Galaxy S20 series software updates run dry as Samsung ends support
What you need to know
- Samsung’s security updates page no longer lists the Galaxy S20 series, meaning its software support has officially come to a close.
- After receiving a “Quarterly” extension in 2024, the S20 flagship trio will no longer be updated; however, the S20 FE can stay a little longer.
- Samsung has shifted to a seven-year support cycle for its phones, but that promise might not embody that sentiment to the core.
While many people coveted the Galaxy S20 series, April marks the end of it in the eyes of Samsung.
The end of OS and security update support for the Galaxy S20, S20 Plus, and S20 Ultra was made apparent in an updated Samsung security updates page (via 9to5Google). The once-flagship trio are no longer listed on the company’s Monthly, Quarterly, or Biannual update cadence sections. This comes after the Galaxy S20 series was moved from Monthly to Quarterly a year ago during Samsung’s software extension era.
After downloading the March 2025 security patch, users with these phones will (for sure) no longer see an update from Samsung. The publication highlights the possibility of another security update; however, that will likely only be in the most extreme cases for severe vulnerabilities.
While the S20 trio exits, Samsung’s Galaxy S20 FE (and its 5G variant) remains. The company’s security page lists the device under its Quarterly update section. The FE variant is likely in for two more updates, one in Q2 and another in Q3, before it bids farewell, too.
The Galaxy S20 series should’ve come to a close a year ago; however, Samsung announced it would move the devices from Monthly to Quarterly patches in April 2024. After originally launching in 2020, the Korean OEM promised four years of software support for the trio. The phones would receive three major OS upgrades (Android 10 to 13) and four years of security updates.
With that, 2024 should’ve been the end — but Samsung saw otherwise for a selection of devices with quite a short support cycle. Aside from the S20 series and its FE model, Samsung extended support for the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, too. Of course, this only concerned security patches, as none of these devices grabbed Android 14.
It’s also worth mentioning that, like the Galaxy S24 series, Samsung has moved toward seven years of software support. The Galaxy S25 also received this treatment; however, there’s more to unravel for its predecessors as “seven years of support” isn’t what most users think. In reality, while the S24 will receive Android 21 (in 2031, potentially), the device will likely have to miss out on major One UI features.
Samsung EVP and head of Framework R&D, Sally, highlighted the major toll its AI takes on a phone’s hardware in One UI 7. As such, many of its past-gen phones will not receive the next upgrade’s Personal Data Engine, as it’s far too reliant on the current hardware provided by the Snapdragon 8 Elite.
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