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Samsung‘s May 2024 security update has landed on the Galaxy S21 series, Galaxy Tab S9 series, and Galaxy Tab S6 Lite. These devices join the Galaxy S24, Galaxy S23, Galaxy S22, Galaxy Z Fold 5, and Galaxy Z Flip 5 in the party. The company will update more smartphones and tablets to the new security patch in the coming days.
Galaxy S21 series gets Samsung’s May security update
The May 2024 SMR (Security Maintenance Release) is currently rolling out to the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, and Galaxy S21 Ultra in Europe and Asia. The update comes with the firmware build number G99*BXXSBGXDH in these two regions. The official changelog from Samsung states improved security and nothing else. That was expected as the devices received the One UI 6.1 update just two weeks ago.
Samsung has already revealed that this month’s security release for Galaxy devices patches 55 vulnerabilities, so this is still a fairly important update. Some of the vulnerabilities were critical in severity. These security fixes are also rolling out to the Galaxy Tab S9, Galaxy Tab S9+, and Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra in Europe. It arrives with the build version BXE3 (last four characters) and an identical changelog.
We aren’t surprised that the update is all about security fixes. The Galaxy Tab S9 series is coming fresh from the One UI 6.1 update. Unlike the Galaxy S21 series, these flagship tablets picked up most of the new AI features Samsung introduced with the Galaxy S24. The company didn’t push those to its 2021 flagships due to compatibility issues. Galaxy S21 phones aren’t powerful enough to efficiently run on-device AI features.
The Galaxy Tab S6 Lite is another new recipient of Samsung’s May 2024 SMR. The latest security patch is currently rolling out to the 2022 version of the tablet (Samsung originally launched it in 2020 and introduced refreshed versions in 2022 and 2024). The update is available in Europe with the build number P619XXU6CXE2 and improves the device’s support for LTE TDD bands along with security fixes.
Wider rollout for other devices
Alongside expanding the May SMR to more devices, Samsung is making the update available widely to others. The latest security patch is now available in many more countries for the first batch of devices. If you are using any of these devices and have yet to receive this month’s security update, you should soon. Watch out for a notification in the coming days. You can also check for updates manually from the Settings app.