The Galaxy S10, S10+, S10e and others lose support for Android security updates

If you own one of the phones in the original Galaxy S10 line which dates back to 2019, you probably know that the series stopped receiving major Android updates after Android 12 was released in 2021. However, the Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10+, and Galaxy S10e still received Android security updates-that is until now. Samsung revised its Security Updates page (via 9to5Google) to remove the three aforementioned phones from the list of Galaxy handsets that receive monthly, quarterly, and biannual security updates.

You might notice that the support page shows that the Galaxy S10 5G and the Galaxy S10 Lite are still on the list to receive quarterly Android security updates. That's because they were released later than the Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10+, and Galaxy S10e. Other models that no longer receive the security updates include the Galaxy A30 and Galaxy A50 handsets, both of which were released in 2019.

Recently, most Galaxy S10 series owners received the all-important March security update. The reason why it is so important is that it patches a critical flaw in the Exynos modem that could allow an attacker armed with just the victim's phone number, to break into that device and "...remotely compromise a phone at the baseband level with no user interaction."

Other changes listed on the support page show that the OG Galaxy Z Flip will now be limited to quarterly security updates instead of receiving monthly patches. That aligns the Galaxy Z Flip with the OG Galaxy Fold and Galaxy Fold 5G. Three mid-range models, the Galaxy A72, Galaxy M62, and Galaxy F62 will now receive the security update twice a year (every six months) instead of quarterly.

Samsung promises to update its high-end phones with four years of major Android updates and five years of security updates, a schedule that started with the Galaxy S21 series in 2021. Ironically, while recent Pixel models also get five years of support for security updates, they only receive three years of major Android updates. What makes this strange is that Google develops the Android operating system and manufactures the Pixel line.