Not too long ago, Samsung began selling their mobile phones direct to consumers here in the United States via either samsung.com or the Shop Samsung App. This was great news as taking out the middleman (carriers) is always welcome. Customers are, of course, still free to buy a carrier-branded phone from any number of carriers of their choosing. However, for a couple of generations now, Samsung themselves have offered an Unlocked (U1) version that’s free of carrier branding, carrier boot screens, carrier apps, and any other entanglements to one’s provider. In fact, the main US Samsung website’s landing page shows the Galaxy S10 with a prominent “Buy Now” button with choices of carrier or unlocked versions. Obviously, selling phones direct is an important task for Samsung. Their unlocked versions are a little different when it comes to updates, however.
Update Woes
Samsung handles updates for their unlocked devices very differently than one might expect. Since at least 2017, software updates for the unlocked flagship devices haven’t been rolling out in the US until after every single carrier has pushed the update. It happened with One UI on the Galaxy S8, then again with the Galaxy S9, and it happened with the Galaxy Note 9 as well. It doesn’t matter if your particular unlocked device has never, and will never, have a Verizon SIM card. Unlocked users all have to wait on Verizon to push out the updates.
This sort of behavior is very contrary to what users might expect with unlocked devices. After using a Google Pixel, an Essential phone, a Nokia phone, a Motorola device, a OnePlus device, and even an iPhone, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect less carrier involvement with an Unlocked device, and not (in the US) 4 times more. When Apple releases an update, it’s out globally to devices all across the price range. Apple manages to make this work even though local carrier features cause delays for other users. I realize there are obvious architectural differences between Android and iOS, but as a consumer spending over a thousand dollars, I don’t really care about the why.
Unlocked Galaxy S10 Status
Currently, with the Galaxy S10, it appears T-Mobile and AT&T have pushed the March update. Meanwhile, my $1,600 1TB super-special-ceramic-ultimate-awesome edition is “up to date” with the February security patch. This is very frustrating. It is almost mid-April. I paid Samsung directly for my device. It has a T-Mobile SIM card in it and will never have a Sprint or Verizon SIM card, yet I’m waiting on them to approve an update? My security patches are held back while AT&T does whatever they need to do to make sure their carrier-specific bloatware works with Samsung’s latest update. I’m using a less secure device while I wait on a carrier I’m not involved with. Not to mention all the awesome feature updates that I’m missing out on.
