Opinion
Samsung is doing what Android rivals can never copy
Samsung is setting an example in the Android industry by bringing longer OS upgrades to a maximum number of Galaxy devices. While A-series 4 Android upgrades amazed us all last year, Samsung’s silent decision to expand it to the Galaxy M series is just unbelievable, at least for China.
As the world is serious about pushing sustainable efforts, smartphone vendors are also finding ways to support them. Nowadays, premium phones lack a free charger in the box, consumers also want to have a phone that lasts longer without any kind of lags or security concerns for the time being.
Samsung first extended the Galaxy Android support in the second half of 2020. The company confirmed three major OS upgrades for all premium Galaxy devices launched in 2019 and later. Prior to this, the company was committed to offering two major upgrades to all phones and tabs.
At Samsung, there are no limits to innovation, as it’s committed to bringing the best and most stable user experience. Not everyone wants to spend much on a smartphone, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t get longer software support as the Galaxy A is here as a decent option.
At the Galaxy S22 launch event, the South Korean tech giant announced its revised Android support policy. The latest Galaxy software guarantee ensures up to four years of Android plus One UI updates for flagships starting Galaxy S21 and select Galaxy A phones (A53, A73, A54, and A34).
Seeing Samsung’s clever yet iconic move, Android rivals such as OPPO and OnePlus copied the software promise and announced to bring Samsung-like Android updates to their flagships launched in 2023. They copied but there’s a difference, which is not hidden from anyone – CREDIBILITY.
Software version strategy and support can be copied from Samsung’s ecosystem, but China can never do what Galaxy devices can offer. As a striking move, the Galaxy M series begins offering up to 4 generations of Android updates, not all, but the Galaxy M54 becomes the first product.
This way, the world’s biggest smartphone vendor proved that there are no limits to pro-grade features, and can be brought to mid-rangers too. Compared to the Google Pixel flagship (source), Samsung’s mid-range Galaxy M54 phone has longer OS updates support, which isn’t copyable.
Google smartphones starting the Pixel 6 series supports up to five years of monthly security updates. Meanwhile, Samsung is offering the same security patches promise to plenty of Galaxy Z, Galaxy S, Galaxy A, and Galaxy M series smartphones.
Apart from longer support, Samsung is also reducing the firmware deployment delay. With Android 13, the company amazed all Galaxy users and further promised to provide updates even faster with the next Android and One UI versions.
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