Samsung cuts off updates for Samsung Galaxy S6 family

Waiting for Android Oreo to drop on your Samsung Galaxy? If you bought a phone from the Galaxy S6 lineup, you might be stuck with Android Nougat for the time being.

On Samsung’s Android Security Upgrades page, they list out all of their devices currently receiving monthly or quarterly security updates, including their smartphones. But they note that this list is “subject to change as support period expires”.

That support period looks to have expired for the S6 series. The Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Galaxy S6 Active have all been removed from the support page entirely.

Considering the S6 came out in April 2015, it appears there is a two year cut-off for Android support on Samsung phones. Samsung still promises monthly support for the Galaxy A5, but only if you purchased it in 2016 or later. If you bought it in 2015, you’re officially stuck with Android 7 and its last security patches.

Samsung S6 users don’t need to ditch their phones immediately. Google’s Nougat OS was updated last December, so it’s not entirely obsolete just yet. And if you wanted to take advantage of Oreo’s newest tech, like AR functionality, you’d need to upgrade to Samsung S8 or later anyway.

Still, it’s disappointing to see Samsung drop support for a phone that hasn’t even been out for three full years. Especially considering the iPhone 5S, which came out in 2013, still gets updates for iOS 11.

Samsung hasn't officially commented on their decision to drop support for the S6 lineup. We'll update this post if they do.