New Samsung Update Spells End For Millions Of Galaxy Phones
After an unexpected halt earlier in April, Samsung is now rolling out One UI 7 to several Galaxy devices. For the Galaxy S21 series, it likely means the end of the line.
The rollout started in March with the S24 series, Galaxy Z Fold6 and Z Flip 6 and has been making its way to older flagships, stopping at the S21. While the update brings new AI features to millions of Samsung devices, it also represents the final Android update for the Galaxy S21 series.
Almost all flagship devices released before 2024 are eligible for four major Android OS updates, compared to the seven updates for flagships released after 2024 (the Galaxy S24 and S25 series). The Galaxy S21's four years are now up, just like its predecessor, the Galaxy S20, which lost all support this year.
The 2021 Galaxy phone will continue to receive security patches. But it was recently downgraded from monthly to quarterly updates, which is a clear sign that the end is nigh. Being downgraded to quarterly updates has put a 12-month clock on Galaxy handsets in the past. The Galaxy S9 and S10 followed this path.
I would guess that your Galaxy S21 will be dropped from updates this time next year, although Samsung has been known to issue a stay of execution to some devices randomly. I wouldn't rely on this, though. Now is the time to upgrade, not just because of the update situation, but also because the Galaxy S21 still fetches a high trade-in price at Samsung.
In recent sales, the Korean company has valued the Galaxy S21 Ultra at $300, rising to $600 when buying the Galaxy Z Fold 6. The best time to sell your Galaxy S21 was likely at some point in 2024, before it moved into its final update year. The Galaxy S22 Ultra, for example, is valued at $500.
Samsung is racing to get AI into as many hands as possible. Despite the public's reservation about how useful these features are, with some suing Apple over its Apple Intelligence ability claims, the Korean company has extended a version of AI to cheaper and older devices. Galaxy A models received their own, watered down, 'awesome intelligence' update in April. While the Galaxy S21 has received a handful of new AI-powered abilities via Circle To Search last year.
One UI 7 brings tools like AI Select, Writing Assist, Drawing Assist, and deeper Google Gemini integration to eligible phones. But the Galaxy S21 series won't get any Galaxy AI features, Samsung tells me. Over on Reddit, some Galaxy S21 owners who received the early update have confirmed that the AI tools can't be found. With the Galaxy S21 in the sunset of its lifecycle, that is unlikely to change.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gizmodo
37 minutes ago
- Gizmodo
This Anker Power Strip With 12 Outlets, USB-C and USB-A Ports Is at an All-Time Low on Amazon
When it comes to premium accessories, docking stations and power banks, Anker is famous for being one of the most popular and trusted brand. Whether it's home, office or travel products, Anker continues to surprise customers time and time again. Right now, you can find a special offer on the Anker power strip 2100J with 12 outputs, one USB-C and two USB-A ports, that you really should not miss on Amazon: it now costs just $23 instead of $35 because there's a big (and unprecedented) 33% discount. This is one of the very best deals you can get if you need to plug in more devices and want to charge phones or tablets quickly. See at Amazon Rated 4.8 Out of 5 The Anker power strip is a multi-functional device that boasts 12 AC outlets, one USB-C port, and two USB-A ports and provides ample space to power your appliances and mobile devices all in one location. If you are building an office at home or an entertainment center, or if you just require a few couple more outlets for your devices, this Anker power strip is up to the task. The fact that it comes with a 20W USB-C port means you can fast charge your iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, or 16 Pro Max with up to 53% battery in just 30 minutes. This power strip is perfect for Apple users who appreciate the convenience of using a charging station while being able to charge with speed. But of course, you can charge devices from all the other brands as well! In addition to a robust selection of outlets, the Anker Surge Protector is designed with an emphasis on safety. The 8-point safety system incorporates surge protection, fire retardance, overload protection, temperature controlling, and more to keep your devices safe from electrical hazards. Anker takes a layered approach to safety so that users have peace of mind that