Samsung April 2021 security update is rolling out now to these Galaxy devices

Ben Schoon | May 14 2021 - 7:24 am PT

Samsung was once among the worst in the Android world when it came to updates big and small, but in 2021 they’re arguably better than Pixel. Now, Samsung is rolling out the April 2021 security update to its huge lineup of smartphones including Galaxy S21, S20, A52, and more.

The April security patch, technically, wasn’t fully released when Samsung started its rollout. Google follows a pattern of rolling out the update to its Pixel smartphones on the first Monday of every month, this month landing on April 5.

Samsung April 2021 security update — what’s new
Devices with Samsung’s April 2021 security update
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Samsung April 2021 security update — what’s new

That same April 5 date is when the changes and security improvements made in the patch are officially detailed. After Google rolled out the update to Pixels, official details on security improvements also finally arrived on Samsung’s site.

This month, Google issued 3 security fixes, all of moderate severity. Samsung further included 37 high-priority patches in this update with 6 critical severity fixes.

Often, Samsung will also bring minor UI tweaks to its monthly security updates, and the April 2021 patch is no different. As captured by the folks at SamMobile, one of the notable changes is an expansion of Portrait Mode. The feature was previously limited to the telephoto and ultrawide cameras only on some devices, but the April patch seems to extend functionality to the main camera.

The update also claims to continue working on touchscreen issues on the Galaxy S20 FE 5G. On Galaxy Tab S7, the update delivers a bunch of new features including virtual backgrounds for video calling apps, better multi-window support, and more.

Devices with Samsung’s April 2021 security update

Which devices are set to get the April 2021 update from Samsung? The list of devices getting monthly updates right now is quite hefty, and as of April 1, several models have already been updated. You can see devices that have been updated so far in the list below.

The list below is being updated as new rollouts begin or expand to new regions and carriers. New additions will be marked in bold.

Galaxy S Series

Samsung’s true flagship series is usually among the first to see monthly updates, and this month the rollout started on March 29 with the current flagship family, the Galaxy S21 series. The download on S21 devices weighs in at over 1GB and started in India, but has since expanded on a mostly global scale. The update has expanded to the S20 FE (4G first, 5G as of April 12th) and S10 series, and on April 1 it showed up on the Galaxy S9+ in Germany. On April 2nd, the Galaxy S10 Lite joined the fray and the update was also spotted on the Galaxy S20 Ultra on T-Mobile and, days later, the rest of the Galaxy S20 lineup started seeing the update in Germany. Remaining regions should be pretty close behind.

The full list of Galaxy S devices with the April update include:

Galaxy S21 — G99xxXXU2AUC8
Galaxy S21+ — G99xxXXU2AUC8
Galaxy S21 Ultra — G998BXXU2AUC8
Galaxy S20 FE 4G — G780FXXS2CUC8
Galaxy S20 FE 5G — G781BXXU2CUD1
Galaxy S20 — G98xxXXS7DUC9
Galaxy S20+ — G98xxXXS7DUC9
Galaxy S20 Ultra — G98xxXXS7DUC9
Galaxy S10 — G97xxXXU9FUCD
Galaxy S10+ — G97xxXXU9FUCD
Galaxy S10e — G97xxXXU9FUCD
Galaxy S10 Lite — G770FXXS4EUC1
Galaxy S9 — G96xFXXUFFUC6
Galaxy S9+ —G96xFXXUFFUC6

Galaxy A Series

The mid-range Galaxy A series is perhaps among the best-updated affordable smartphone lineup, and the latest release, Galaxy A52, is got its April update early on. The A52 saw its rollout start on March 30. The 5G version of the device then picked up its update in select regions in mid-April. Also early on, the A51 saw the April patch arrive with Android 11 but it’s taken until the end of the month for the update to extend to the United States. On April 5th, the update showed up for Galaxy A71 in Japan. Galaxy A71 5G got the update in May. It also arrived on the Galaxy A31 alongside its Android 11 update. Around April 22nd, several Galaxy A devices picked up the April patch including Galaxy A30, A70, and A20, the latter with different build numbers in each region including the US. The Galaxy A8 (2018) also picked up the April patch in numerous regions as well with Galaxy A42 5G just a couple of days behind on April 27th. Galaxy A31, A70s, and A42 5G were updated at the same time. In May, updates rolled out to Galaxy A02s, Galaxy A40, and Galaxy A72.

