Opinion
Opinion: My Samsung Galaxy S9 deserves Android 11/One UI 3.0 upgrade
Back in February 2018, Samsung has announced two new flagship smartphone in its Galaxy S lineup – Galaxy S9, and Galaxy S9+ at the ‘Mobile World Congress’ in Barcelona. These phones look and design is much identical to their predecessor Galaxy S8 series.
Both the Galaxy S9 and S9+ comes with a powerful Exynos 9810 octa-core processor that is still able to provide better performance. When the devices were launched, they have arrived pre-installed with Android 8.0 Oreo with the Samsung Experience user interface.
At that time, I’ve also purchased a Galaxy S9+ smartphone by hearing its popularity among different company’s smartphone owners. With its early release, users started facing a severe issue in the touchscreen, where it would fail to read input in any particular area of the screen, even after a factory reset.
This issue has badly affected the sales of these smartphones that’s why during its first two sales quarters, a record low 19.2 million units were sold. These phones even became the worst-selling Galaxy S flagship since the Samsung Galaxy S5. Furthermore, the company has officially responded by stating that only a limited number of users facing touchscreen issues with the Galaxy S9 and S9+.
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Other than the touchscreen issues, several users also reported one more problem, which is also related to the display where it displays different shades of dark colors. This issue was named ‘Black Crush Issues’. Later, Samsung has provided new firmware updates to completely bring stability to the Galaxy S9 smartphones.
Following the upgrade cycle, Samsung has also started releasing the first major Android OS upgrade for the Galaxy S9 and S9+. The Android 9 Pie has started hitting both of these phones with the newly released custom skin of Samsung, One UI. With the One UI update, Samsung has totally redesigned the user interface of every Galaxy smartphone.
As Samsung promised, I’ve received another platform upgrade at nearly the starting of the year 2020. The second generation of One UI, One UI 2.0 is built on Android 10. The company has added several exciting new features like new full-screen gestures, dark mode, refined interaction which can help us to comfortably navigate on large screen phones with minimal finger movements.
Meanwhile, among the major software upgrades, I’ve also received security updates every month that keeps my device secure every time with adding patches for the exploits and threats founded every month. The Galaxy S9 phones are still eligible to get monthly security updates until the two-year completion of its launch.
I’m not telling you that after two years of the launching of the Galaxy S9 phones, they were not eligible for any update. While we’ve purchased it for a high-end price, Samsung is committed to providing two more years of quarterly security updates and other regular updates.
Just a month ago, Samsung began releasing plenty of new features, improvements, and enhancements with the One UI 2.5 update. Samsung One UI 2.5 is also based on Android 10 and it doesn’t bring changes to the user interface. Aside from the UI, it adds some useful and unique features like Samsung DeX to wirelessly connect with TVs through Wi-Fi direct. Furthermore, the Wi-Fi function now shows connection strength as Very Fast, Fast, Normal, and Slow just like the latest premium phones.
After these impressive update cycles provided by Samsung, I still have a complaint to the company and this grievance is about another major platform update. Why my Galaxy S9 is not eligible to get the Android 11 update? You’ve increased your upgrade policy but have forgotten this impressive Galaxy S9 series smartphones. We also have invested higher pricing to purchase these devices but you’ve only listed from the successor of the Galaxy S9 series and above devices for three years of Android update support.
Nowadays, Samsung is running beta testing for its latest Android 11 based One UI 3.0 version with its latest as well as some older flagship devices including the Galaxy Z Fold 2, Z Flip, Galaxy S20, Note 20, S10, and Note 10 series smartphones.
With the One UI 3.0, Samsung has completely changed the Home screen and quick panel’s user interface. It also brings several new features adopting from the stock Android as well as improvements for the older functions.
Earlier today, our team has spotted some reports informing that they’ve asked Samsung support and the company representatives have told them that the Galaxy S9 series smartphones are eligible for getting the Android 11 based One UI 3.0 update.
Following the reports, we’ve decided to directly get in touch with Samsung officials to know about the real fact why the rep. claiming to provide Android 11 update for Galaxy S9 smartphones. Finally, we’ve reported that there are no chances for the Galaxy S9 series smartphones to collect another generation of Android update.
As per the revised upgrade policy of Samsung, the flagship devices launched with pre-installed Android 9 Pie or later are eligible to receive three generations of Android upgrades. The Galaxy S9 and S9+ have already got two major Android OS upgrades that’s why there’s no chance for one more major Android upgrade. While some blogs are giving false hope to the honest users of the Galaxy S9 smartphones.
But, in my opinion, Samsung should have to consider that its loyal customers have bought the Galaxy S9 or Galaxy S9+ phones at a much higher price range even after having severe issues regarding the touchscreen of this device.
