Next month, the Samsung Galaxy S5, the flagship smartphone of the Korean tech giant in 2014, will turn two years old. The Samsung Galaxy S4, on the other hand, would mark its third year in the market.
Interestingly, despite their ages, the two former Samsung flagships are still covered by the so-called Samsung Protection Plus after-sales program from the Korean tech company.
Samsung Protection Plus is actually a two-year plan which covers mechanical and electrical breakdowns after the manufacturer’s warranty expires as well as accidental damage. The after-sales program provides a quick and easy solution and allows up to two replacements in a 12-month period for accidental claims, details the Samsung website.
Those Samsung flagship smartphone users who registered their devices and they are still within the two-year warranty are eligible for Samsung Protection Plus.
So if a user for instance of a Samsung Galaxy S4 bought the unit in June 2014, although the device was launched in March 2013, it is still eligible for the Samsung Protection Plus until June of this year.
Samsung Protection Plus offers additional benefits during the manufacturer’s warranty and beyond and also covers accidental damage from handling. It also covers electrical and mechanical failures after the manufacturer’s warranty expires.
The program also guarantees next day replacement shipping once a claim is approved.
Still waiting for the Marshmallow updates
Meanwhile, users of the Galaxy S5 are still waiting for the Android 6.0 Marshmallow updates since late last year up to now.
So it came as a big surprise when one very fortunate Galaxy S5 owner received an over-the-air notification for the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow update late last year, reports the Android Authority.
But generally, even after the end of January this year, the Android 6.0 Marshmallow updates have yet to officially roll out to the latest smartphones and tablets of the Korean tech giant including the Galaxy S6, the Galaxy S6 Edge, the Galaxy S6 Edge+, the Galaxy Note 5, the Galaxy J5, and the Galaxy J7.
The accidental roll out of the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow on one Samsung Galaxy S5 was eventually subjected to review and it came out as a bit of disappointment because it was not accompanied by the latest version of TouchWiz.
Eventually, a disclaimer was made saying that the update is not the final firmware for the Galaxy S5, with some even saying that it may actually not be an official firmware, which appears to be such.
Since the official Android 6.0 Marshmallow updates have yet to roll out to the latest Samsung devices, it is likely that it would only come to the Galaxy S5 when the new devices already have it.
Huge user base
As for the Marshmallow update to the Samsung Galaxy S4, it seems unlikely for the smartphone to get it since the handset is already three years old by March and the firmware update normally comes to devices that are not older than two years old.
As a smartphone that is almost three years old from the time it hit the retail markets, the Galaxy S4 was kind of expected not to receive the latest mobile OS update from Google. But since there are millions of Galaxy S4 users around the world, plenty were still waiting for the Android 6.0 Marshmallow on their devices.
Given its huge user base, the Galaxy S4 is one of the many Android smartphone models that constantly gets software updates.
There are, however, instances when problems can occur right after the update. But those who really wish to update their smartphone to the latest Android OS, can actually do so through a custom ROM based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow.