New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….

Original story (published on June 26, 2020) follows:

Some Samsung fans feel the company is slow when it comes to rolling out monthly security updates, but this should be an issue of the past, especially when it comes to premium devices in the Galaxy Note and S series.

As of June 26, for instance, the July 2020 security patch is already live for the S20 series. Unfortunately, there’s still too much fragmentation, meaning that not all Galaxy S20 units will receive their July patches at the same time.

Monthly security updates aside, Samsung has also improved greatly when it comes to providing major Android OS updates. Although not timely as many would expect, but things admittedly got much better with the release of Android 10, which comes with One UI 2 on top.

one ui 2

The update first hit the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Note 10 series before arriving on the Galaxy Note 9 and Galaxy S9 duo. The 2019 devices were receiving it as the first OS update while the 2018 pair got it as their second OS update, which forms the basis of this article.

No Android 11 (One UI 3) update for Samsung Galaxy Note 9 & S9

Many today believe the Galaxy Note 9 is the best smartphone Samsung has ever made. That is subject to debate, but that’s not the purpose of this piece. After all, its what you expect when you pay in the regions of $1,000 to get your hands on the device.

But what keeps frustrating many Samsung fans is the feeling that the price of their devices isn’t directly proportional to the duration of software update support dedicated to them.

The Galaxy Note 9, for instance, won’t receive an Android 11 (One UI 3) update despite its price. On the flip side, the OnePlus 6 and 6T that cost nearly half the price of the Note 9, will grab a seat aboard the new Android 11 ship when the time comes.

android 11 logo

This is because Samsung only guarantees two major OS updates to its devices, premium or not. The Galaxy Note 9 has hit this mark and so has the Galaxy S9 and S9+, meaning no Android 11 update for these two either. On the other hand, OnePlus guarantees up to three OS updates for its devices.

Samsung is expected to update its in-house skin to One UI 2.5 in the coming months – an update that could be the last major overhaul for the Galaxy Note 9 and Galaxy S9 family of devices. This, however, will still be based on Android 10 and not Android 11.

So, unless Samsung changes its widely known software update policy of providing only two major OS updates to its devices, rest assured that the Galaxy Note 9 and S9 pair won’t be upgraded to Android 11, at least not officially. But monthly security updates will keep coming until 2021.

Update 1 (July 27)

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite with the Exynos 9810 chipset is inline to receive the One UI 3.0 update based on Android 11. This is the same chipset that’s used in the Galaxy Note 9 and the Galaxy S9 series. However, Samsung is unlikely to carry forward the update to the Note 9 and S9 series even with the hardware similarities. See the full story here.

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
2294 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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