Will the Galaxy S9 or S9+ get Android 12 and One UI 4?

Reading the title above, some of you already know the answer and have moved on from the Galaxy S9. But if you like what you see in Android 12 and One UI 4.0 and you're wondering if your Galaxy S9 or Galaxy S9+ will get this new update, I'm afraid we have some bad news for you.

Don't hate the messenger, but Samsung won't release Android 12 and One UI 4.0 for the Galaxy S9 series. The 2018 flagship models aren't covered by Samsung's new three-year OS update policy, and even if they were, they still wouldn't have cut it. The Galaxy S9 series aged gracefully, but it aged nonetheless, and the only firmware updates it now receives consist of quarterly security patches. For a little while longer.

One of the best Galaxy flagships won't enjoy One UI 4.0

Time makes sure nothing lasts forever, and this is especially true for smartphones, as their usefulness nosedives around the time they stop receiving security patches or, arguably, new OS updates — depending on your needs and wallet size.

The Galaxy S9, once a beast of a flagship phone, was left behind after it received Android 10 and One UI 2.5. It's the natural order of the smartphone world, set forth by the market, the economy, our overlords, or whatever forces may be at work. It's an inescapable reality, though Samsung is one of the few OEMs to have extended their firmware update windows — for select devices.

Even so, the Galaxy S9 won't receive Android 12 and One UI 4.0, just like it didn't get Android 11 and One UI 3. However, if you want to experience this new firmware and are ready to move on from the Galaxy S9 series, Samsung has plenty of phones with One UI 4.0/One UI 4.1 in the pipeline for next year.

Alternatively, you're likely to find a good deal on an unlocked Galaxy S21 around this time of year. It doesn't ship with One UI 4.0, but you can update it to Android 12 and One UI 4.0 as soon as you unbox it. In most parts of the world, at least.

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