We asked, you told us: Samsung's new update policy would make you buy its phones

Samsung made waves roughly a month ago when it announced that it would offer three years of Android version updates to a variety of its devices. The Korean brand says it’ll offer three years of major version updates to the Galaxy S10 and up, the Galaxy Note 10 and higher, and several more devices.

In fact, even the budget-focused Galaxy A series is getting in on the update action too, down to the mid-range Galaxy A51. So it got us wondering whether this pledge alone would be enough for customers to actually want to buy Samsung phones.

Results

The poll was published on August 22, drawing in 6,730 votes. And the results are overwhelmingly positive for the Korean brand. Almost 94% of readers said they’d buy a Samsung device due to this new approach to updates. Just over 6% of people voted in the negative, saying they don’t care about the new policy.

We can’t say we’re surprised by this result at all, as a previous Android Authority poll found that roughly 96% of respondents wanted Android updates for three to five years. Furthermore, another Android Authority poll found that ~85% of readers wouldn’t consider a phone if it didn’t get a single major Android update.

Related: Android 10 rollout — Which brand was fastest?

It’s clear then that Android version updates are extremely important to our readers, as you’d expect. But will this update policy result in increased sales for Samsung? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Your comments

• daftrok: It is a step in the right direction but to me security updates are more important than OS updates. 3 years OS and 4-5 years security would be ideal.
• Adrian Bönde: 3 years is not solving any issue.. it should be much longer. Apple has 5 years which should be the minimum for every smartphone! The hardware is capable of bringing more years of compatibility with the newest software releases and at these smartphone prices the companies should show responsibility by letting these phones live as long as possible!
• Jeshurun Kandy: I don’t really care about is updates from the manufacturer all that much as I’d much rather flash a custom ROM, with basically eternal updates especially for popular devices. – from my Galaxy Note 3 running Android 10
• anonymous 42: This is great, i was already considering saving up and buying the Samsung A51 because it’s a great phone. And it’s good to know if i do get the phone, i would not only be getting a phone that’s have Android 10 and still getting Android updates but 3 of them. That’s mean i can get Android 13 when it’s comes, that’s more than even flagships. Another reason for me to try and save up for the A51.
• MM_Rafez: I would trade off 1 android version update with 2 years of additional security updates.
• D9: Good on Samsung. I can keep one of their phones for a couple of years and then pass it on to a relative or friend with some life left in it as far as software support goes.

Thanks for voting in our poll and for leaving all the comments! What do you make of the question and results? Give us your thoughts via the comments section below.