At long last, Samsung stops launching new phones with old software

It has finally happened: Samsung has stopped launching new smartphones with a year-old version of Android. If you have been following our recent coverage, you have probably heard that the Galaxy A51, Galaxy A71, and Galaxy A01, launched in the last couple of weeks, run Android 10 out of the box. Samsung is also prepping other new phones with Android 10 preloaded. This marks the first time the company isn't waiting for the launch of its next Galaxy S flagship before it starts putting out smartphones with the latest version of Android.

It's unclear why Samsung decided to start doing so from 2019. We're assuming the fact that Android 10 (and One UI 2.0) isn't a big update has something to do with it. Samsung has already released the stable Android 10 update for two budget phones (the Galaxy M20 and Galaxy M30) and is aiming to update a lot more devices come January. Furthermore, the Galaxy S10 started receiving the Android 10 update in late November, a full month before Samsung released Android Pie for the Galaxy S9 last year.

It's a clear indication that developing Android 10 for its devices has been a relatively easy affair for Samsung. Or, well, maybe Google asked the Korean giant to get its act together now that other manufacturers are being quicker with Android updates, and it obliged. Whatever the reason may be, it's great to see Samsung finally stop launching new phones with outdated software. Here's hoping the company will also start providing three Android OS updates to its flagship devices in the future.

Abhijeet Mishra - Executive Editor

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First Samsung device: SGH-D500

Abhijeet's writing career started with custom ROM guides for Samsung devices (including the original Galaxy S), and he moved to SamMobile in mid-2013 and worked up the ranks to Editor-in-chief. His first Samsung phone was the D500

Phone Android 10