Samsung updates for devices just extended to 4 years

Last year, Samsung surprised us all by announcing it would support its most recent phones with three years of Android upgrades. That’s an extra year on top of the de facto two-year upgrade promise Google requires of OEMs (but rarely enforces).

Today, Samsung upped the ante on that promise. Now, every Galaxy-branded Android device from 2019 or later will get four years of security patches. These Samsung updates will land on all devices from its various lines: Galaxy S, Note, Z, A, XCover, and Tab.

Combined with the previous policy change, this means that all future Samsung phones and tablets will get three years of Android upgrades and four years of security patches. Aside from Google itself, there is no other company with that broad of a policy.

Samsung updates: Finally, a company is taking this seriously

For a long time, Samsung was one of the worst offenders when it comes to lapses in security patches for its devices. It was also incredibly slow at delivering the latest Android versions to even its most expensive flagships.

Over the past two years, though, the company has pulled an about-face. Today, almost all its flagship phones from 2019 or later are on the latest version of Android. Many of its active mid-range devices are also either on Android 11 or at least Android 10.

Related: We asked, you told us: Android upgrades are a major requirement

What’s more, Samsung updates for Android security now come at a furious pace. There were many months in 2020 in which Samsung pushed the latest Android security patch even before Google pushed it to Pixel devices.

With mobile security becoming a huge concern, it’s great to see Samsung leading the charge here. With other companies continuing to perform at the bare minimum level — and others even walking backward — we can only hope this will spark a change in the overall industry.