Samsung has released new updates to its Galaxy S20 series and the almost obsolete Galaxy Note 9 on the Verizon network. All four Galaxy S20 models — Galaxy S20, Galaxy S20+, Galaxy S20 Ultra, and Galaxy S20 FE — are now receiving the January 2022 Android security patch. The update for the former three models comes with firmware version G98xVSQS2EVA4 (via). The Galaxy S20 FE, meanwhile, is picking up the new update with firmware version G781VSQS5EVA4.
The Galaxy Note 9 is also making the jump to the latest SMR (security maintenance release) with this update. The new firmware version for this four-year-old S Pen wielding Samsung flagship is N960USQS9FVA1.
The latest updates for all of the aforementioned five Samsung devices are now rolling out over the air (OTA). Many users may have already installed the new firmware. But if you haven’t received a notification about the update yet, you can manually check for it by navigating to Settings > Software update >Download and install on your phone.
There aren’t any new features here
Note that this update doesn’t bring any new features or enhancements to the said Galaxy devices. The January 2022 SMR is all we are getting. As Samsung confirmed earlier this month, the latest security patch contains fixes for several dozen vulnerabilities found on Google’s version of Android OS as well as its custom software, i.e. One UI. A handful of them were critical vulnerabilities that can potentially cause severe damages to users if exploited in the wild. So you might want to install the new update right away.
As for new features, the Galaxy S20 series received the Android 12-based One UI 4.0 update a few days ago. It brought a ton of goodies along. You might have yet to discover a few of them. You can refer to our full coverage to find out what One UI 4.0 brings to Samsung’s Android smartphones and tablets.
Unfortunately, the Galaxy Note 9 is nearing its end of life, having completed more than three years in the market. So it will no longer receive feature updates. The device isn’t even receiving monthly security updates now. Samsung demoted it to the quarterly schedule last September. It will likely receive regular security patches until the end of this year before fading into oblivion.
That said, the Korean brand tends to surprise users with unexpected software updates for its forgotten phones. So watch out for those as well. We will surely let you know if the Galaxy Note 9 receives any new updates in the future.
2022-01-28 15:06:35