How do you update factory unlocked Note 5?

[raylock]

Excuse me if this sounds basic, but I am a Apple user coming to the Samsung community. I know absolutely nothing about Android. I am planing to buy a Note 5 ms-n920C which is an international model not supported by any US carriers. I am wondering how I will get periodic security updates. Will I get these through my Samsung account or from the Google play store? What about updating the operating system i.e. to Marshmallow? Is that a straight forward download or will I have to jump through some technical hoops? Maybe I will be getting in over my head. Thanks.

 

[SpookDroid]

The International Unlocked version comes directly from Samsung, so you would, in theory, get updates even before US carrier versions (in short, Google releases the update, then manufacturers release after a while for their factory unlocked versions and give that to carriers, and then carriers take that and modify it and then release for their custom versions, if at all).

That being said, system updates sometimes are rolled out in stages. It could depend on the region your phone was manufactured/intended to, so while an update could be out for Europe, for instance, you'd have to wait until your region was updated if your phone was meant for, say, Brazil (Americas). System updates don't come through Google Play (that's for apps), and while Google releases monthly patches and OS upgrades like Marshmallow, not all manufacturers release all patches or updates to their phones. Samsung is getting better and faster at it, though, but still not perfect. Anyway, if an update is available for your specific model and region, you can go into your Settings, About Phone, and check for updates there. Or use Samsung's Kies (their version of iTunes) to update via computer.

 

[raylock]

Thank you! I was being led down the path of believing I had to root the phone in order to get updates. While that may be something that I would be interested in at some point, I will need a lot of self educating before I cross that bridge. Knowing that rooting and installing ROMs are not part of the normally required process to get regular updates for my factory unlocked phone gives me more comfort going forward with this phone.

 

[torbach1]

Thank you! I was being led down the path of believing I had to root the phone in order to get updates. While that may be something that I would be interested in at some point, I will need a lot of self educating before I cross that bridge. Knowing that rooting and installing ROMs are not part of the normally required process to get regular updates for my factory unlocked phone gives me more comfort going forward with this phone.

Spook Droid is absolutely correct. You'll just get the update when it gets pushed out to your region.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[SpookDroid]

Thank you! I was being led down the path of believing I had to root the phone in order to get updates. While that may be something that I would be interested in at some point, I will need a lot of self educating before I cross that bridge. Knowing that rooting and installing ROMs are not part of the normally required process to get regular updates for my factory unlocked phone gives me more comfort going forward with this phone.

Actually, that will usually block updates! (And if you do update, you lose root). Rooting/Custom ROM is the way to go if you want something custom-made or a newer version of Android that isn't oficiallly out for your phone, either because the manufacturer/carrier hasn't released it or if your region hasn't seen the update yet. It's definitely not for the faint of heart, but not something terribly difficult to do nowadays. You definitely can do more stuff if rooted in terms of customization and unleashing more automation in your system, but it comes at the price of decreased security and the possibility of a bad 'flash'.