Galaxy A52 — A525FXXU1AUC5
Galaxy A52 5G — A526BXXS1AUD1
Galaxy A42 5G — A426BXXS1BUD3
Galaxy A51 — A515FXXU4EUC8
Galaxy A71 — A715FZHU4BUC1
Galaxy A71 5G — A716BXXU5CUD2
Galaxy A31 — A315NKSU1CUD3/A315FXXU1CUD4
Galaxy A20 — A205FNXXSABUD1/A205SKSU7BUD2/A205U1UES9BUC1
Galaxy A30 — A305FDDS6BUD4
Galaxy A70 — A705FNXXS5DUD1/A7050ZxS5DUD1
Galaxy A8 (2018) — A530FXXSICUXX/A530NKSU8CUC2
Galaxy A9 Star — G8850ZxS6CUDx
Galaxy A02s — A025FXXU2BUDC
Galaxy A40 — A405FNXXU3CUD3
Galaxy A72 — A725FXXU1AUD2
Galaxy A70s — A707FDDS3CUD1
Galaxy A42 5G — A426BXXS1BUD3

Galaxy Foldables

Samsung’s super-premium foldable smartphones are sometimes slow to get major updates, but they’re right on track with monthly security patches. The April patch hit Galaxy Z Fold 2 on March 29 and has since expanded. The update is also available on the original Galaxy Fold as of March 31. The Galaxy Z Flip, not the 5G model, was updated around April 15th with updates also hitting the United States around the 25th.

Galaxy Z Fold 2 — F916BXXU1DUCE
Galaxy Fold — F900FXXU4EUCF
Galaxy Z Flip — F700FXXS4DUD

Galaxy Note Series

As the Note stares down the barrel of death, support isn’t really waning. On March 29 the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ saw rollouts begin for the April patch and on April 1st, the update started rolling out Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra in select regions including on US carriers such as AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. In mid-April, the Galaxy Note 8 also got the April 2021 update with the Galaxy Note 9 following just a day later starting in South American countries. In several Pacific regions, Samsung also brought the April update to its four-year-old Galaxy Note FE, the device that came out of the Galaxy Note 7 disaster.

Galaxy Note 20 Ultra — N986U1XXX2DUC8
Galaxy Note 20 — N986U1XXX2DUC8
Galaxy Note 10 — N97xFXXU6FUCD
Galaxy Note 10+ — N97xFXXU6FUCD
Galaxy Note 10 Lite — N770FXXU7EUC6
Galaxy Note 9 — N9600ZHS7FUD1
Galaxy Note 8 — N950FXXSEDUC2
Galaxy Note FE — N935FXXS8CUD1

Galaxy Tab Series

Samsung rolled out the April security patch to the Galaxy Tab S6 on March 31. In the second half of April, the update arrived on the Galaxy Tab Active 2 with the Tab S5e not far behind. It took a while for Samsung’s current flagship tablet, the Tab S7, to get its update though which took until the very end of April. Galaxy Tab A 10.5 was updated in late April.

Galaxy Tab S7/S7+ — T976BXXUBUD2
Galaxy Tab S6 — T865XXU4CUC1
Galaxy Tab Active 2 — T395XXSCCUD1
Galaxy Tab S5e — T725XXS2CUD1
Galaxy Tab A 10.5 — T595XXS4CUD1

Galaxy F and Galaxy M Series

On April 13th, Samsung started rolling out the April security update to one of its other budget lineups, the Galaxy F series. Specifically, the Galaxy F62 picked up the update with a 900MB OTA. The Galaxy M10 was updated in late April.

Galaxy F62 — E625FDDU1AUD
Galaxy M10 — M105GDXS6CUD6

Galaxy J Series

The affordable Galaxy J series has also been getting updates to the April security patch. This includes the Galaxy J3 (2017), Galaxy J8, and Galaxy J5, all of which picked up their updates around May 13th. Galaxy J2 Core arrived around the same time.