Fact-Check on Viral Claim About Samsung’s Software Updates

A popular social media claim suggests that Samsung intentionally slows down older flagship phones through software updates to push customers toward buying newer models. According to this claim, which spread through a Call of Duty: Mobile Facebook group, Samsung offers no explanations when updates allegedly cause crashes or performance problems on older premium devices like the Galaxy S21 Ultra and S22 Ultra. Our fact-check found that this claim is missing context.

Social Media Posts

A post circulating in the Call of Duty: Mobile Nigeria group alleges that Samsung deliberately uses software updates to crash or slow down older flagship devices, such as the Galaxy S21 Ultra and S22 Ultra, in order to push consumers toward buying newer models like the S25 series. The post further claims that Samsung provides no official statements when updates allegedly cause bugs on older phones. In this fact check, we are investigating this matter.

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Fact Check 

Is it true that Samsung neglects support for its older premium phones once new flagship models are launched?

News reports about related issues circulated globally, but they confirm that Samsung denies any intentional slowdown. In late 2018, Italy’s competition authority accused Apple and Samsung of issuing updates that “caused serious malfunctions” to spur new purchases. Samsung replied it was “disappointed” by the accusation, saying it “did not issue any software update that reduced the Galaxy Note 4’s performance.” Instead, Samsung said it always aims to improve customer experience through updates. A detailed news report about this, published in 2018, can be read here.

Similarly, Samsung told Nikkei that it “does not provide software updates to reduce product performance” and “does not reduce CPU performance through software updates.” A related news report can be found here. There is no independent proof that Samsung deliberately hampers older models. All available official statements from Samsung deny such practice.

Did Samsung updates cause bugs in older flagships like S21/S22 Ultra?

Samsung explicitly documents multi-year support for flagship phones. In January 2024, Samsung announced it will extend security updates up to seven years for Galaxy devices. A statement can be read here. In practice, this means new flagships (S24, S25, etc.) get monthly patches, while older models move to quarterly patches as they mature. For example, Samsung’s own security-update pages show the Galaxy S21 Ultra is still receiving quarterly security updates, whereas the newest S24/S25 series receive monthly updates.

S21/S22 Support: At launch, the S21/S22 series promised four years of Android upgrades. By late 2024, Samsung was distributing its final major update (One UI 7) to the S21 line, after which they shifted to quarterly security patches. A Spanish tech site notes this means the S21 series got “excellent support” up to the final Android release, then moved to less frequent patches. More details can be read here.

End-of-Life Timing: Supporting 3–5 years of updates for flagships is standard. For example, the Galaxy S20 series (2020) officially reached end-of-life in early 2025 (after ~5 years). Samsung did not abruptly cut off updates when the S24 launched; it followed its published schedule. More details can be read here.

Did recent updates to Samsung’s flagship devices cause widespread bugs or crashes?

It is true that some recent Samsung updates have had bugs, but these appear to be unintentional software problems, not a deliberate “crash update.” Tech sites and user forums report specific issues, notably on the S22 Ultra after Android 14 updates. For example, Gizmochina reported that the One UI 6.1 update (Sept 2024) caused many Galaxy S22 Ultra phones to stutter, crash, or enter endless boot loops. Affected users described losing data and needing repairs. Samsung had actually pulled this update earlier in 2024 to fix similar problems before re-releasing it, indicating the trouble was a glitch, not a planned feature. More details can be read here.

In another case, Samsung’s SmartThings app update (Oct 2024) triggered boot loops on certain older Galaxy models. This issue was quickly acknowledged. In every instance, Samsung responded by halting the faulty update and working on fixes. These bug reports, while real and frustrating to users, are specific glitches that Samsung addresses—not evidence of a “slowdown” scheme.

Examples of bugs: The S22 Ultra boot loop incident (One UI 6.1) and the SmartThings app boot loop (Android Authority, Oct 2024) were widespread enough to make tech news. In each case Samsung acted to resolve them, exactly the opposite of trying to cover them up.

OS complexity: Experts note that major OS upgrades can strain older hardware. An upgrade often uses more resources and temporarily fills storage, which feels like a slowdown. A tech blog explains, “A phone OS upgrade is a very complicated process… What feels like update problems are often simply slowdowns due to a shortage of free storage.” In other words, normal hardware/software limits (not intentional sabotage) typically explain perceived lags after updates. More details can be read here.

Has Samsung ever issued an official statement about alleged update-related issues with its older phones?

Samsung indeed commented publicly on related problems. Most tellingly, Samsung explicitly denies any plan to degrade performance: It was “disappointed” by Italy’s ruling, clarifying, “Samsung did not issue any software update that reduced the Galaxy Note 4’s performance.” The statement emphasized that Samsung always releases updates to give customers the best experience possible.

In October 2024, Samsung confirmed a bug in its SmartThings app update that was rebooting older Galaxy phones. It issued a statement (via media) saying it had “immediately suspended the update and was working to resolve the issue.” Customers were advised to contact support for fixes. This shows Samsung acknowledged and explained an update-related issue on older phones—again countering the notion of silence.

To summarize Samsung’s official messages: “We do not slow down phones with old batteries,” and “no update has reduced performance.” Samsung’s public documentation likewise highlights its commitment to device security and longevity (e.g., a 7-year update pledge).

Official FAQs/Guides: Samsung’s support site offers troubleshooting for update problems (download failures, app crashes, etc.), but nowhere suggests any intentional performance hit. Instead, Samsung focuses on fixes and patches.

Conclusion

The claim that Samsung intentionally crashes or slows older Galaxy flagships via software updates is missing context. While some users report performance issues after updates, Samsung consistently denies intentional slowdowns. The company maintains that its update policy aims to enhance device security and functionality, not to encourage users to purchase newer models. There is no evidence Samsung deliberately slows phones, though some users may experience bugs after updates.