The October SMR (Security Maintenance Release) for the carrier-locked Galaxy A50 in the US comes with firmware version A505USQSKDVJ1. We can confirm its availability for units on Comcast and Sprint’s networks. Since most carriers didn’t offer the phone with a contract, it was primarily sold unlocked stateside. We expect the unlocked units to pick up the latest security patch soon. They last received the July patch, which arrived in August. The handset is scheduled to receive quarterly security updates, so the October SMR should be the next. The Galaxy A50 may or may not receive the latest SMR in international markets though. Since it is no longer eligible for monthly updates, Samsung varies the release of new security patches for it across different regions. The US version is getting the October update after the July SMR, while the phone picked up the August or September SMR in some other regions. If you’re using this phone, it’s best to keep an eye on notifications about new updates and install those as early as possible to keep your phone protected from privacy and security vulnerabilities. Samsung also lets you manually check for updates, though. You can go to the Software update menu in the Settings app and tap on Download and install anytime. If an update is available, you will be prompted to download it. If there’s no update, you’ll have to check again later or wait for the notification. Note that the Galaxy A50 doesn’t get updates too frequently. If you recently updated your phone, you may have to wait a few months for the next one.
The Galaxy A50 will not get the Android 13 update
Samsung launched the Galaxy A50 in February 2019. The phone debuted with Android 9 Pie and has picked up updates to Android 10 and Android 11. Unfortunately, that’s all as far as its Android life is concerned. The phone did not get Android 12 and will not receive Android 13 either. It’s only security updates for it going forward. Those will come at least until February next year. After that, Samsung will drop official support for the phone. If you’re using the Galaxy A50, we recommend you upgrade to a newer model.
