Samsung September 2021 security update is now rolling out for these Galaxy devices

After years of Google taking the lead in rolling out security updates to their phones, Samsung has consistently been the one to debut a new month’s Android update in recent months. The September 2021 security update is no different, with Samsung having rolled out the upgrade to these Galaxy devices.

Samsung September 2021 security update – what’s new

The rollout of the September 2021 update to Galaxy devices began on August 30, exactly a week before the first Monday of the month when Google normally releases the list of core security issues in the patch. This month, things were delayed even further, however, due to Labor Day in the United States taking place on that Monday, September 6.

On the Samsung-specific side of things though, two notable changes may be coming with this September 2021 update, for some devices. For starters, earlier this year, Google promised that an issue between Galaxy devices and Android Auto would be fixed by the July security patch. However, this ended up falling through, with the fix not set to arrive until September’s “maintenance” release. Now that the update is more widely available, we’re actively investigating to see if the Android Auto issues have been fixed.

Meanwhile, some devices, including the Galaxy S20 FE and Galaxy Z Fold, are receiving an upgrade to One UI alongside the September 2021 update. Phones that get the upgrade gain the (admittedly limited) benefits of One UI 3.1.1, including tweaks to the phone app and a new bedtime mode toggle in quick settings, though some improvements may be device-specific.

According to Samsung’s official patch notes, Google’s Android Security Bulletin includes 3 critical fixes, 29 high severity fixes, and 14 moderate ones. On top of that, Samsung themselves have closed 23 security vulnerabilities with the September 2021 update.

Devices with Samsung September 2021 security update

So to which devices has Samsung rolled out the September 2021 update? Before the month of September even got started, Samsung came out swinging with five different phones receiving the updates, with special attention being paid to the company’s foldables. Over the coming weeks, more phones will be steadily brought up-to-date.

This list will include a note on where the update first debuted and if it is also available in the United States. As usual, the latest additions will be marked in bold.

Galaxy S series

For over a decade, the S series has been Samsung’s flagship line, offering the best mainstream Android phone experience, albeit at a sometimes steep cost. For that extra premium, the Galaxy S series is usually among the first to receive each month’s security update, give or take any complications from individual phone carriers. This time around, the Galaxy S20 FE and S20 FE 5G — Samsung’s affordable flagships from 2020 — were the first to receive the update, on August 30.

Next in line for the update, owners of the Galaxy S10 Lite began spotting the September 2021 security patch update by September 3, with the first reports coming from Spain.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy S20 trio — including the base, Plus, and Ultra models — got the relatively minor September update just a few days after a dedicated One UI 3.1.1 upgrade that enhanced things like app opening speed, camera speed, and more. As of September 9, the unlocked models of the Galaxy S20 series began receiving the update in the United States, with carrier models following suit on the 17th.

Surprisingly, the newer Galaxy S21 series was further behind on this update, with device owners in Europe seeing the update on September 6, a full week after the Galaxy S20 FE. The Galaxy S10 series trio was next, with the S10, S10+, and S10e receiving the update that same day — later reaching carrier-locked US devices on September 23.

• Galaxy S10 / S10+ / S10e — G97xFXXSCFUH5 (Released first in Switzerland)
  • US: Available on carrier-locked phones
• Galaxy S10 Lite — G770FXXS6EUH5 (Released first in Spain)
• Galaxy S20 / S20+ / S20 Ultra — G98xxXXSADUH5 (Released first in Europe)
  • US: Available on unlocked and carrier devices
• Galaxy S20 FE — G78xxXXU3AUH5 (Released first in Europe)
• Galaxy S20 FE 5G — G781BXXU4CUH5 (Released first in Europe)
• Galaxy S21 / S21+ / S21 Ultra — G99xBXXS3AUHD / G99xU1UES4AUH9 (Released first in Europe)
  • US: Available on unlocked devices

Galaxy Z series foldables

Depending on how you look at it, one could argue that the Galaxy Z series of foldables are Samsung’s true “flagship” phones nowadays. This is especially true now that the Galaxy Z Flip 3 has reached a price bracket below $1,000, making foldables potentially more appealing to the average consumer. Meanwhile, the larger Galaxy Z Fold 3 continues to push the boundaries of what a smartphone can be.

