Back in 2021, Samsung made a surprise announcement around software updates that would allow them to expand the number of years they supported select phones. At the time, they provided a list of devices that could be eligible for “at least four years of security updates,” leaving room for additional years. Today, the Galaxy Note 20 series is seeing the positive side of that semi-vague quote, while on the other side of things, a couple of devices have seen their software support come to end.
Samsung updated its security updates page today by moving the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra from its list of devices receiving monthly security updates to the list of those receiving quarterly updates. In addition to that move, they’ll removed the original Galaxy Z Flip 5G, Galaxy Tab S7, and Galaxy Tab S7+ from the page completely, signaling the end of support.
For the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, the drop to a quarterly schedule isn’t a big deal, but it does mean we’ll get a full 5 years of software updates for each device. These final Galaxy Note devices were released in August 2020, so they have already seen 4 years of monthly updates. Starting today, they’ll now see updates less, but should get bug fixer and security patches within each quarter. We’re almost to the end of the line, Note fans.
Now, for the Galaxy Z Flip 5G, which was announced in February 2020, Samsung is pulling the plug. The same has happened for the Galaxy Tab S7 line, a pair of tablets released alongside the Note 20 in August 2020. All three of these devices have been pulled from Samsung’s list of devices still receiving support, so if you own one, it might be time to upgrade.
// Samsung