their expensive electronics are protected against power surges and other cumbersome electrical concerns. With this design, all of the outlets are usable without the frustrations associated with cheap power strips which cover three to four of the other outlets preventing usage even when it is needed. The nominal 5 ft. extension cord and flat plug allow for advantageous placement of the power strip exactly where necessary—behind items, in between items, or underneath a desk. The Anker Surge Protector Power Strip comes with everything you need to get started: the surge protector power strip, two mounting screws, a welcome guide, and Anker's new customer service. It also comes with an 18-month worry free warranty and a lifetime connected equipment warranty, which totally protects you up to $200,000, so you can be sure, Anker is serious about your purchase. Over 13,000 customers gave this product a 4.8 out of 5 stars, and over 10,000+ units sold during the last month alone. If you want more outlets, this Anker power strip is a great value for all, at all levels. See at Amazon
Gizmodo
an hour ago
- Gizmodo
The Samsung 990 PRO 2TB SSD With Heatsink Is Now 45% Off, Amazon Rapidly Sells Through Its Stock
If you're considering upgrading your computer or gaming setup seriously, a first-class internal SSD makes a world of difference. Whether you're a gamer or simply someone who wants a faster system, storage speed and reliability matter. The Samsung 990 Pro 2TB SSD with heatsink offers all of that and: acceleration speed, improved thermal control, dependable reliability and it is a compact 2280 M.2 PCI-E 4.0 device. At this moment, this powerful storage option is on sale for a crazy good price on Amazon, so it's a perfect time to improve your gaming rig. This internal 2TB SSD is currently priced at just $179, down from its original $309 price. Even the regular 2TB model without heatsink is on sale for $169 (original price $249) but for the majority of users thinking about using, and/or pushing their systems to their maximum, the model with the integrated heatsink is the cheaper and smarter way to go. See 2TB internal SSD with Heatsink at Amazon See 2TB internal SSD without Heatsink at Amazon Why Should You Buy This Internal SSD? So what makes the Samsung 990 Pro with heatsink so special? First and foremost, it's all about speed: This solid-state drive utilizes PCIe Gen4 technology with sequential read speed of up to 7450 MB/s and write speeds of up to 6900MB/s, which makes it among the fastest drives available today. Whether you're loading extremely large game files, working with high-resolution video or massive data sets, the difference is immediate. The 990 Pro shows more than a 55% improvement in random performance compared to its predecessor (980 Pro). The ultra-slim heatsink alone is a great product differentiator for sustained performance with no throttling: The heatsink dissipates heat efficiently and keeps the drive cooled during prolonged and heavy use. When high-performance speeds and reliability is required along with cooled conditions for gaming and professional workloads, heatsinking is crucial. The ultra-slim profile of the heatsink is also compatible with nearly all possible systems including the PlayStation 5 and any desktop or laptop meeting PCI-SIG D8 specifications which the 990 Pro falls within. With the 990 Pro with heatsink, you will experience near-max PCIe 4.0 performance without the worry of heat or performance loss. The Samsung 990 Pro is also great for capacity perspective as well since it is available from 1TB, to 4TB, accommodating whatever space you need for games, media, and projects. While all models are reasonably priced, 2TB makes the most sense from a price point and space perspective for most gamers and professionals alike. With 2TB, you can load all of your games, complete large video projects, and store important files without constantly rerouting and stressing. If you're building a new computer, upgrading your PlayStation 5, or just want better performance for a fair price, this SSD is really well worth it. See 2TB internal SSD with Heatsink at Amazon
Tom's Guide
an hour ago
- Tom's Guide
I've done the math, and the results are in — the Samsung Bespoke Jet AI Ultra is a 5-star vacuum cleaner