Before the new month could get underway, on August 31, the Galaxy Z Flip and Z Flip 5G both received an update to One UI 3.1.1 that primarily improved the experience of foldable devices, including a Flex Mode panel and support for Drag & Split. With this same update, the phones were bumped to the September 2021 security patch. The update didn’t hit Z Flip models in the US until September 24, starting with carrier-locked phones.

On September 6, the original Galaxy Fold was given the same treatment with the security patch and One UI update.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 have only been in customers’ hands for a matter of days, and all the same Samsung has rolled out the September 2021 update to both phones. As the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Z Fold 3 both launched with One UI 3.1.1 out of the box, it’s highly likely not much will change with this update beyond security improvements. These updates didn’t begin to arrive in the US until the Z Flip 3’s carrier update on September 27, followed by carrier and unlocked updates for the Z Fold 3 on September 29.

Samsung’s second-generation foldable, the Galaxy Z Fold 2, got its update starting with the carrier-locked US models on September 14, breaking from the usual order where international models get updated first. The international variant of this update was over a week behind, on September 23.

• Galaxy Fold / Fold 5G — F907NKOU3FUHB (Released first in Europe & South Korea)
• Galaxy Z Fold 2 — F916USQS2EUH7
  • US: Available on unlocked devices
• Galaxy Z Fold 3 — F926BXXU1AUHF (Released first in Australia)
  • US: Available on unlocked and carrier devices
• Galaxy Z Flip — F700FXXU8EUH5 / F700NKOU3EUH5 (Released first in Europe & South Korea)
  • US: Available on carrier-locked phones
• Galaxy Z Flip 5G — F707BXXU5EUH4 / F707NKSU2DUH4 (Released first in Europe & South Korea)
• Galaxy Z Flip 3 — F711BXXU2AUI1 (Released first in Ireland)
  • US: Available on carrier-locked phones

Galaxy Note series

As of the latest Galaxy Unpacked event, the Galaxy Note series appears to be finished, having been replaced in the 2021 hardware lineup by Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold series. The Z Fold 3 even supports the Note series signature S Pen, though not in as easily stowed of a manner. That said, it could simply be a decision made only for 2021, due to issues like the ongoing chip shortage.

For now, only a few Galaxy Note devices have received the September 2021 update, starting with the Note 20 series duo. On September 5, the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra owners in Brazil began seeing the September 2021 security patch, just a matter of days after the more substantial One UI 3.1.1 update rolled out. Over a week later, this same update arrived for carrier-locked phones in the US.

Filling out the recent Note lineup, Samsung released updates for 2019’s Galaxy Note 10 and 10+ on September 7 starting in South Korea, while an update for 2020’s Note 10 Lite arrived a few hours later. The US didn’t see either of these updates for weeks, until unlocked Note 10 phones got it on September 23.

• Galaxy Note 10 / Note 10+ — N971NKSU2FUH7 (Released first in South Korea)
• Galaxy Note 10 Lite — N770FXXU8EUH5 (Released first in France)
• Galaxy Note 20 / Note 20 Ultra — N98xxXXS3DUH5 (Released first in Brazil)
  • US: Available on carrier-locked devices

Galaxy Tab series

As you might expect, the Galaxy Tab series, which often cost less than most flagship Samsung phones and store less private data than your daily driver smartphone, is updated a bit more slowly than other Androids. That said, Samsung makes some of the only Android tablets worth owning, a fact furthered by Galaxy Tabs receiving frequent updates at all.

So far only the Galaxy Tab S7 series has gotten the September security update, with device owners in Europe seeing the update on September 17. With this update, the Galaxy Tab S7 now has features that debuted with One UI 3.1.1, including “Labs” capabilities like forcing an app to support multi-window mode.

