December 2020 security update hits Galaxy Note 9, timely as ever

Firmware

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The December 2020 Android security patch is now reaching select Galaxy Note 9 models. This is yet another timely firmware release for Samsung's 2018 flagship, with its deployment beginning yesterday in Germany. The new over-the-air update is identified by build number N960FXXS6FTK3.

Much like that software version implies, this release is targeting the international variants of the Galaxy Note 9. Those would be the ones using Samsung's own Exynos 9810 instead of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845. No other changes are part of the newly available firmware update.

Will the Snapdragon Galaxy Note 9 models follow by the end of the week?

As per usual, the deployment is gradual in nature and may take some time to reach a truly global scale. If you want to speed things up, the first thing to try would be attempting a manual installation. For that, open the Settings app, scroll down to the bottom where the Software update menu resides, and select Download and install on the next interface. Assuming that doesn't work, you can search our firmware archives to see whether we already have a compatible system image mirror that you can download and flash manually.

Only proceed with that last step after a full device backup, however. It goes without saying you should have some idea about what you're doing, as well. As for the remainder of this rollout, it remains to be seen how quickly will Samsung ramp up things from here. It's not unfeasible to see the U.S. Galaxy Note 9 models joining the December security party before the end of the week.