I recently sold my T-Mobile Note 8 because I wanted quicker security updates. Instead, I got the unlocked Note 8. I knew that Samsung was really bad at updating the unlocked S7s, but they had promised a better experience this year, and some folks initially said they were getting updates quickly.
My T-Mo Note 8 was on January at this point (but they skipped a few months and have a poor track record on my wife's S8).
After loading up and doing all the updated on the Unlocked Note 8, I found it was still on December 2017. I contacted Samsung support. They told me that the unlocked variants are the last ones to get updates. They said they don't have their own distribution servers for these updates, and they rely on carriers, who are naturally going to first focus on their branded devices.
When I protested, they offered me a way to get the updated more quickly. Go to the nearest Best Buy Samsung Experience and the tech there will be able to update it early. When I told them that all of those Samsung Experiences in Best Buy's in the DC Metro areas were no longer staffed by Samsung employees, they acknowledged that the contract with BB ended 12/31/17. They then suggested I either send the phone in (2 week turnaround... Lol), or take it to a center in York PA, 61 miles away from my home.
So let me get this straight. If I want my unlocked Note 8 to be on the latest updates, once a month I've got to either drive 61 miles to have a technician install the update, or send the phone to them for 2 weeks....
This all sounds like a lot of crap to me, but I escalated, and the supervisor said the same thing. I returned the Unlocked Note to Best Buy, and they agreed to waive the $35 restocking fee because they acknowledged that there is no way to get quick security updates, and their advertising on this product is not forthcoming about that important fact.
So if you're buying a Note 8, and updates are important to you, get one from the network that is pushing these out most frequently (afaik Verizon, then T-Mobile). As for me, I'm switching unfortunately to the Pixel XL 2. Samsung's days of being fairly behind on security updates are better than they were in the past, but still bad compared to even HTC, a tiny, almost broke phone manufacturer.
My T-Mo Note 8 was on January at this point (but they skipped a few months and have a poor track record on my wife's S8).
After loading up and doing all the updated on the Unlocked Note 8, I found it was still on December 2017. I contacted Samsung support. They told me that the unlocked variants are the last ones to get updates. They said they don't have their own distribution servers for these updates, and they rely on carriers, who are naturally going to first focus on their branded devices.
When I protested, they offered me a way to get the updated more quickly. Go to the nearest Best Buy Samsung Experience and the tech there will be able to update it early. When I told them that all of those Samsung Experiences in Best Buy's in the DC Metro areas were no longer staffed by Samsung employees, they acknowledged that the contract with BB ended 12/31/17. They then suggested I either send the phone in (2 week turnaround... Lol), or take it to a center in York PA, 61 miles away from my home.
So let me get this straight. If I want my unlocked Note 8 to be on the latest updates, once a month I've got to either drive 61 miles to have a technician install the update, or send the phone to them for 2 weeks....
This all sounds like a lot of crap to me, but I escalated, and the supervisor said the same thing. I returned the Unlocked Note to Best Buy, and they agreed to waive the $35 restocking fee because they acknowledged that there is no way to get quick security updates, and their advertising on this product is not forthcoming about that important fact.
So if you're buying a Note 8, and updates are important to you, get one from the network that is pushing these out most frequently (afaik Verizon, then T-Mobile). As for me, I'm switching unfortunately to the Pixel XL 2. Samsung's days of being fairly behind on security updates are better than they were in the past, but still bad compared to even HTC, a tiny, almost broke phone manufacturer.
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