No doubt Samsung makes some of the best hardware on smartphones. This is regardless of the price point, be it the entry-level Android Go-powered devices in the Galaxy “Core” family or the premium Note and S series.

Samsung’s shortcomings in the smartphone industry have always crawled out of its software pit. Be it the sometimes poor take on the UI or even its software support policy.

While the switch to One UI has served to fix the former, the company is still struggling with dealing with the latter, more so when it comes to major Android OS updates. For instance, there’s a petition regarding the number of OS updates the company provides.

Samsung-Change.org-petition-for-three-Android-OS-updates
(Source)

Samsung commits at least two OS upgrades to its devices, including some of the most expensive handsets sold to date costing in the regions of $1,500. Meanwhile, the $500 OnePlus 5 and 5T have just received their third OS update to Android 10.

Samsung’s Android OS update issues deepen further with the entry-level Android Go devices. Unlike Nokia that promises two major OS updates to its Android Go-powered devices, none of Samsung’s Android Go phones has received any OS update.

The first from the Korean company, the Galaxy J2 Core, arrived in 2018 running Android Oreo Go edition. It was later followed by the Galaxy J4 Core towards the end of the same year and in 2019, the Galaxy A2 Core came to life.

Galaxy-A2-Core
Samsung Galaxy A2 Core is powered by Android Oreo Go out of the box

Not long ago, a certain Galaxy J2 Core (2020) was unveiled for the Indian market. Despite the timing of the release, the device still runs on Android Oreo Go edition out of the box, just like others before it.

At a time when the Nokia 1 Plus Android 10 Go update has already been pushed and soon the Nokia 1 will also join the party (second OS update), it’s embarrassing that Samsung’s Android Go devices haven’t even received Android Pie Go update.

Does the situation look like changing anytime soon? Probably not. On the brighter side, Samsung is doing a pretty decent job keeping the devices safe and secure through security updates.

As of this writing, the Galaxy J2 Core, Galaxy J4 Core, and Galaxy A2 Core are either on March, April or May 2020 security patch level, which is pretty commendable for devices still on Android Oreo.

PiunikaWeb started as purely an investigative tech journalism website with main focus on ‘breaking’ or ‘exclusive’ news. In no time, our stories got picked up by the likes of Forbes, Foxnews, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Engadget, The Verge, Macrumors, and many others. Want to know more about us? Head here.

Hillary Keverenge
2255 Posts

Tech has been my playground for over a decade. While the Android journey began early, it truly took flight with the revolutionary Lollipop update. Since then, it's been a parade of Android devices (with a sprinkle of iOS), culminating in a mostly happy marriage with Google's smart home ecosystem. Expect insightful articles and explorations of the ever-evolving world of Android and Google products coupled with occasional rants on the Nest smart home ecosystem.

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