Unlocked Samsung Galaxy S phones and Android updates\upgrades

For the past 8 years corporate has supplied me with a Cell phone. Now with a change of policy, Corporate will pay for the service, but I have to buy the phone.

I'm pondering going all in and getting a unlocked Galaxy S8 and was curious what the updates process was like on those versus having them pushed from the carrier. I read some comments on the Samsung forums that imply unlocked phones are the last to get updates released. That seems backwards to me, so I wanted to get some input from people who have unlocked Samsung phones. My son has been on the OnePlus phones for a few years and he's upgrading to various OSes to include running the latest Android 7.0 release. I assumed all unlock phones were fairly easy to upgrade to the latest versus waiting for the carrier to release it. Am I all wet on that?

Thanks

Is there some particular reason you want a Samsung device? The UI? That can be duplicated on other devices. The hardware? Well, most flagship devices nowadays offer similar specs sometimes for less money, look at the OnePlus 5 which just came out a few days ago, same processor as the S8, 6 or 8GB of RAM (crazy ain't it?), 64 or 128GB of storage (based on the choice of RAM), a good/great display (no it's not quad HD+ like the S8 is but then again that's a waste of pixels and power more than anything else). The Samsung brand? Well, can't help there, they make some nice devices but you pay for it, obviously.

Unless you have a seriously compelling reason to buy a Samsung device (and unlocked means you're forking over $800+ probably which is just insane) then something like the OnePlus 5 at $479/$539 should be considered a viable option. There are just too many devices out nowadays that I could recommend that can get the job done just fine - unless you have a specific actual requirement for having the latest and greatest top of the line specs I wouldn't recommend forking over that load of cash personally but instead look for something cheaper, perhaps a flagship from last year, or something similar. The BlackBerry KEYone is a damned fine device, it will get monthly security updates because BlackBerry is on top of that shit - like only Google itself - is almost as soon as they're available, but not everyone favors the physical keyboard or the slightly reduced resolution on the device. It has great specs, fantastic battery life, and for a business device it's rock solid and stable in terms of being secure like hardly any other devices are. There's the DTEK models as well if you don't want that physical keyboard.

It all depends on what you require a phone to do I suppose, that's the gist of it. A company supplying phones means you're basically forced to choke down whatever the hell they want to throw your way when it comes time to get a company provided device. This time out if you're footing the bill for the hardware I would say spend some time doing research (as you're apparently doing now), talk with your son about devices, if he's into ROMs and such things he should be your go-to person for the real info I suppose. My biggest recommendation would be get insurance on it at the time of purchase so you're covered in case it gets damaged or destroyed in a work environment or situation work related, the company obviously isn't going to cover that since it's your device.

Google creates the necessary security patches and then pushes them to the carriers - for Google devices like the Nexus and now Pixel hardware, they get the updates faster (for the most part) than non-Google devices do but that's how it works with those pieces of hardware. Once Google has created the patches they push them out to the carriers who then have to apply them internally on their devices and do testing, some carriers take forever to get around to releasing them (a few times a year if you're lucky), some put more effort into it and do things a bit faster (maybe updates every other month), and rare ones like BlackBerry and maybe even OnePlus (because they both use their own custom versions of Android) push updates monthly as they're created.

A lot of info, certainly, and more to discover with research but, I suppose my final piece of advice or suggestion is: if you don't have that compelling need or an overwhelming desire to purchase a brand new unlocked Samsung Galaxy S8 for ~$800 or more, don't do it, there's similar and very capable hardware out there that gets the job done just the same.

Tiberian said:

Is there some particular reason you want a Samsung device? The UI? That can be duplicated on other devices. The hardware? Well, most flagship devices nowadays offer similar specs sometimes for less money, look at the OnePlus 5 which just came out a few days ago, same processor as the S8, 6 or 8GB of RAM (crazy ain't it?), 64 or 128GB of storage (based on the choice of RAM), a good/great display (no it's not quad HD+ like the S8 is but then again that's a waste of pixels and power more than anything else). The Samsung brand? Well, can't help there, they make some nice devices but you pay for it, obviously.

Unless you have a seriously compelling reason to buy a Samsung device (and unlocked means you're forking over $800+ probably which is just insane) then something like the OnePlus 5 at $479/$539 should be considered a viable option.

A lot of info, certainly, and more to discover with research but, I suppose my final piece of advice or suggestion is: if you don't have that compelling need or an overwhelming desire to purchase a brand new unlocked Samsung Galaxy S8 for ~$800 or more, don't do it, there's similar and very capable hardware out there that gets the job done just the same.

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Right now Samsung has a deal, send in an old Smartphone and get $200 off a S8/8+, plus another $100 off. So the unlocked S8 is $425 and the S8+ is $525 in the cart ready for checkout.(Oddly, if I choose a carrier like ATT I lose the $100 rebate and the same phone is $525\625) I have the HTC One M7 which qualifies for Samsungs trade in deal. While I could just keep the HTC another 2-3 years or more, I figure now was a good time to take advantage of the trade in deal. As you noted, corporate has always giving us phones that were 2+ years old. I'm not really a power phone user, it's #1 use is an actual phone line and number 2, text messages to the wife and a distant 3 is a wifi hotspot. Overall, I have very little justification for a brand new $700+ phone. Only because the price is right, am I looking at it. I was also considering the OnePlus5 prior to the price drop from Samsung. While I don't use the HTC that much, part of the reason is because it's camera stinks, and it's slow and the battery doesn't hold much of a charge anymore. Maybe if I had a more powerful phone, I'd actually want to use it more.

Part of the reason I want an unlock, is the next chance I get from corporate, I want to switch off ATT and try Verizon out and don't want to be locked in to a carrier because of the phone.

Get the Essential Phone. Will be able to be used on all carriers.

If you're not really a power phone user, there's zero reason to buy a power phone regardless of how low the pricing might seem at this point. For the 3 basic items you specified I'd still say avoid getting the S8 or S8+ but that's only my own opinion of the matter. A OnePlus 3T could do wonders for you, even in spite of no microSD slot which I won't accept - I can live without a removable battery depending on the device, but I draw the line on expandable storage, that's just me.

Geez, there's dozens and dozens of devices that could suit you at this point, have a discussion with your son and see what he's got to say about things.

The Samsungs are not that much more at all with the trade-in deal vs. the 3T. He seems to care about the camera and I am willing to bet the Samsung will blow it away in that regard.