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Galaxy S9 and S9+ owners may have to wait longer than expected for Android 10

by Adrian Diaconescu

Jan 25, 2020, 1:20 PM

Galaxy S9 and S9+ owners may have to wait longer than expected for Android 10

Samsung is no Nokia or OnePlus when it comes to software support for older phones, but many people were pleasantly surprised to see the Galaxy S10 and Note 10 families receive stable Android 10 updates before 2019 concluded. That included multiple US carrier-specific variants of the company's latest high-end models, followed relatively quickly by the 2018-released Galaxy Note 9 in "international" markets.

Unfortunately, the rollout came to a bit of a standstill several weeks ago, as no carrier-locked Note 9 versions and no Galaxy S9-series devices at all have since managed to jump on the official Android 10 bandwagon. The GS9 and S9+, mind you, were at one point scheduled for an OS promotion at around the same time as the S10 and Note 10 lineups, but alas, it looks like the two premium handsets from early 2018 will need to wait quite a bit longer for their chance to join the fun.

Namely, until March, according to a newly revised timetable shared by Samsung with its most devoted German customers. That obviously means Galaxy S9 and S9+ owners in other regions could still receive the update sooner, but most likely not as soon as next week. On the bright side, you might want to remember the company's initial expectation (in Israel) was for an April delivery, so compared to that, the German division is still ahead of schedule.

In case you're wondering, a March rollout in most European markets would probably mean the first Galaxy S9 and S9+ variants on US carriers will be updated to Android 10 no earlier than April. But miracles have been known to happen, so why not expect a couple here too?

In other news, the Galaxy A50 appears to have also slightly moved down from an April to a May update target, which is... still pretty decent for a mid-ranger that's proven mighty popular all around the world, including in the US. Meanwhile, Samsung continues to be aiming for an April OS makeover as far as the high-end Galaxy Tab S6 is concerned, followed by the Tab S5e and Tab S4 in July, the Tab A 8.0 (2019) in August, and a trio of September updates for the Tab A 10.5, Tab A 10.1 (2019), and Tab Active Pro.

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19 Comments

20. Flynfree15

Posts: 35; Member since: Jan 16, 2020

I might stay on my s9 until the battery depleted, then that's the for me to upgrade. Simple and practical

posted on Jan 26, 2020, 9:08 PM 0

13. wilky

Posts: 41; Member since: Jun 30, 2014

The S9 will also be more than capable of handling Android 11 later this year but won't get it, while mid range phones that are released this year with lesser soc's inc phone's from Samsung will see Android 11. Samsung should support 3 major android updates on their flagships along with an extra year of security updates, because their flagships are now hitting over $1000 with relatively short support, isn't money well spent on a Samsung device.

posted on Jan 26, 2020, 12:17 AM 4

18. Venom

Posts: 4109; Member since: Dec 14, 2017

Exactly. Makes you wonder about the price they're charging for their phones. It's ridiculous when you think about it.

posted on Jan 26, 2020, 9:29 AM 0

7. Venom

That's pathetic. The S9 is more than capable of handling Android 10.

posted on Jan 25, 2020, 5:00 PM 0

8. AngelicusMaximus

Posts: 800; Member since: Dec 20, 2017

Did you even read the title before rushing to comment?

posted on Jan 25, 2020, 5:47 PM 1

17. Venom

Did you or are you trying to deflect?

posted on Jan 26, 2020, 9:28 AM 0

4. hjl2345

Posts: 120; Member since: Aug 11, 2018

A delayed update can be eventually good, but a rushed update is always bad.

posted on Jan 25, 2020, 2:17 PM 5

6. ZARTAN99

Posts: 19; Member since: Oct 11, 2018

This!

posted on Jan 25, 2020, 3:35 PM 1

3. miag5

Posts: 14; Member since: Nov 21, 2019

One of the reasons why i gave up my S9 for iphone.

posted on Jan 25, 2020, 2:09 PM 5

5. hjl2345

iOS and iPhone software support is great. I wish every update wasn't so bugged. One updates fixes 5 things but breaks a couple others. After iOS 7 and iOS 11, I think Apple are having an issue in which they want to provide good and frequent updates, but with so many new and old phones, they can't push reliable updates anymore.

posted on Jan 25, 2020, 2:19 PM 8

16. legar123

Posts: 74; Member since: Mar 26, 2019

Don't worry. Samsung's Android 10 for Note 9 is riddled with many bugs.

posted on Jan 26, 2020, 7:21 AM 0

15. Georgio

Posts: 340; Member since: Nov 21, 2016

You can get 20 years of Ios updates cos the iPhones are still useless ; u can't do anything them. That's coming from someone who had 3 iPhones ; I sold my iPhone xs last year.

posted on Jan 26, 2020, 6:55 AM 5

2. ahmadkun

Posts: 711; Member since: May 02, 2016

the last major update.. and then bye bye

posted on Jan 25, 2020, 2:09 PM 6

10. epdm2be

Posts: 836; Member since: Apr 20, 2012

Yeah but that's still well almost 2 years before the phone is actually redundant. And with andriod even devices with 5.x (an sometimes even older) are still usable. It's not that the S9 will suddenly cease to function, is it?

posted on Jan 25, 2020, 6:20 PM 5

19. ahmadkun

Man I know people around me still using Galaxy S7/S8, Note 5/8 and they are functioning well most of the time but shame on Samsung to not let those Millions of people to not get the latest Android experience without needing to upgrade, last month I had the chance to get a Samsung Galaxy S10 or iPhone X I like the S10 more but I went with the iPhone just because I want new updates for longer time without needing to upgrade or buy a new phone

posted on Jan 26, 2020, 12:03 PM 2

11. Darkmode

Posts: 4; Member since: Jan 21, 2020

but major android updates are known to last longer than 3 major IOS updates and that's a fact

posted on Jan 25, 2020, 9:08 PM 4

1. Chris_ABN

Posts: 203; Member since: May 16, 2018

I'll be waiting then I guess

posted on Jan 25, 2020, 1:32 PM 2

9. epdm2be

Well, I wont. Call recording is botched on Android 9 and I expect it'll still be botched with Android 10. So I'll remain on 8.1, I guess. I want newer devices and newer OSes to be better, not worse. And definitely not worse AND more expensive!