SamMobile has affiliate and sponsored partnerships. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn a commission.

Will the Galaxy S9 or S9+ get Android 12 and One UI 4?

Firmware
By 

Last updated: December 21st, 2021 at 15:06 UTC+01:00

Reading the title above, some of you already know the answer and have moved on from the Galaxy S9. But if you like what you see in Android 12 and One UI 4.0 and you’re wondering if your Galaxy S9 or Galaxy S9+ will get this new update, I’m afraid we have some bad news for you.

Don’t hate the messenger, but Samsung won’t release Android 12 and One UI 4.0 for the Galaxy S9 series. The 2018 flagship models aren’t covered by Samsung’s new three-year OS update policy, and even if they were, they still wouldn’t have cut it. The Galaxy S9 series aged gracefully, but it aged nonetheless, and the only firmware updates it now receives consist of quarterly security patches. For a little while longer.

One of the best Galaxy flagships won’t enjoy One UI 4.0

Time makes sure nothing lasts forever, and this is especially true for smartphones, as their usefulness nosedives around the time they stop receiving security patches or, arguably, new OS updates — depending on your needs and wallet size.

The Galaxy S9, once a beast of a flagship phone, was left behind after it received Android 10 and One UI 2.5. It’s the natural order of the smartphone world, set forth by the market, the economy, our overlords, or whatever forces may be at work. It’s an inescapable reality, though Samsung is one of the few OEMs to have extended their firmware update windows — for select devices.

Even so, the Galaxy S9 won’t receive Android 12 and One UI 4.0, just like it didn’t get Android 11 and One UI 3. However, if you want to experience this new firmware and are ready to move on from the Galaxy S9 series, Samsung has plenty of phones with One UI 4.0/One UI 4.1 in the pipeline for next year.

Alternatively, you’re likely to find a good deal on an unlocked Galaxy S21 around this time of year. It doesn’t ship with One UI 4.0, but you can update it to Android 12 and One UI 4.0 as soon as you unbox it. In most parts of the world, at least.


Join SamMobile’s Telegram group and subscribe to our YouTube channel to get instant news updates and in-depth reviews of Samsung devices. You can also subscribe to get updates from us on Google News and follow us on Twitter.

FirmwarePhone Android 12Galaxy S9 PlusOne UI 4.0Samsung Galaxy S9
Load comments

You might also like

Samsung is largely to thank for Android 13’s faster adoption rate

Samsung is largely to thank for Android 13’s faster adoption rate

According to the latest Android distribution chart released by Google, over 12% of phones and tablets are running Android 13. Comparing this with its predecessor, Android 12, which showed up in the distribution chart nearly a year after its release, enjoys only a 13.3% adoption rate. All in all, the Android 13 adoption rate has […]

  • By Sagar Naresh
  • 1 month ago
Galaxy A03 Core is finally getting a long-awaited OS upgrade

Galaxy A03 Core is finally getting a long-awaited OS upgrade

We haven’t heard much about Android 12 lately because, for the most part, Samsung closed that chapter and is now focusing on distributing One UI 5.1 to more Galaxy phones and tablets. But today, the almost endless string of One UI 5.1 news got interrupted by Android 12 because the latter version is now rolling […]

  • By Mihai Matei
  • 2 months ago
Android 12 is still coming to more Galaxy A02s variants in the USA

Android 12 is still coming to more Galaxy A02s variants in the USA

Samsung made Android 12 available for the Galaxy A02s in the USA a couple of months ago, but the phone didn’t receive the update across every US carrier network simultaneously. Tracfone is an example of a latecomer, as the update finally rolled out earlier this week. More specifically, Android 12 is now available for Tracfone’s […]

  • By Mihai Matei
  • 4 months ago
Only 5.2% of devices running Android 13 five months after launch

Only 5.2% of devices running Android 13 five months after launch

The first update to the Android distribution chart in 2023 gives us a peek at how quickly OEMs have delivered Android 13 to their devices. According to the official statistics from Google, the latest OS, Android 13, is running on only 5.2% of devices after five months of its launch. Android 12 and 12L, on […]

  • By Sagar Naresh
  • 4 months ago
Unlocked Galaxy A01 gets Android 12 update in the USA

Unlocked Galaxy A01 gets Android 12 update in the USA

Most recent firmware-related news concerning Samsung phones has to do with Android 13, but some low-cost devices have been lagging behind the rest of the pack, and the Galaxy A01 is certainly among them. The unlocked Galaxy A01 variant in the USA is only now getting Android 12. Samsung started rolling out Android 12 for […]

  • By Mihai Matei
  • 4 months ago
Galaxy A02 is mysteriously still running Android 11

Galaxy A02 is mysteriously still running Android 11

Samsung has been pushing the Android 13 (One UI 5.0) update to its smartphones and tablets at a very fast pace. The company not only rolled out the latest OS to its flagship smartphones in a record timeframe but also offered it to entry-level models in a very short span of time. However, there’s one […]

  • By Asif Iqbal Shaik
  • 5 months ago