End of an era - Samsung officially stops supporting the latest Galaxy Note
After five years of updates, Samsung has removed the Galaxy Note 20 series from the list of devices receiving updates - no more Android or security patches.
What it means:
Until now, the Galaxy Note 20, Note 20 5G, Note 20 Ultra, and Note 20 Ultra 5G models have been updated. There will be no more new software versions for them, the latest version of Android is 13. Security updates will also no longer be available, unless there is a critical threat. The termination of support has been expected for a long time, the manufacturer initially supported a monthly update cycle, then switched to a quarterly one, and then twice a year. Now, the release of updates is stopped. The device will continue to work, but without updates, the security risk will increase.
Samsung recommends upgrading to a more modern model: Galaxy S25 Ultra or Galaxy Z Fold 7, both of which will receive 7 years of support.
The Galaxy Note's journey
Dawn.
The Note series has become a breakthrough for Samsung, finally cementing the company's status as an innovator and industry leader. In the early 2010s, Samsung began to systematically increase the diagonal of displays in phones and in 2011 released an experimental model of the Galaxy Note, which was equipped with a record-breaking 5.3-inch display with an incredible resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. While competitors made fun of the device and called it a shovel, the model became very successful, especially in the Asian region.
The catastrophe
Every year, the company released a new member of the Note line, and in 2016, the sixth generation of the phablet was due to be released. For marketing reasons, the model was renamed Note7. However, immediately after the release, it turned out that the smartphone's battery had an increased risk of spontaneous combustion due to an excessively dense layout and a manufacturing defect. The smartphone was banned from being taken on board aircraft. Samsung halted sales and released a corrected version a month later, but it was almost immediately discovered that it also had a defective battery. Since modern smartphones do not allow for easy battery changes, Samsung made a strong-willed decision to completely recall the smartphone and refund the money. Using software, the company even blocked the mobile network so that users would not be tempted to keep the dangerous model. Despite this, thousands of people did not return the Note7 to the manufacturer. According to a Samsung spokesperson, the Note7 caused the company $6.17 billion in direct losses alone. To at least reduce the cost of disposal, Samsung later released a local version of the Note7 in South Korea with a smaller battery.
Rebirth
However, the company successfully fixed the production process, overcame reputational problems, and in 2018 released the Note8 model. After that, new representatives of this line were released until 2020.
The Note 20 was introduced in August 2020 with Android 10. But in August 2021, Samsung did not show the Note 21. Instead, in January 2022, it announced the Galaxy S22 Ultra, which incorporated all the features (including design) of the Note line. This was a natural step, because in the 2020s, the diagonal of smartphones increased significantly, and a phone with a large screen was no longer considered an experimental model. The role of the experimental line was taken over by another model - Galaxy Z Fold. By this time, even the most stubborn opponents of large smartphones had given up - Apple, Sony and HTC had released flagships with a large diagonal. The Note series has become history. Despite the fact that its journey is now over, it will forever remain a technology pioneer and an uncompromising solution in the hearts of users. And the fact that there may be some hard losses along the way, as happened with the Note7, will not make fans fall out of love with these wonderful phones.
Source: www.sammobile.com
