Samsung Galaxy S4 and its 2013 counterpart Samsung Galaxy Note 3 are some of the best devices to have ever hit the smartphone industry.
The flagship Galaxy S4 has turned out to be one of the best-selling smartphones in the history of Samsung as a company. On the other hand, Samsung Galaxy Note 3 made history when it became the first ever smartphone to feature 3GB of RAM. This was a massive step for Samsung, especially at a time when competition in the smartphone industry was beginning to escalate.
Despite the good times that these devices have enjoyed, time has overtaken them. It’s over three years since Samsung Galaxy S4 was unveiled and it’s just a few months before the Galaxy Note 3 hits the same age. The company has gone ahead to release Samsung Galaxy S5, Galaxy S6 and this year saw Samsung Galaxy S7 spring to life. The same has been happening as far as the Note series is concerned, with the device’s successors being the Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy Note 5 and the anticipated Galaxy Note 6 in 2014, 2015, and 2016 respectively.
The devices that have been making their way to the smartphone market were actually upgrades to these 2013 releases. Along with them, Samsung installed the latest operating systems from Google. Samsung Galaxy S4 was launched with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and later on upgraded to Android KitKat and Android Lollipop. Samsung Galaxy Note 3, on the other hand, launched with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and at the moment, it runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop.
The latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow was rolled out last year and over the past few months; the OS has been hitting quite a number of Samsung Galaxy devices, ranging from 2014 releases to last year’s editions. While this has been happening, many users of Samsung Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 3 have been anticipating for the day the update shows up on their devices.
Usually, OS updates are meant to not only fix bugs and errors from previous versions but also boost the performance, stability and generally every aspect of the phone. This is what Android 6.0 Marshmallow update is doing to Samsung Galaxy S6 series, Galaxy S5 series, Galaxy Note 5 as well as the Galaxy Note 4. However, this seems not to be the case for the likes of Samsung Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 3, among other older Samsung smartphones.
The improvements associated with software versions sometimes demand more CPU power, RAM, and better optimization between hardware and software, among others. While some might argue that these two devices are somehow still capable, Samsung doesn’t think so. In fact, the phone is outside the usual two-year time frame used by most companies when it comes to rolling out software updates.
Some users of Samsung Galaxy S4 were not happy with updating to Android Lollipop as this only but increased their frustrations. Samsung didn’t want this to repeat with another software upgrade and as such, the company will not be rolling out Android 6.0 Marshmallow update to the likes of Galaxy S4 and Note 3. Of course, if you feel that these devices are still capable, you can opt for Custom ROM installers, however, you will be risking your device’s usability, functionality, and general performance.
The S4 has one of the worst cameras in the history of smartphones. I moved on to the S5 as soon as I could just because of that
Loolipop is not properly working in s4 please cosider the problem
Custom ROMs for these devices are available only to a lucky select few. Samsung has locked the bootloader of these devices, limiting custom ROMs to the Touchwiz based ones. Good luck gettinging your custom Marshmallow ROM on these phones. Locked bootloaders is one reason I will never be buying a Samsung device.
All unlocked galaxy device have the bootloader unlocked and all other android devices the bootloader is locked
There are Android devices without locked bootloaders. (e.g. Nexus 6P …), early KitKat S4 have unlocked bootloaders.
My bootloader is unlocked and i have a non rooted S4
Running MM 6.0.1 on both my S3’s. Functionality, speed, usabilty and performance is far better without Samsung bloat and junkware. They couldn’t get S3 past 4.3 because of junk. Phones should come as straight Android, then we can download what WE want, not what Sammsung insists we have, just like crapple.
S3”s rooted with Resurrection Remix, ans Nova Launcher. Brilliant.
I am quite pleased with the performance of my G4. I will keep it ..thank you! I do not need all the upgrades.
What’s going on with Samsung S5 sg900f, I haven’t gotten update yet?!?!?!
I have an note 3 running 6.0 from Resurrection Remix, itw ways faster the lollipop ever was. Only down side no NFC if it was had that I would never change phones again
Got marshmallow today for my Verizon S6 Edge Plus
I’m lucky enough to be on the original MDK bootloader and have updated my Verizon Galaxy S4 to marshmallow 6.0.1.(CM13). I must say that it runs great on this phone. I have it running on my S3 as well. I can’t justify spending $800 on an S7 (I still have unlimited data so I have to pay retail to upgrade) when Marshmallow runs flawlessly on my S4. Maybe I’ll upgrade to the S8 next year or possibly switch to a Nexus device for my next phone.
If samsung can give marshmallow update to galaxy j5 2015 version then why not galaxy s4.i think s4’s hardware and software is more powerful than j5.after all s4 is a flagship phone from samsung.if j5 can handle marshmallow then s4 can easily handle it.it is so dissapointing that a rs.12000 @j5 phone get the latest update but a rs.40000@s4 phone wont get the latest update.i dont understand why we spent extra bugs for buying flagship phones.it is so disapointing samsung.
Fellas who of you play Pokemon GO? Amazing game, yesterday i caught rare pokemon Chansey using pokebusterbot !
No ban so far, still using it. You should too.