If you have an Android phone then it’s the time of year you can start to get excited. There’s a new version of Android out, and your phone could be about to get a lot of new software features – if it’s not too old, that is.

Android 14 is now available to download if you own a recent Google Pixel phone. One of the major advantages of owning a Pixel is that you get the latest flavour of Android first – Android is made by Google, after all.

The new version adds some cool visual changes with fresh lock screen looks and fonts, better privacy options, and even wallpapers made by AI. If you have a Pixel 4a 5G or newer model, you should be able to download it now.

But the most popular Android brand isn’t Google Pixel, it’s Samsung Galaxy. Samsung uses Android for its phones but implements its own design of it, so it largely does the same things but just looks and feels different. If you have a recent Galaxy phone, you will probably get Android 14 before the end of the year when Samsung is due to roll it out.

However, if you have a Galaxy S20 phone from 2020, you’re going to be missing out. Samsung’s list of phones getting Android 14 doesn’t include the Galaxy S20, S20 Plus, or even the S20 Ultra that cost £1,199 just three years ago. That’s going to sting, as you’d have hoped such an expensive phone would be supported for longer than that.

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Since then, Samsung has improved its software promises, and now offers four years of Android version updates for most of its phones. But it means the Galaxy Z Fold 2, which cost £1,799 brand new three years ago, will forever have Android 13. It’s quite a big gap – Galaxy phones from 2020 are stuck on Android 13 but those from 2021 will go up to Android 15.

The advantage to having a phone with long software support isn’t all about new wallpapers and quirky new software features though. Android updates can also improve things like battery life, and if they are supported with security updates it can keep you more safe from growing online threats too.

Unfortunately if your phone ends up unsupported it’s worth considering getting a new one. It’s good that the new Google Pixel 8 phones have an amazing seven years of software support – the longest promised by any phone maker to date.

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Here are all the major Samsung Galaxy phones set to get Android 14 – check if you are set to miss out:

• Galaxy S23 Ultra
• Galaxy S23 Plus
• Galaxy S23
• Galaxy S22 Ultra
• Galaxy S22 Plus
• Galaxy S22
• Galaxy S21 FE
• Galaxy S21 Ultra
• Galaxy S21 Plus
• Galaxy S21
• Galaxy Z Fold 5
• Galaxy Z Flip 5
• Galaxy Z Fold 4
• Galaxy Z Flip 4
• Galaxy Z Fold 3
• Galaxy Z Flip 3

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