Google has always been and still is the most important reference point in terms of software updates for Android devices – and it could not be otherwise – however for some time now there is an OEM that has stood up to the truth and their model to follow in terms of diligence and duration of the software support guaranteed to their smartphones, tablets and more: Samsung.
Google Pixel: the record starts to waver
For many years, fans of Google’s smartphones have been repeating the following concept as a dogma: the Pixels – and before them, the Nexus – offers the advantage of receiving faster updates than other Android smartphones and more reliable software support.
The first part remains essentially true: the Pixel series models are always the first to receive the new versions of the Android operating system; the second was until not so long ago: Made by Google devices offered the guarantee of an official software supports more lasting than those of the various OEMs.
The use of the verb in the past tense is a consequence of the changes taking place in the panorama of Android smartphones, such that the once characteristic advantages of the Pixels have become less decisive than they were a few years ago.
Samsung: from pursuer to virtuous model
If you usually follow our pages dedicated to software updates for Android devices, there is a detail that cannot have escaped you: the name Samsung is a permanent presence in practically every update collection and, indeed, more than one has already happened.
Once the South Korean manufacturer even beat Google in releasing new monthly security patches. But it has not always been like this, indeed the run-up made by Samsung in the space of a few years has been really noteworthy.
The run-up
Going back a bit, it is possible to recall an example case of the reputation of Google’s Pixels in terms of software support: Android 9.0 Pie was released for the Pixels in August 2018; the Galaxy S9, or the top of the Samsung range of 2018, did not receive the major update until January 2019.
At that time, the Mountain View house guaranteed users a software support made up of three years of Android releases and updates of security, while Samsung and many other competitors did not go beyond the two OS updates.
Such a situation, as well as for users, must also have been frustrating for a giant of the caliber of Samsung, which in fact soon kicked off its impressive run-up: starting from 2019, the South Korean manufacturer started making the big voice on the subject of software updates, releasing the monthly security patches in an increasingly assiduous and timely manner.
Generation after generation, even the wait for the new major releases has been drastically decreasing : while the Galaxy S9 had to wait a full five months for the release of Android 9.0, Android 10 arrived on the Samsung Galaxy S10 two and a half months after the Pixels. and, even, the Samsung Galaxy S21 series got itAndroid 12 less than a month after Google’s smartphones.
The “Samsung model”
At present, Samsung is a real virtuous model among Android OEMs in terms of software updates and this is also thanks to a policy made of clarity: just visit the manufacturer’s website to find, in addition to the details of the monthly security updates, also a periodically updated list broken down as follows: models with monthly security updates, quarterly security updates, semi-annual security updates, wearable with monthly security updates.
Not enough for you? Note that in February 2021, Samsung announced a four-year warranty of security updates for more than 130 models, but in February 2022, it elevated the promise to four major updates and five years of security patches for a list of models. Do you want to know the particularity? Among these is also the mid-range Samsung Galaxy A53 (here is our review ), which will therefore arrive up to Android 16 in 2026 and the security patches of March / April of 2027.
A quick consultation on the Google page is enough to note that the software support of Google Pixel 6 (here is our review ) and Google Pixel 6 Pro (here is our review ) will stop much sooner: the new versions of Android are guaranteed (at least) until October 2024 and security updates (at least) until October 2026.
If on the one hand, it is true that these two models arrived on the market several months earlier than Galaxy A53, on the other hand, it should not be forgotten that we are talking about models significantly more expensive. And anyway Google Pixel 6ait’s even newer than Samsung’s branded rival, but, with three years of Android releases (Android 12 at launch) and five security patches guaranteed, it could still stop sooner.
Google is still a reference in the Android world
Recognition of Samsung’s merits – and the demerits of all other OEMs – does not deprive Google of its role as a North Star in the Android world, nor does it erase the Pixel’s advantages over other green robot devices.
The Mountain View giant remains the reference point for software updates, both because it presides over the release of new versions of the OS and because it takes care of Google Play system updates, which are important for all devices that use Google services. (for the news that of May 2022, visit this link ), i.e. all Android devices net of Huawei with HMS, of countries where Google services are not present and of a few particular exceptions.
As for the advantages that owning a Pixel brings with it, if the one regarding the duration of the support has failed, the one relating to timeliness has been reduced but not reset: Made by Google smartphones are and will always be the first to receive the new versions of Android, both in the stable channel and through the test programs that precede the general release and we had an example just a few days ago with the release of Android 13 Beta 2.1.
In addition to this, the Pixels are the recipients of exclusive quarterly updates, the Pixel Feature Drops (with its beta program ), whose news from now on will be illustrated more clearly. Furthermore, even for the monthly security patches, the Pixels are always in the front row. An emblematic example of all these advantages can be found in the March 2022 update, which in one fell swoop had brought Android 12L, feature drop and security patch of the month.