Samsung Galaxy S21 users are getting a cool free upgrade

Older Samsung devices to receive updates sometime soon...

S21
(Image credit: Samsung)

Samsung has officially rolled out its One UI 4 software, which brings some pretty damn cool new features over from Android 12. Owners of one of Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S21 series smartphones, such as the Galaxy S21, S21+, and S21 Ultra can expect to receive the free upgrades first.

The Galaxy-line of smartphones comprises some of the best phones available to buy, regularly featuring in T3's best Android phones, and improving year on year. For instance, the Samsung Galaxy S21 was a significant improvement over the Samsung Galaxy S20, likewise with the Galaxy S21 Ultra over the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra. Now, these free upgrades are just another bonus for owners of these elite fleet of Samsung smartphones to enjoy.

Samsung update

(Image credit: Samsung)

Amongst the upgrades that come bundled with the One UI 4 software are better customization controls, which let you tailor your mobile experience to your own personal preferences. There are multiple new color palettes and widgets to choose from through the free new upgrade, letting you tinker with the looks and feel of everything from your home screen to icons, menu, button, and background. 

Samsung stresses that the One UI 4 software is all about putting your own personal stamp on the best Samsung phones – and you can see this through the deeper level of customization controls that Samsung is giving to its users.

Galaxy S21 users first in line

The other major change comes in the way users manage their security settings. With One UI 4, Samsung is bringing the latest privacy and security features, so you can choose exactly what you want to share or keep private. Like Android 12, Samsung is introducing a Privacy Dashboard that brings all settings and controls into one place. All of this makes it easier to monitor and control your privacy settings.

One UI 4 is intended to help customers tap into Samsung's extended ecosystem of devices and third-party apps, unlocking a more powerful mobile experience. Beginning today (November 15), One UI 4 is available for the Samsung Galaxy S21 smartphone. Samsung says that the update will soon be "available on previous Galaxy S and Note series as well as Galaxy Z series, A series, and tablet," so we'll keep you posted when we have more concrete information around this.

Luke Wilson

Luke is a former news writer at T3 who covered all things tech at T3. Disc golf enthusiast, keen jogger, and fond of all things outdoors (when not indoors messing around with gadgets), Luke wrote about a wide-array of subjects for T3.com, including Android Auto, WhatsApp, Sky, Virgin Media, Amazon Kindle, Windows 11, Chromebooks, iPhones and much more, too.