If we had a dime for each time we have talked about and praised how Samsung’s software package update policy depart all people else in the Android place in the dust, we would, perfectly, have a lot of dimes.
And can you blame us? In addition to promising four many years of OS upgrades for some gadgets, Samsung has also been channelling its interior Usain Bolt this yr with the rollout of the Android 13 and A single UI 5. update. It’s all been mighty extraordinary and designed us wonder exactly where Samsung could go from listed here.
Neglect third-get together makers – Samsung has a more robust update plan than even Google, which makes the main operating method. Google only guarantees 3 key Android OS updates for Pixel smartphones while Samsung ensures 4, and on paper, the latter is the clear winner.
But is Samsung’s update policy always more robust than Google’s, specially when it comes to both equally companies’ flagship smartphones? Well, the answer is no, at the very least for flagship Galaxy smartphones released in the 2nd half of each individual yr.
Given that the Galaxy Be aware sequence acquired canned, Samsung has been launching new Galaxy Z Fold and Galaxy Z Flip flagships in the next 50 {2c093b5d81185d1561e39fad83afc6c9d2e12fb4cca7fd1d7fb448d4d1554397} of every single 12 months. And because the four a long time of OS upgrades only utilize to flagship Galaxy telephones (and some mid-rangers) launched in 2021 and later, Samsung’s just acquiring started.
But as it stands suitable now, Google’s Pixel smartphones don’t exactly slide powering just mainly because the business promises a single a lot less 12 months of significant Android updates. And the motive is simple: Google’s Pixel flagships start with the latest model of Android each yr, though Samsung launches its foldable flagships with an 12 months-old version of the working procedure.
Pixel telephones start with the most current Android model, which is an crucial detail
The Pixel 7 and the Galaxy Z Fold 4, for case in point, will the two conclusion their life on Android 16. Why? Since the Pixel 7 will come with Android 13 out of the box and the Galaxy Z Fold 4 comes with Android 12. The former will get 3 significant OS updates and the latter will get four, and you really do not need superior math skills to realize that the finish result will be the actuality that each smartphones will be managing Android 16 when good software assist for them ends.
It fundamentally boils down to some thing we have complained about before: Samsung demands to commence placing the most recent model of Android on flagships launched in the back again half of the year, rather of the exact same variation that it utilizes in the initially 50 {2c093b5d81185d1561e39fad83afc6c9d2e12fb4cca7fd1d7fb448d4d1554397}.
Suitable now, that isn’t the circumstance. Only the Galaxy S line adequately gains from Samsung’s update policy when in comparison to the newest significant-finish Pixel smartphone obtainable on the current market when a new Galaxy S flagship is released. The foldables, or what ever Samsung decides to launch in the final handful of months, close up finding the same degree of assistance, even while Samsung’s coverage sounds improved on paper.
In simple fact, a person could argue that based on when you get a new smartphone, the variance in lengthy-phrase software guidance amongst Galaxy S and Pixel devices as properly. For instance, the Galaxy S23 will arrive running Android 13 out of the box though the upcoming Pixel lineup will be managing Android 14 on day a single, so all of them will have the identical Android version at the time they prevent getting significant OS updates.
Thankfully, Samsung’s element depend is commonly a phase forward of inventory Android
There is, on the other hand, a dazzling facet: Samsung telephones might not technically get much more OS updates than Google’s Pixel units, but the additions the Korean big can make to Android via its 1 UI skin suggest that Galaxy flagships usually have far more attributes the user can acquire gain of.
A lot of characteristics even debut on Samsung products initial. Just take the process-huge darkish manner, for case in point. Samsung launched it to Galaxy smartphones and tablets with Android 9 Pie Google, on the other hand, introduced a technique-wide dim mode with Android 10.
So, yeah, Samsung’s acquired a apparent edge when it arrives to the variety of constructed-in software package features. And let us not ignore that whilst Samsung may not beat Google with regards to updates, it does have a direct versus other Android cell phone companies, and I would say that is triumph plenty of.