Android L 5.0 Update Release Date for Samsung Galaxy S5, S4, Note 4 and Note 3

Nov 19, 2014 07:01 PM EST

If you are the owner of a Samsung Galaxy S5, S4, or the Note 3 or 4, then you may not receive an update of the new Android operating system 5.0 (Lollipop) until January 2015. 

It was last June at the annual Google I/O conference when Google announced the Android update.  Like all versions of Android, it was named after a sweet treat, and Lollipop (version L) was designed to replace KitKat (Version K).  The upgrade is going to be a start of a new decimal as Lollipop is version 5.0, and KitKat is version 4.2 and up.  At this conference, there was no mention of the official Lollipop release date, but news has been coming in slowly and erratically about Lollipop's release for all kinds of Android devices. 

Much of the speculation has been on the Samsung Galaxy series, including the Note 3, Note 4, the Galaxy S4 and the Galaxy S5.  The Samsung series of Android devices is apparently by no means a flagship of Android as Lollipop as the Nexus series has already received the Lollipop update as of last week.  There are reports that the HTC One M7 and the HTC One M8 are also getting upgrades as of next week, with more smartphone models following. 

The Samsung Galaxy series should be running Android 4.4.4 KitKat, and the plan is that the upgrade will take these devices straight to Android 5.0 Lollipop.  There are rumors that the Galaxy S5 could be receiving an upgrade as early as December. The Note 4 will be the next to be licked by Lollipop with December as a best case scenario.  Then Note 3 will be next, hopefully shortly afterward. As for the Galaxy S4, there are rumors that the upgrade could arrive later rather than sooner. 

Android upgrades have always been a mixed bag of what devices will receive their upgrades, with a lot of older models of Android phones ending up getting completely left behind.  Android rollouts have often been a year-long process, and other devices like the Galaxy Alpha and the Galaxy Note Edge will be in demand for an upgrade. As for the Galaxy Note 2 and S3, these will probably be slow for an upgrade. 

Hopefully, users of the Galaxy series of phones have Android 4.4.4 KitKat on them already, but some  international variants of these devices might still have Android 4.4.2, and there has been talks that the Android update could skip from 4.4.2 to 5.0 when that comes time to upgrade.