Samsung has slightly adjusted its update policy, which means that the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are updated less frequently. Instead of publishing a security update for the smartphones every month, this is now done every quarter. Yet this is less bad than you might think.
Fewer Samsung Galaxy S7 updates
On a support page from Samsung, you can read that the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are now provided with a security patch once a quarter. This has happened every month since its release, but since the phones are now three years old, Samsung is reducing support somewhat.
However, this does mean that the South Korean manufacturer will continue to support the devices for more than three years. The S7 and S7 Edge appeared in March 2016, but can, therefore, continue to count on updates in the coming period. Not all manufacturers support their top devices for so long, certainly not longer than three years.
In addition, the Galaxy S10, S10 Plus, and S10e are included in the list of smartphones that receive a security update every month. The Samsung website states that the phones are supported at least until February 2021, although there is a good chance that Samsung will later decide to provide them with updates for longer. The company did this earlier with the Galaxy A5 (2016), which even after its ‘best-before date’ of three years still gets a patch every quarter.
Samsung and updates
Users of devices newer than the Galaxy S7 (Edge) do not have to worry for the time being, because Samsung will continue to update it for the time being. For example, the Galaxy S8, S8 Plus, S9, S9 Plus, Note 8, Note 9 and A8 (2018) are neatly updated every month. Cheaper devices, including the new Galaxy A50 and A70, receive a patch every quarter.
Samsung has also updated its important phones to Android 9.0 (Pie) and will be releasing upgrades for various cheaper devices in the coming month. The Galaxy J6 Plus and J4 Plus are still on the list for an Android Pie update, while the Galaxy J3 (2017) is also updated to the latest version.