With Android 13, Samsung’s last Galaxy Note is on life support

The month of August back in 2020 marked two important milestones for Samsung. On August 5 that year, Samsung announced what would be the last smartphones with the Galaxy Note branding — the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra — as the Korean giant decided to shift focus to its foldable phones.

The same day, Samsung also revealed that it would be committing to supporting many of its Galaxy phones and tablets (both flagship and mid-range) with three generations of Android upgrades. The Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra qualified for Samsung's new three-year upgrade policy, and, well, we thought we would remind owners of these devices that with the Android 13 update, that policy has now expired.

The Galaxy Note 20 series launched with Android 10 out of the box, which means it will not be getting an update to Android 14 and running on life support, so to speak, going forward. Before Android 13 came out for the Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra, those who owned either device had something to look forward to even though the phones had been discontinued and taken off the market.

But the journey has finally come to an end, as far as big Android OS updates are concerned. The Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra will continue to get support though monthly security updates for at least another year but will not see its Android version change.

No Android 14, but Galaxy Note 20 series could get One UI 5.1

As for updates to One UI, Samsung's software overlay for Android smartphones, we can't really be sure if it's the end of the line or not. It's possible the Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra will get One UI 5.1, which will debut with the Galaxy S23 series in a couple of months, but we will have to wait and see whether that will actually turn out to be the case.

One UI 5.1.1, which is expected to accompany the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 in the second half of 2023, could also make its way to the Galaxy Note 20 series before it gets stuck with security updates, but again, there's no way to know for sure at this moment in time. Plus, these x.1.1 One UI version updates are mainly aimed at foldables, so One UI 5.1.1 will probably not be a meaningful update for any Note 20 or Note 20 Ultra owner even if the two phones are eligible for it.

Thankfully, any Note lover who wants longer software support and access to the next couple of versions can still get one, only now it comes under the Galaxy S Ultra branding. The Galaxy S22 Ultra is an excellent upgrade over the Note 20/Note 20 Ultra, though we would recommend waiting for the Galaxy S23 lineup — particularly the Galaxy S23 Ultra — to get an official launch before making any decisions.

Of course, you can also choose to keep your Note 20 or Note 20 Ultra and continue using it with Android 13 and One UI 5 as long as you can. It's not like these phones will suddenly become outdated and unusable just because they won't get Android 14. Far from it, in fact, given how major OS updates are no longer as exciting as they used to be.