Google released Android 11 just a few months ago, but the company is already actively working on the next annual platform update. It can be tricky to determine which phones and tablets will be eligible for future Android OS updates, so in this roundup, we’ll tell you when (or if) you can expect Android 12 on your device.
Most device manufacturers don’t say which phones or tablets will receive the next Android update until Google releases it. In some cases, manufacturers are still silent after this, leaving device owners in the dark. This is usually a bad sign for future support, but there have been cases where phones and tablets suddenly received an Android update without prior warning.
Few companies have already announced their plans to update Android 12, but we can make educated guesses about the rest of them.
Samsung’s plans to update its phones have always been a little hazy, especially for budget phones, but that has changed in the past year. Samsung now promises to give most its new phones and tablets “three generations” are updated by Android. In other words, most devices running Android 10 should get Android 11 (as many of them already have), Android 12 and Android 13.… For most devices starting with Android 11, such as the Galaxy S21, support should last until Android 14.
Samsung shared list of phones and tablets with three years of support last year they will all definitely get Android 12:
- Galaxy S series: Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G, S20 Ultra, S20 + 5G, S20 +, S20 5G, S20 in addition to S10 5G, S10 +, S10, S10e, S10 Lite and upcoming S series devices
- Galaxy Note series: Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G, Note20 Ultra, Note20 5G, Note20, Note10 + 5G, Note10 +, Note10 5G, Note10, Note10 Lite and subsequent Note series devices
- Foldable Galaxy devices: Galaxy Z Fold2 5G, Z Fold2, Z Flip 5G, Z Flip, Fold 5G, Fold and new Z series devices
- Galaxy A series: Galaxy A71 5G, A71, A51 5G, A51, A90 5G and some upcoming A series devices.
- Pills: Galaxy Tab S7 + 5G, Tab S7 +, Tab S7 5G3, Tab S7, Tab S6 5G4, Tab S6, Tab S6 Lite and future Tab S devices.
Samsung has released several phones since then, but all upcoming S, Note or Z series phones will automatically turn on. It’s harder to guess which phones will get Android 12 by 2020. Samsung. previously said that “flagship models from the Galaxy S10 (Android 9) or newer” are also eligible for three years of support, so the Galaxy S10 and Note10 series should also receive Android 12.
Concerning when The devices listed above will receive Android 12, which is more difficult to answer. Samsung usually starts updating its flagship phones a few months after Google releases the update, with tablets and budget phones coming later. For example, Google released Android 11 on September 8 last year, and the Galaxy S20 and Note20 series only began rolling out in December (at least in the US).
Google phones always got their first day updates after new Android versions were released, so if you have a Pixel phone you will get Android 12 as soon as Google releases it… You even have the option to try the update before Google releases it as Pixel phones are eligible for the Android beta testing program, but it’s a good idea if you can live with a few bugs.
Pixel devices receive three years of OS and security updatesso the Pixel 3, 4, 5, 3a and 4a / 4a 5G will get Android 12. Google ended support for the Pixel 2 last year, and if things stay the same, Android 12 will be the last update for the Pixel 3 (and possibly 3a / 3a XL).
Even though Nokia’s first Android phones were sold with the promise of fast and long lasting Android updates, the company hasn’t kept that promise for a while. Android 11 was released on September 8, and it took Nokia another month to just say which phones will be updated. Despite the fact that the first batch of updates was promised in the last quarter of 2020, the process only started in February of this year.
Timeline of Nokia’s original Android 11 update. In fact, the updates started in February 2021 and not in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Given the progress of the Android 11 update, it’s safe to assume that no Nokia phone will receive Android 12 until at least January 2022. Most of the company’s phones get two OS updates, so if your model comes with Android 10 or 11, you must get Android 12 … at some point…
While OnePlus did a poor job of releasing Android security patches in a timely manner, major OS updates are still rolling out. relatively fast. Google released Android 11 on September 8, and it has arrived on the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro. about a month later… However, the rest of the company’s lineup is still waiting.
OnePlus has already confirmed that the OP5 and 5T will not receive Android 11, so it is likely that the OnePlus 6 and 6T will be removed during the upgrade to Android 12. The OnePlus 8 / 8T series and all Nord phones will definitely get Android 12 and most likely the 7 / 7T series too.… If the rollout of Android 11 takes place, it will likely take at least six months to cover the company’s entire product line, and possibly more.
We don’t have specific predictions of what to expect from other manufacturers, but if your phone or tablet ships with Android 11, it will probably get an update to Android 12 sometime in 2021. Unfortunately, given how different the typical deployment schedules are, even between phones made by the same company, it’s almost impossible to give a concrete answer.