I'm not going to lead you on: the Samsung Bespoke Jet AI Ultra is the best vacuum cleaner in the world. Certainly it's the best one I've ever tested or used. I adore everything about this vacuum cleaner, from its super-powerful cleaning capabilities to its sleek design. Samsung makes a range of Jet vacuums, including the Bespoke Jet robot vacuum and the Jet Pet. However, the Bespoke Jet AI Ultra is the best-of-the-best, top-of-the-range vacuum. After announcing it in March 2025, the vacuum was officially released in April 2025. It brings me great joy to announce that Samsung's claim of 'the most powerful vacuum in the world' is, in fact, 100% true. So, if it's so good, why bother reading the rest of the review? Well, I'll get into all the cleaning details and smart home features in this Samsung Bespoke Jet AI Ultra vacuum cleaner review. Price $1,099 / £1,199 Bin volume Vacuum: 16 ounces / Charging station: 70 ounces Max runtime 60 min / 100 min Battery charging time 210 min / 300 min Included batteries 2: 60 min / 100 min No. of tools 5 plus tool stand Filters HEPA Dimensions 11.8 x 33.5 x 11.8 inches Weight 14.1 pounds Bagged or bagless Bagless (vacuum), bagged (charging station) The Samsung Bespoke Jet AI Ultra (say that 10 times) is $1,099 from Amazon U.S. and £1,199 from Samsung U.K.. It doesn't seem to be available on Amazon U.K. yet. This makes it one of the priciest vacuum cleaners I've ever seen, but that's for a valid reason. Sometimes good things are expensive. The Bespoke Jet AI (as I will now refer to the vacuum to save my fingers) self-cleans, it has Wi-Fi and smart home compatibility, and it's really good at cleaning. I see no issue with the price. The Dyson Gen5Detect I use is $949, but has no cleaning station or app control. If you want to save $$$ but still get a decent vacuum, I'd recommend the Shark Clean & Empty, which is just $349. Where the Samsung Bespoke Jet AI vacuum excels is its design. It's super unique, and definitely one of the most intelligently designed vacuums I've ever reviewed. The Bespoke Jet AI is a mix between a cordless stick vacuum and a robot vacuum: it has a stick vacuum and a cleaning station. This cleaning station automatically empties the vacuum dustbin when you place the vacuum on top. But, be warned — it's not magnetic, nor does it click into place. One jiggle and the vacuum might fall right off. The Bespoke Jet AI comes in black or mint. I tested mint, which would have been my choice had I been purchasing this vacuum for myself. The cleaning station is quite big, so make sure you choose the color that will look best in your space. The vacuum itself has five tools and a tool stand. This tool stand looks like an old iron fire tool stand, but is made from a thin plastic. Considering how well-made the vacuum cleaner itself is, I was a little disappointed to feel that the tool stand is flimsy. However, it still held my tools adequately, so this weaker construction didn't negatively affect usability. The tools are: pet tool (great for hair), active dual brush (general), slim LED (hard floors), and then handheld crevice tools and a flex tool for hard-to-reach places. The pet tool is absolutely phenomenal at cleaning up ground-in hair, which I'll discuss in full later. Even though the slim LED is intended for hard floors only, I found it worked really well on my low pile carpet. Finally, the active dual brush is the ideal all rounder: it was able to clean my low pile carpets and hard floors instantly. As the vacuum easily converts into a handheld, I found it super versatile for cleaning my entire house. I could clean the carpeted areas and hard floors without needing to switch brush. I could reach into the crevices beside my fridge and under cupboards easily. On the vacuum handle itself is a bright screen that shows you battery time, current cleaning power, and allows you to control cleaning mode. I found this screen very easy to use and helpful. It'll alert you if there are any blockages, or if it's powered up to a more intense cleaning mode. I'm a little disillusioned with smart home at the moment (what do you mean, I need to download an app to use my hair dryer?), but the Bespoke Jet vacuum is perfect for smart home aficionados. As with other Samsung gear, it links up with the Smart Things app. I already have a Samsung washing machine, so watching my virtual house grow when I added this vacuum was pretty cute, I can't lie. Setting up the vacuum was easy: simply scan the QR code and you're good to go. I named my vacuum cleaner (following the silly nomenclature trend of my washing machine's moniker 'Mayor Spinny') and was good to go. Smart Things is basically an easily-accessible control panel: no fiddling with tiny buttons on the vacuum itself (even though my experience with controls on the screen was fine). Here are a few screenshots of the Smart Things capabilities. As you can see, there's not really too much you can do on the Smart Things app. This could be because I have an iPhone, or it