Samsung Rolls Out Surprise Update for Nine-Year-Old Phones

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Samsung has unexpectedly released new updates for the Galaxy S8 and Note 8 phones. The devices arrived in the market nine years ago and haven’t received regular updates since 2021. The latest release appears to bring some critical security fixes, though it does not include a newer security patch.

Galaxy S8 and Note 8 users get a surprise update from Samsung

Samsung introduced the Galaxy S8 and S8+ in March 2017, followed by the Galaxy Note 8 later that year in August. As per the company’s policy, the devices received regular feature updates and security patches for four years. The Galaxy S8 series received the April 2021 security patch as its final update, while the Galaxy Note 8 picked up its last patch in October 2021.

While the official support ended at that point, Samsung dropped another update in August 2022, delivering GPS-related fixes and optimizations. At the time, that decision made some sense, as these phones still had a reasonably large user base around the world.

Fast forward to June 2026, and the situation is very different. The Galaxy S8, S8+, and Note 8 are now nearly a decade old and largely obsolete by modern smartphone standards. Most surviving units are probably sitting in drawers as backup devices or cherished collectibles rather than serving as daily drivers. That’s precisely why Samsung’s latest update is so surprising.

Interestingly, like the August 2022 release, the latest updates also do not bring a newer security patch. The Galaxy S8 and Note 8 phones remain on the April 2021 and October 2021 security patches, respectively. Instead, Samsung appears to be addressing some critical security issues that could cause major problems to users if kept unpatched.

As such, if you are using one of these iconic Samsung flagships, make sure to install the new updates. Galaxy S8 and S8+ users in Korea are getting the new update with firmware version DZE1. It’s DZE2 for the Galaxy Note 8. Samsung should gradually expand the rollout in the coming days to cover units worldwide.

Written by

Sumit Adhikari

Sumit, a life-long Samsung user, is passionate about technology and has been professionally writing on tech since 2017. He’s a mathematics graduate by education and enjoys teaching basic mathematics tricks to school kids in his spare time. Sumit believes in artificial intelligence and dreams of a fully open, intelligent and connected world.

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