In 2019, Samsung decided to revamp its smartphone families with the introduction of the Galaxy A and M series of smartphones. These devices came to be Samsung’s value-for-money smartphones with a low price and decent set of specifications. Samsung brought AMOLED displays, high-resolution cameras, and capable batteries to the mid-range segment through these two lineups. Last year, the company gave a step further to democratize smartphones with the arrival of the Galaxy A01. The smartphone was a super-budget offering with the only goal of delivering decent performance for those who can’t spend much in a smartphone. The device arrived with One UI Core 2.x based on Android 10. Now, it’s a big surprise to see that it is getting Android 11.
In a time that Samsung is rolling the second major update for some of its smartphones, seeing the Galaxy A01 with Android 11 may not be a big surprise. But we have to say that it is. Although this is only the first major upgrade coming for the handset, it’s quite unexpected. Not many companies are doing much effort to update devices in the ultra-budget segment. It’s common to see these devices being released and never getting any kind of update at all. This certainly would be the case with the past Samsung. However, nowadays, the Korean firm is committed to proving that it has changed its philosophy when it comes to software support.
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One UI 3.1 arrives as the first major update for the Galaxy A01
As per SamMobile’s report, the Galaxy A01 is getting its first major update in the form of One UI 3.1. The device now runs the same firmware available for the Galaxy S21 series. Of course, not all features will be available or particularly useful on an entry-level smartphone like this one. According to Samsung’s official Android 11 roadmap, the device was expected to get the update in May or later. However, the company decided to roll out it a little bit earlier.
Currently, the budget smartphone is receiving the update in Russia. The new firmware comes with version number A015FXXU4BUD8. Apart from bringing the whole set of Android 11 and some One UI 3.1 features, it also comes with April 2021 security patches. The users of this phone in Russia can head over to Settings >> Software update >> Download and Install to check whether their unit has got the OTA update. If not, they will have to wait a bit further because it is being rolled out in batches.
Samsung will start this rollout in other regions pretty soon. It’s surprising to see Android 11, so we’re not expecting a future update to Android 12. The device may still get security patches on time.
