Samsung Galaxy Tab S8, Galaxy S22, Galaxy S21 series to receive four major OS upgrades

Samsung's press release for the Galaxy Tab S8 series has leaked ahead of Unpacked. While the documents confirm most leaked specs, they also appear to hide a detail that has gone unmentioned so far: Samsung is improving its software update policy for its flagship phones. 

The Korean company is set to announce that it will now provide four years of OS updates for its current premium phones. As it stands, the Galaxy Tab S8 series, Galaxy S22 series, Galaxy S21 series, Galaxy Z Fold3, and Galaxy Z Flip3 will be the devices to benefit from this updated policy. This means that the Galaxy S22 series, Galaxy Tab S8 series, and Galaxy S21 FE which all run Android 12 at launch will receive Android 16. The Galaxy S21 series, Galaxy Z Fold3, Galaxy Z Flip3 will only receive Android 15. 

Back in 2020, Samsung raised the bar for the competition by promising three OS upgrades and four years of security updates for its flagship phones. That policy has now been matched by companies like OnePlus and Xiaomi, so Samsung is yet again one-upping its rivals. This is particularly impressive, as it means Samsung is also offering a better update policy than Google. It's not quite as spectacular as Apple, though—the iPhone 6S, for example, has run seven different versions of iOS—but it's not that far off anymore.

Buy the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE on Amazon.