tab S series devices

In terms of the immediate future, Samsung will first be updating the Galaxy S20 to Android 11 when it’s released in the next few months. 

Janghyun Yoon, Senior Vice President and Head of Software Platform Team, Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics said of the offer “As people hold onto their devices for longer, we are working to bring secure protection and exciting new features to the devices already in their hands. By supporting up to three generations of Android OS upgrade, we are extending the lifecycle of our Galaxy products and making a promise that we will provide a simple and secure mobile experience that takes advantage of the latest innovations as soon as they are available.”

Samsung is doing something quite innovative here in guaranteeing 3 years of updates, the same as Google with their Pixel phones. It’s pretty rare to see Android phones with coverage for this long, so hopefully we see similar promises from other manufacturers in the near future.