Back in March, two days before Samsung announced the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, I shared my frustrations over the lack of updates to the US unlocked models of the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge. The mild rage was triggered by a security patch that rolled out that day that still wasn’t Nougat and was the first in months. I was annoyed enough at the time that I specifically said that we wouldn’t be recommending the US unlocked Galaxy S8 or S8+ should Samsung offer them. I couldn’t trust that Samsung would offer timely unlocked Galaxy S8 updates because they had never given us any indication that they would.
Fast forward to today and I’m pretty close to telling you to skip the carrier models and consider the unlocked versions. For one, they work on all carriers, just like last year’s unlocked models do. You can even get them in Coral Blue, which is pretty ????. They are also constantly discounted (right now by $150). But in the update department, Samsung has been pretty good so far.
Granted, we are only two months into the life of an unlocked Galaxy S8 (they shipped end of May), but we have already seen updates the past two months. We saw June’s security patch early in June at the same time as Verizon and AT&T’s S8s, and then July’s a week ago (again at the same time as Verizon and AT&T). The July update brought the latest security patch, as well as software improvements (hiding navigation bar button) and Daydream support. The unlocked units are as up-to-date as the carrier variants, is what I’m trying to tell you.
Will Samsung keep this up? That’s anyone’s guess, but they are off to the start we wanted to see as fans of unlocked phones who were incredibly frustrated with the unlocked S7 experience. Remember, the AT&T S7 and S7 Edge picked up Nougat updates back in February, yet the unlocked models didn’t until May. If Samsung has indeed taken a different approach to the unlocked S8 units, Android O will probably be the big tell. How close to the carrier variants will it get Google’s new Android build? Should they keep up with the monthly schedule like they have, I’d say we’re on track for a positive ending there.
So yeah, you should probably start considering one of these unlocked Galaxy S8 deals if you were previously hesitant and worried about updates. Samsung gets thumbs up for now.
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Comments
16 responses to “Samsung is Actually Updating the Unlocked Galaxy S8 and S8+ Pretty Quickly”
The s7 unlocked has had a real turn around as well, it received the June and July security updates both in July (in the beginning and at the end of the month).
I said this as a response to someone else here but felt that it should be easier to see.
The unlocked versions will always be and should always be the last to be updated. They need to incorporate all of the carrier updates into the update for the unlocked version now that it works on all the carriers. If they update first but seriously crippled the phone on 2 out of 4 carriers, how many people would be upset then. As I said they will always need to be updated after the carrier versions.
If the lack of quick updates are often blamed on carriers why aren’t the unlocked phones getting them quicker? I would like to see the unlocked S8s get Android O pretty quick, this version of Android has been publicly available for months now, why isn’t Samsung and other EOMs testing it now and able to deliver it shortly after it becomes official?
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/98929c34475cbca161dd4d2c9733cc0cf2365b67f86c84529df339968f689a55.gif
Keep this up a year for ALL unlocked models worldwide.
Unlocked Galaxy S7 has shifted to a quarterly update schedule now that the S8 is out. Pretty lacklustre, I had to wait until July to get a security update, the previous one before that being April’s patch. Not cool. 3 whole months with no update at all. Pixel doesn’t have these issues.
It’s a trap
I just can’t do it. It’s too close to iPhone and Pixel announcements. As nice as the S8 looks, I just can’t let myself get Samsunged again.
Zen158
Updates have been weeks behind carrier versions. Still waiting on wireless charging update.
Got the July security patch on TMobile but not the wireless charging update that came with the unlocked versions.
That’s incorrect. Wireless charging update was only on overseas unlocked, not us unlocked.
I’m not incorrect I simply stated that TMobile did not get the wireless charging update feature included in the July patch. I really don’t see why everyone whines about updates that are going to come whenever it’s decided like it always has. I like the tech sites and all but it seems most of the people in the comments spend more time whining about updates and specs than actually using whatever smartphone they have. Any of the premium smartphones from the last five years can be equally enjoyable when they’re used as an EXTENSION of our lives not the focal point.
Agreed. I was just stating the US unlocked model didn’t have wireless charger update in the last update, like the overseas model did. I think most people were complaining cause how long the unlocked versions take to update when they should be first since no carrier to hold back.
The unlocked versions will always be and should always be the last to be updated. They need to incorporate all of the carrier updates into the update for the unlocked version now that it works on all the carriers. If they update first but seriously crippled the phone on 2 out of 4 carriers, how many people would be upset then. As I said they will always need to be updated after the carrier versions.
Well, the June security update actually came earlier for the unlocked model (June 13th vs 24th). It didn’t come with the show/hide navbar feature like the carrier models until the July update because of that.