The Samsung Galaxy S10 is nearing its two-year anniversary. It was one of the best phones of 2019, and made a name for itself for its stellar design, amazing cameras that still put modern midrangers to shame, and a compact footprint that is hard to find in a sea of giant handhelds.
It launched with Android 9 in March 2019, and went on to receive Android 10 before the end of that year.
We expected the device to receive Android 11, but at first, Samsung did not say anything about the update calendar. Of course, this was done to put more focus on the 2020 lineup, which includes the S20 and Note20 series.
The two have since received Android 11, albeit in beta, alongside OneUI version 3.
The 2019 flagships were left in the dark, at least up to this week. The beta firmware is here, and I have already flashed it on the Galaxy S10.
The update is also available for the Note10 line.
Samsung had ignored the S10 and Note10 for good reason; the beta OS, being just that, was riddled with bugs, and had internally reported bad battery drains.
You should keep in mind that the S10, specifically, has one of the worst battery life for a mainstream phone. And that hasn’t changed with Android 11, and I honestly wasn’t expecting any magic here because the cell has deteriorated after and extensive use. But bad battery life wasn’t going to stop me, and I no longer use the device as my daily driver for the very same reason.
So, for folks who want to test the OS out, they can do so if they choose to ignore the bugs associated with a beta firmware.
Also, the good people of XDA have the images on their site, as well as a straightforward procedure for flashing it (because you can’t opt-in as the case in lucky countries for an OTA, leaving a manual flash as the only option).
Also, you should remember that the firmware is available for the Exynos version only, which means it targets the S10s (S10e and S10 Plus) sold in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.
How to flash Android 11 Beta with One UI 3 on Galaxy S10
- Get SDK platform-tools from here
- Extract the tools on the desktop of your PC
- Download the S10 zipped image file from here [make sure the model number is SM – G973F]
- Put the update.zip file in the extracted folder of the platform-tools
- In the folder, hold the left SHIFT key, click on an empty space and open ‘PowerShell’
- Switch off your S10 (and make sure it has enough juice)
- Hold the power+Bixby+volumeUP buttons at the same time to enter into recovery mode
- Scroll using the volume buttons and select ‘apply update via ADB’
- Connect the S10 to your PC using your original charging cable
- On the power shell, run this command: ./adb devices
- Deamon will start and recognize your device
- After that, run this command: ./adb sideload update.zip
- The flashing process will start
- Chill as it installs the update. The process takes less than 10 minutes
- Once done, your S10 will boot Android 11
The procedure is the same for other series members the S10e and the Plus model.
Anyway, I noticed that the process does not reset your device. It will boot with all your apps and files.
However, you should – no, you must factory reset the device before starting using it, else you will encounter issues such as excessive overheating.
Anyway, I am running Android 11 now, and will give it a spin for a couple of days before telling you how I feel about the OS.
Lastly, remember that the likes of OPPO have Android 11 update plans for the Reno4 before the year ends, as well as the Reno3 in 2021.
Here are some screenshots:
