Samsung has added even more phones and tablets to the list of devices it has committed to providing three years of Android upgrades, including the Samsung Galaxy A51, Samsung Galaxy Fold, and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 line.
Samsung initially announced that the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 series would be getting three years of Android updates when the phone line was unveiled in early August, as would the Galaxy S20 and last year’s flagship phones, all the way back to the Samsung Galaxy S10 family. It was welcome news given how most Android phone manufacturers guaranteed two years, if that.
Now Samsung has expanded that list to include phones and devices released in the last year, including the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold, both the Galaxy Z Flip and the Z Flip 5G, and the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 2. Both 5G and 4G LTE-only versions of the Galaxy A51 and Galaxy A71 have been included, too, as has the oddball Galaxy S10 Lite. Lastly, the Galaxy Tab S7 Plus, Galaxy Tab S7 (and their 5G variants), Tab S6 and Tab S6 Lite will also be getting 3 years of Android total.
That’s more or less backdated from the year of release, so last year’s Galaxy S10 phones that upgraded to Android 10 already will get up to Android 12; the devices released this year will be upgraded to Android 11 when it’s released later in 2020, and then get upgraded through Android 13.
- Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra: the biggest, best, baddest stylus phone out there
- Best foldable phones: the top folding handsets
- Best budget phones: the top cheap smartphones on the market
A commitment to more years of Android?
Samsung didn’t just commit to giving these devices three years of Android – it committed to do the same for future devices, too, in the aforementioned device families: the Galaxy S, Note, foldable Z, and A phones, as well as the Tab S tablets.
Given the expanding commitments, we’re hoping to see more of Samsung’s devices get the same dedication, especially on the cheaper end of the scale. Given that the iPhone 6S that was first released in 2015 is getting iOS 14 when it comes out later this year, Android phones are still behind the curve in terms of update commitments, but it’s an encouraging trend to see Samsung broaden the list of three-year-upgrade phones.
And Samsung probably won’t be alone. Microsoft has already followed up with its own commitment for three years of Android updates in its upcoming Surface Duo foldable device (which it still insists isn’t a phone). Perhaps other phonemakers will follow suit, too.
- Stay up to date with the TechRadar newsletter
