Samsung has changed its mind. For the time being, the Galaxy S20 FE and the Galaxy Note 20 will still receive monthly updates. Just yesterday, the devices seemed to have been ‘downgraded’ to a quarterly update schedule.
Galaxy S20 FE and Note 20 monthly updates for the time being
Yesterday we wrote that Samsung is finally no longer giving the Galaxy S20 series monthly updates, but that is actually good news. The devices – which appeared at the beginning of 2020 – are now entering their fifth year of support, and the South Koreans still promise regular updates. That is clearly longer than previously communicated, and therefore good news.
At the same time as the Galaxy S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra, Samsung also moved the Galaxy S20 FE and Note 20 (Ultra) from the monthly updates list to the quarterly updates list. Although these devices have been on the market for less than four years, we did not think this was such a strange change. After all, they were all released more than three years ago – and have therefore been receiving their security updates monthly for longer than usual.
However, Samsung has updated the official update list again today. And guess what? The Galaxy S20 FE and Note 20 (Ultra) do still receive the latest updates every month. Apparently these devices also first complete the four-year period, before hopefully switching to a fifth year with quarterly updates.
An unexpected fifth year
According to the announcement from 2022, the top models from the Galaxy S21 series will receive a fifth year of support. At the time, the S20 and Note 20 series simply seemed to fall outside this boat. It is now clear that the Galaxy S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra will receive a fifth year of support. As a result, there is a good chance that the Note 20 and S20 FE models will also follow suit from the fall. However, definitive confirmation will only follow when the South Koreans also give these devices quarterly updates four years after release – and do not simply remove them from the update list.
