As of this writing, the September SMR (Security Maintenance Release) is available to the Galaxy S21 trio on T-Mobile and Sprint networks. The updated firmware version for the phones is G99*USQS5CVHC, SamMobile reports. The rollout should soon cover unlocked units on other networks before expanding to carrier-locked ones. Samsung has already released the latest security update for its 2021 flagships in most international markets. Perhaps the Galaxy S21 series was the first to get the September SMR. Regardless of the model, carrier, or regional variant, this update doesn’t bring any user-facing changes or new features to the Galaxy S21 trio. Samsung is only seeding the latest security patch with this release. As detailed in the company’s official monthly security bulletin, this month’s SMR patches over 50 vulnerabilities, the vast majority of which were high-severity flaws. More than half of the vulnerabilities patched this month were Galaxy-specific. These are flaws in Samsung’s hardware or software, so they don’t affect Android products from other brands. The company mentions patches for flaws in various device components such as Photo Editor, Video Editor, System UI, Telecom Application, and Call Background Provider. In addition to these, Samsung is also seeding patches for 20-odd Android OS flaws from Google. If you’re using the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, or the Galaxy S21 Ultra in the US, these vulnerability fixes are already on your way. You should receive a new update with all the fixes in the coming days if you haven’t already. You can navigate to Settings > Software update and tap on Download and install to manually check for updates.
Samsung is bets testing Android 13 for the Galaxy S21 series
This might be the last or the penultimate Android 12-based monthly security update for the Galaxy S21 series. Samsung is currently beta testing Android 13 for the phones. It is expected to begin the stable update next month. The new Android version will come with Samsung’s One UI 5.0 custom software on top. The Galaxy S22 series will get the update first but the likes of the Galaxy S21 series, Galaxy Z Fold 4, and the Galaxy Z Flip 4 will follow soon. We will keep you posted on the Android 13 updates for all of these Samsung phones.
