Samsung took the wraps off its new Galaxy S22 smartphones and Galaxy Tab S8 tablets earlier today and while they look all shiny and appealing, I find myself drawn in by a feature that until recently at least, would never previously have been associated with the South Korean company. Software support. With most brands, you are lucky if your smartphone gets a couple of OS upgrades and it's usually worse with Android tablets that some OEMs attempt to abandon without a single firmware update. But today Samsung put all Android device makers to shame (including Google) by promising 4 years of OS upgrades and 5 years of security patches to its brand new Galaxy S22 and Galaxy Tab S8.
So, Samsung not only makes the best smartphone displays in the business, has arguably the second-best marketing machine (if you consider Apple's to be the king of the hill), and the most loyal customers in the Android world, but now it's also going to be known as the brand you buy if you want a secure device with up to date software. Samsung's software support promise can be seen above.
It's a crown that Google has worn over the years but it's never fully fulfilled its promise on the hardware side of things until the Pixel 6 series where it finally spent some money marketing the phone instead of relying on enthusiasts spreading the word by mouth. As OnePlus has discovered, there are sales to be had by focusing on the masses instead of the enthusiast segment that has faithfully supported the once-fledgling smartphone brand. But, by multiplying the number of smartphones it's launching OnePlus has lost its way in terms of providing software support.
Coming back to the topic of Samsung, for over a decade its users complained about the glacier-like pace of its software update policy. Not so long ago, it was launching its latest Galaxy S smartphone running on a version of Android that was already out of date with an update for that coming months after Google had announced the next version. To make matters worse, when Google made all the hoopla about how Project Treble would aid OEMs in developing their software faster than ever before, it didn't really make a difference to Samsung who plowed on as it had for so long before.
But.
Around two years ago, Samsung woke up and began pushing more updates, more frequently and not just to a select few flagship devices. It retrospectively extended the support cycle for older phones such as the Galaxy S9 series, and now beats Google to the punch rolling out security patches more often than not.
The world has turned upside down but in this case, it's a good thing. Now it's the turn of other Android OEMs such as Motorola, OPPO, Realme, and even OnePlus to up their game and give their customers the software support they are paying for. And if this means cutting one or two overlapping models from their inventory so that they can better use the developer resources they have available, all the better.
Does the promise of extended software support influence your decision when choosing your next tablet or smartphone? Let us know in the comments below.
