2025 has just begun, and so has Samsung. In just a couple of weeks, we will see the Korean corporation take the stage in San Jose, California to announce its first flagship smartphone lineup of the year, the Galaxy S25.
Samsung will then launch a bunch of mid-range and budget phones throughout the remainder of the year. There will also be a couple more flagship models (like the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7).
It’s hard to say what kind of upgrades the new mid-range and budget offerings will bring over their predecessors. But one thing we can expect for many of them is software updates for a substantially longer period of time.
Expect six years of updates for many Galaxy devices launched in 2025
In early 2024, Samsung introduced its new policy of seven major OS upgrades for flagship smartphones. In addition to seven Android version updates, they will receive security updates for seven years.
Samsung didn't include any mid-range devices in that policy, and it still hasn't. But it did the next best thing. In October, Samsung announced the Galaxy A16, a sub-$250 phone with a mix of budget and mid-range specs and a promise of major OS upgrades and security updates for six years.
With such an affordable phone now guaranteed such long-term support for software updates, Samsung will undoubtedly offer similar support for many non-flagship smartphones it launches in 2025 and beyond. Devices like the Galaxy A56 may even get updates for seven years like Samsung's flagships.
Samsung hasn't confirmed any of this, mind. But given the company's fantastic track record with software updates, it will undoubtedly provide at least six years of updates to many Galaxy smartphones going forward.
The same will likely be true for Galaxy tablets. Enterprise editions of some tablets may even get updates for eight years. That's the case for at least one enterprise edition mid-range tablet already, and more could be added to the list in the future.
