I want to preface this post with my experience and how it plays into what I am about to share. I got the Tab S4 to go along with my Galaxy S9+ around Black Friday of 2018. They were comparable in cost (around $650 US, baring the keyboard), so I expected a similar experience. Boy was I wrong.
The Tab S4's Snapdragon 835 wasn't bad, but the 4 GB of RAM was noticeably a hinderance to a smooth experience when compared to the S9+'s 6 GB of RAM. The S4's screen claimed to be HDR, but I, as a stupid consumer, thought that actually meant HDR10, as such a standard would imply. It did not. HDR content didn't work on the Tab S4's screen, no matter what service I used, including YouTube, Amazon Prime and Netflix. Lastly, though, was the software. Where my S9+ got OS updates first and MONHTLY security patches, my S4 was a complete afterthought. The less frequent quarterly security patches were often late and OS updates arrived after the cheaper A-series phones.
Fast forward to today, the Tab S4 is officially past it's 2 years of half-hearted software support. It got downgraded from late "quarterly software patches" to "other regular patches", which means whenever Samsung may consider doing a software patch. Conversely, the Galaxy S9+ is STILL in the monthly security patch category, despite coming out earlier in 2018. It also just received One UI 2.5, whereas the Tab S4 may never.
This is ridiculous. It's not just disrespectful to anyone who purchased the Tab S4, but also bodes very poorly for Tab S6 and S7/S7+ owners. The Tab S7+ is the best Android tablet, period, but it's only getting quarterly security patches and likely will get immediately demoted to "other regular patches" the moment it hits its 2 year mark, whereas the S20 and Note 20 will be sitting pretty with continued monthly security patch support at that time. As an educated consumer, I want parity between my flagship, top-shelf, costing more than they're worth, Samsung devices.
I have been preaching this message for a couple months now but cannot stress enough that at least the brand new tablets, the Tab S7 and S7+, should be having software support parity with the S20 and Note 20 Series. We need it officially stated, in writing and proven by seeing the actual patches.
If you don't want your S7/S7+ to have the same fate as the Tab S4, please consider spreading the message and raising awareness with Samsung. Tell them "We want monthly security patches and timely OS updates for the Tab S7 and S7+".
I felt the same way when I got the tab s 10.5 lte model. I personally won't buy another tablet from them due to them having locked bootloaders now. thankfully my tablet has been updated since I've put a custom rom. very reliable stuff but there back end support on tablet **bleep**. I'm not sure but they promise 3 years of support for newer phones hopefully they carry that over to the tablets.
What worries me is that you clearly did not read my post. I am already aware that the Tab S4 has a solitary security patch after months of nothing. That is not the point of my post. I am discussing how few updates it received over its "supported" run and how it it's been immediately relegated off the regular update list while the concurrently sold S9 and Note 9 Series still receive monthly security patches to this day. H.eck, even 2017's S8 and Note 8 still get quarterly security patches, and they're a year older.
Given how the S4 was treated, it does paint the picture as to how the brand new Tab S7 and S7+ may be treated. Instead of getting monthly security patches for 3 years, they will get late quarterly patches for likely 2 years and be dropped off the update list. This is absolutely unacceptable and needs to be fixed.
I saw your post on reddit and get what your saying here. I will be very hesitant to buy another tablet from Samsung due to the poor software support for my Tab S4. This device wasnt cheap in Canada esp once you buy the keyboard cover, etc. It really should have been included in the new 2 years of support or whatever is being done for the S10 lineup.
