[Update: Back to quarterly update schedule] Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge lose quarterly security updates

Damien Wilde | Aug 7 2019 - 2:30 am PT

We’ve praised Samsung recently for really attempting to keep devices updated a bit more frequently, heck, they even have offered support for some devices like the S8 and Note 8 way longer than with previous releases. The good news kind of stops there, as it appears the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are getting dropped from quarterly security update support to just plain old “regular.”

Of course, brand new Samsung devices will still get their scheduled monthly updates and the Galaxy S7 will still get certain security patches too. It’s just that these won’t be like clockwork. The Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge have now fallen into the “regular” security updates group (via Droid Life).

[Update 08/07]: Samsung has decided to make a U-turn and reinstate quarterly security updates for the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. We’re not sure if this is due to popular demand or Samsung has decided to look after long-time customers (via The Android Soul).

Considering that both S7 models were debuted back in February 2016, three years of security updates is definitely good news but really should be expected with people holding onto devices longer than ever before. There’s no information on if Samsung will continue to update the S7 line beyond 2019. That said, this is a welcome reprieve for long-time holdouts and those hanging on to either phone.

This does mean that if you are still using either device, your now three-year-old Samsung phone will get far less in the way of updates. You’ll go from seeing an OTA once every three months to potentially just the one or two per year for the foreseeable. It joins the Galaxy A3, A7, Tab A 10.1, Tab S2 and Tab S3 now as being updated on a more ‘periodic’ basis with less of a formulaic schedule.

Updates for the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge will then likely drop almost completely in the next 24 months, which isn’t too much of a surprise given that the S7 is now three years old at this point. It’s still a sore point within the Android space, barely any devices after three years get any sort of support, so for Samsung to keep doing so for this long deserves some sort of reluctant or muted praise.

What this means for holdouts and those not willing to upgrade, is you’ll be more susceptible to any exploits that affect certain Android builds. Samsung will only push out essential security patches for the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge from now on.