• Galaxy Tab S7 5G / S7+ 5G — T976BXXU2BUI1 (Released first in Europe)
• Galaxy Tab S7 / S7+ — T87xXXU2BUC6 (Released first in Europe)
• Galaxy Tab S7 FE — T73xXXU1AUH6 (Released first in Europe)

Galaxy A/M/F series

In addition to Samsung’s ongoing prowess in the flagship and foldables departments, the company is also surprisingly dominant in the field of affordable Android phones between their, A, M, and F series. This is backed by Samsung’s willingness to update even their mid-range A series phones on a monthly basis, though not for as long as their flagships get the same treatment. Even once the monthly updates run out, Samsung follows this up with a period of quarterly, and later biannual, updates.

Starting out the wave of updates, the Galaxy A8 (2018) received its update on September 4. Notably, the update comes after both June and August updates for the phone, despite the Galaxy A8 (2018) only being slated for biannual updates for non-enterprise customers.

On September 6, Samsung rolled out side-by-side updates for the Galaxy A52 and Galaxy A72, two of the company’s hottest affordable phones which also launched side-by-side. The Galaxy A52s 5G was a few days behind, getting the update on September 9 in multiple countries across Europe.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy A21s didn’t get its update until September 13, and the Galaxy A10s was a few days behind on September 17. Side by side, the Galaxy A30s and A50 received their respective updates on September 22, while the 5G variants of the Galaxy A51 got its update on September 23.

Continuing the rapid batch of updates, the Galaxy A52 5G, Galaxy A32, Galaxy A11, and Galaxy A12, all got their updates on the same day, September 24. The non-5G Galaxy A51 was a few days behind on September 27, followed by the Galaxy A71 5G on the 28th.

As for the lower-end M series, the Galaxy M21 was the first to get upgraded, on September 7, with the update confirmed in both India and Sri Lanka. Current speculation is that the update is more substantial than a simple security patch, though this hasn’t been confirmed.

The Galaxy M31 was next, picking up the patch on September 9 for devices in India. Notably, with this update, the M31 picked up support for Samsung Pay Mini, a mobile payment option based on the use of QR codes. The update for the Galaxy M51, was more straightforward and arrived on September 22.

The Galaxy M30s is currently only receiving quarterly updates rather than monthly. That means when its update arrived on September 28, it was bumped from the June 2021 patch all the way to September 2021.

The Galaxy F series, if you’re unfamiliar, are generally rebranded Galaxy M devices, but sold exclusively in India by way of Flipkart. The first Galaxy F series phone to get the September update was the Galaxy F41 on September 15.

• Galaxy A8 (2018) — A530FXXSLCUH5 (Released first in Colombia)
• Galaxy A10s — A107MUBU5CUH1 (Released first in Ecuador)
• Galaxy A11 — A115MUBS2BUI1 (Released first in South America)
• Galaxy A12 — A125FXXU1BUI3 (Released first in Ukraine)
• Galaxy A21s — A217MUBS7CUH3 (Released first in Ecuador)
• Galaxy A30s — A307GUBU4CUH6 (Released first in Argentina)
• Galaxy A32 — A325MUBU1AUH1 (Released first in Peru)
• Galaxy A50 — A505GUBS9CUH2 (Released first in Panama)
  • US: Available on carrier-locked phones
• Galaxy A51 — A515FXXU5EUI2 (Released first in Russia)
• Galaxy A51 5G — A516NKSU4CUH2 (Released first in Korea)
• Galaxy A52 — A525FXXU4AUH3 (Released first in India)
• Galaxy A52 5G — A526BXXU1AUI4 (Released first in Bulgaria)
• Galaxy A52s 5G — A528BXXS1AUHA (Released first in Europe)
• Galaxy A71 5G — A7160ZCU5CUH2 (Released first in China)
• Galaxy A72 — A725FXXU4AUH2 (Released first in Russia)
• Galaxy M21 — M215FXXU2BUH6 (Released first in India)
• Galaxy M30s — M307FNXXU4CUH6 (Released first in Ukraine)
• Galaxy M31 — M315FXXU2BUH6 (Released first in India)
• Galaxy M51 — M515FXXS3CUI1 (Released first in Europe)
• Galaxy F41 — F415FXXU1BUH7 (Released first in India)