What you need to know
- Samsung has officially ended software support for the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 after five years.
- Both foldables received four years of OS upgrades and five years of security updates, as Samsung originally promised.
- Samsung has removed both phones from its security update page, meaning they won't receive regular security patches anymore.
Samsung's foldable phones that launched in the summer of 2021 have officially reached the end of their software support cycle.
Most Samsung flagship smartphones today, including the Galaxy S26 Ultra and even 2024's Galaxy S24 Ultra, come with seven years of software support. But Samsung hasn't always offered updates for this long. Older flagships came with shorter support promises, and now the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 have officially reached the end of theirs.
As spotted by Android Authority, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 have received their final software updates. At launch, Samsung promised four years of OS upgrades and five years of security updates for both foldables, and the company has now fulfilled that promise. Samsung has also removed both devices from its security updates page.
This means Samsung won't be releasing any further regular software or security updates for these devices. The oldest foldables officially supported by the company are now the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4. Even those devices have moved to a quarterly update schedule, unlike newer Samsung phones that continue to receive monthly updates.
So, if you're still using a Galaxy Z Fold 3 or Galaxy Z Flip 3, your phone won't receive any new regular security patches from Samsung going forward. That means any new security vulnerabilities discovered from here on may remain unpatched on these devices.
If you're still holding onto one of these foldables, this might finally be the time to start thinking about an upgrade. Samsung recently introduced a completely new form factor with the Galaxy Z Fold 8, while its latest foldables also come with a much longer software support promise.
If you've managed to keep your Fold 3 or Flip 3 running for five years, one of Samsung's newer foldables should last you considerably longer.
