The Galaxy A72 was probably the last phone in the Galaxy A7x series that people bought in any meaningful numbers. The Galaxy A73 is a good phone but it was a little too expensive at launch. In fact, prices have risen in general in the last couple of years, and if Samsung had launched a Galaxy A74, it would have been priced too close to the Galaxy S23 FE.
The Galaxy A72 still holds up as far as the hardware is concerned, and many who own the phone probably won't be looking to switch to a newer device just yet. But what about the software? Does that still hold up, and will the A72 be getting any more big OS updates?
The A72 launched almost exactly two years and seven months ago, and in that time it has received two major Android upgrades — Android 12 and Android 13 — and multiple One UI updates, with the most recent one bringing the device up to One UI version 5.1.
And it's not over yet: the Galaxy A72 will also be getting the Android 14 and One UI 6.0 update.
Android 14 will be the final major OS upgrade for the A72
The Galaxy A72 is eligible for three generations of OS upgrades. As far as the Android version is concerned, Android 14 will be the final one. But One UI updates will not stop at version 6.0. Next year, One UI 6.1 will debut with the Galaxy S24 series, and it is sure to come to the Galaxy A72 some time after the S24's launch.
The Galaxy A72 may also get some features from One UI 6.1.1, which will debut with Samsung's 2024 foldable flagships, but that's not guaranteed. Even if it does get some One UI 6.1.1 features, its software information screen will always say 6.1 in the One UI version field as x.x.1 updates are only meant for Samsung's foldables and tablets.
When will Android 14 and One UI 6.0 come to the Galaxy A72? Well, that is probably going to take until 2024, as Samsung has plenty of newer smartphones to focus its efforts on. We will know for sure once the Android 14/One UI 6.0 update for Galaxy smartphones starts rolling out publicly, as that is when the company will publish a timeline estimating the release window for all eligible devices.