could be because, well, it's a vacuum. Even so, I like being able to remote control emptying the dustbin. Bizarrely, if you have a Samsung cellphone, you can receive calls to the vacuum cleaner. As I have an iPhone, this feature was a little beyond me, but I suppose it's… nice to have if you like receiving calls on your vacuum? Samsung has some bold claims about this vacuum: it's 'the world's most powerful stick vacuum'. And honestly? I believe it. There's a reason you see a 5-star rating above. The Bespoke Jet AI has an RPM of 148,000, compared to the Dyson Gen5Detect's 135,000 and the Dyson V15s's 125,000 RPM. The Bespoke Jet AI has something called a 'HexaJet Motor', which effectively means the vacuum can reach powers of up to 400W during cleaning. In reality? This translates to 100% clean floors almost instantly. On top of using this vacuum as my main vacuum for over a week, I ran through Tom's Guide's standardized tests too. To test the Bespoke Jet AI's ability to clean on carpet, I used hair, cat litter, and Cheerios on my medium-pile rug. For the hair, I used the Pet Tool, and for the other two I used the standard Active Dual Brush. Item Target clean Actual clean Cat litter 20g 100% Cheerios 20g 100% Hair One hair extension 100% As you can see from these results, the Samsung Bespoke Jet AI Ultra utterly demolished these tasks. The Cheerios took just one pass to be completely cleaned up. I was shook. The hair took a few slow passes with the Pet Tool, but I had really ground the hair into the carpet. This table below is the result of our cleaning tests repeated on hard floors rather than a thick pile carpet. Item Target clean Actual clean Cat litter 20g 100% Cheerios 20g 100% Hair One hair extension 100% Again, the Bespoke Jet AI Ultra made light work of these tasks. As with above, I used the Pet Tool for the hair and the Active Dual Brush for the other two. I use DecibelX to monitor volume. On AI mode (standard mode, basically), the Bespoke Jet AI ran at an average of 71dB, and topped out at 84dB in 'Jet' mode. This is 1dB quieter than the Dyson Gen5Detect's max mode, and a faster RPM, so in actuality this means it's a considerable degree quieter than the Dyson. One of my favorite aspects of the Bespoke Jet AI is that it comes with two batteries. One battery has a max runtime of 100 minutes, and the other is 60 minutes. As with other vacuums, these 'max runtimes' are calculated in the lowest power mode. From fully charged, this is what the screen displayed as battery runtime. Power 60 minute battery Min 42 AI 24 Mid 24 Max 13 Jet 14 I've not tested any vacuums that come with two batteries before. The Dyson V15s tops out at 60 minutes, the Dyson Gen5Detect 70 minutes, which puts the Bespoke Jet AI Ultra in pole position here. As the Bespoke Jet AI is a self-emptying vacuum, there's very little day-to-day maintenance required. Obviously you need to empty the cleaning station dustbin, but this holds 70 ounces so that will be a rare occurrence. Samsung provides 3 cleaning station bags in the Bespoke Jet AI box. Once these run out, Samsung sells 5 bags for $39. It will depend on the size of your house, but I didn't get anywhere close needing to empty the cleaning station bag during my 10-day testing. As I only had this vacuum on a loan (whereas usually I get to keep vacuums for long-term testing, so I can say for certain that they hold up over time), I had to clean the vacuum and tools thoroughly before returning to Samsung. I can report that while removing the hair extensions from the pet tool was laborious, it was relatively straightforward to clean. For those purchasing the Bespoke Jet AI for personal use, Samsung offers a 5-year warranty on the vacuum cleaner itself and a 2-year warranty on the batteries. You can purchase additional Jet AI batteries for a cringe-inducing $200. Even though it's expensive, sometimes good things just are expensive. And for once, I don't mind that the Samsung Bespoke Jet AI Ultra is over $1,000. The vacuum cleaner earns its price: it has a massive 100 minute battery (alongside a 60 minute battery too), it's the most powerful vacuum I've ever used, and does all of that while being super lightweight too. I have nothing bad to say about the Bespoke Jet AI Ultra. I was scratching my head trying to think of cons, and nothing came to me. I loved everything about this vacuum during testing. It sucked up hair, cereal, cat litter, and everyday mess with ease, and made light work of both thick carpets and hardwood floors. If I could keep one vacuum forever, it would be the Bespoke Jet AI Ultra. The results are in: this is the best vacuum in the world.
