The June SMR (Security Maintenance Release) contains fixes for more than 70 vulnerabilities. These include several critical flaws related to Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. A bunch of these issues are exclusive to Samsung’s Android-powered devices, including smartphones and tablets. The Galaxy A51 is picking up all those vulnerability fixes with the latest update. This release likely won’t bring any other goodies to the device. It recently received the Android 12-based One UI 4.1 update with a plethora of new features and improvements. The latest software package should be all about vulnerability fixes for this month. But it’s still an important one as these updates for the galaxy A51 don’t come too often.
The Galaxy A51 receives security updates less frequently than flagships
Samsung launched the Galaxy A51 late in December 2019. It arrived in most markets in January 2020. The phone was a commercial success and set the tone for the company’s hugely popular Galaxy A5x lineup of premium mid-range phones. Debuted with Android 10 out of the box, the Galaxy A51 has received updates to Android 11 and Android 12 in its lifetime. The handset will also pick up the Android 13 update before Samsung pulls the plug on it. But for as long as it lives, the device will receive security updates few and far between. The mid-ranger initially received these updates monthly, but as time passed, the frequency has come down. The Galaxy A51 is currently scheduled to get security updates biannually, i. e. two updates in a year. Even the 5G model, which arrived a few months into 2020, was recently demoted to biannual security updates by Samsung. This model will also get Android 13, though. Nonetheless, if you’re using this Samsung mid-ranger in the US, the latest June SMR is now coming your way. You will get a notification for the OTA (over the air) release soon if you haven’t already. Tap on the notification to download the update. You can also navigate to Settings > Software update and tap on Download and install to check for updates manually. Carrier-locked Galaxy A51 users in the US can look forward to this update in the coming days.