When it comes to Android updates, Samsung is leading the Android world. However, this could be the last day of Samsung’s leadership as Google is expected to double up its current Android updates support for Pixel smartphones launching today.
2020 was a remarkable year in Samsung’s history when the company extended Android updates support from two years to three. A few months later, the company extended the security support as well, totaling it to four years for flagship Galaxy devices.
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In 2022, Samsung launched the Galaxy S22 series, which offers four generations of OS upgrades. In its announcement, the company listed all flagships launched in 2021 and later along with select Galaxy A series smartphones for 4 OS and 5 years of security patches.
With this decision, the South Korean tech giant surpassed Google’s support policy, which owns Android. To be noted, Tensor-powered Pixel smartphones come with three years of Android and five years of monthly security updates support.
Today, Google will launch the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro smartphones. And as per the leaks, both phones will offer up to 7 years of software support, surpassing the longest support provided by Apple to its iPhones. Pixel 8 and later might be eligible for 7 major OS upgrades, which sounds a bit confusing.
There are speculations that there will be five major OS versions and 7 years of regular security patches and quarterly Pixel Feature Drops for the latest flagship smartphones. If it happens, it will force other Android vendors to further extend their support.
While Pixel phones are limited to support 3 major OS versions, Samsung is offering 4 generations of OS upgrades to cheaper Galaxy devices that costs approx $249. Samsung won’t take too long to beat Google yet again in terms of software support.
Let’s see, what Google has to offer to the Android world!
After One UI 5.1, we started hearing a lot of news, leaks, and rumors about the upcoming One UI 6. Recently, Samsung has also started releasing One UI 6.0 support for stock apps, starting with the Calculator app.
Looking at all this, we can expect that Samsung will provide this support to more apps in the future too. But the question is, why is Samsung providing One UI 6.0 support to its stocks apps before the official release? If you are thinking that by getting their support, you will get some new features in your apps, then it is not only the reason.
Samsung One UI 6.0 support can also bring new features for apps, but the main reason for this is something else. But what? The answer is that Samsung is going to release a new One UI update in the coming weeks or months and the company aims to make its stock apps compatible with that accordingly. Once the app is supported, the app will not stop working or get crash whenever the company releases that update for the smartphone.
A recent report revealed that Samsung’s stable Android 14 update will be available in October. This is the same time frame as last year’s UI rollout, with the latest Galaxy S lineup being the first to secure it. Meanwhile, beta activity is seeing an early start if everything goes as planned by the internals.
Still, for the time being, we can consider this information as a pinch of salt as the company has not yet announced any official timeline for One UI 6.0.
Samsung confirms One UI 6 and Good Lock features finding underway
Nowadays, smartphones are being heavily used for gaming and photography. Accordingly, phone makers are focussing more and more on upgrading the imaging capabilities and performance of chipsets. So why not, Samsung should now bring battery upgrade to Galaxy flagships.
Battery upgrade should be the next aim
The recently launched Galaxy S23 Ultra brings a high-profile 200-megapixel camera, allowing users to capture lossless shots, even when cropped. With great collaboration between hardware and software, the new Samsung flagships offer peace of mind to consumers, when it comes to battery life.
In addition to camera lovers, people prefer buying a smartphone, which offers great battery life without compromising features and power specifications. In the same way, Samsung is reportedly working, and there’s still room for improvements in flagships battery life.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra could come with a new battery technology inspired by electronic vehicles. The company is considering stacked battery technology for smartphones, which will reduce the size keeping the same mAh and enhanced lifespan.
Since the stacked battery tech could leave more gap inside the phone, Samsung might not think about increasing mAh on flagship phones. Instead, the company may use an additional vacant area for upgrading other hardware elements and better placement.
The S23 Ultra even defeated the years-old leader iPhone in terms of battery performance, thanks to the “Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy” processor. Exynos 2400 is reportedly coming to the S24 series in certain markets, which re-creates concern about the phone’s battery life and performance.
That said, Samsung should focus on increasing premium Galaxy phones’ battery life so users can use them longer with a single charge. 45W fast charging is doing quite well, just improvements to battery life would prove as cherry on the cake.
What do you think about it, do share your thoughts with us through the Tweet embedded below.
Vote here: https://t.co/tOfPTuWKX7
— Sammy Fans (@thesammyfans) May 5, 2023
Poll Results: May 12, 2023
We ran a poll that received 106 votes from our readers’ community. Among all, about 70 percent of readers voted in favor of a battery upgrade instead of the camera, while 23.6 percent want both upgrades together. Meanwhile, 6.6 percent of voters still want Samsung to focus on flagship camera upgrade.
Instead of Camera, Samsung should bring battery upgrade to flagships #Samsung
— Sammy Fans (@thesammyfans) May 5, 2023