Samsung phone with up to 6 years of updates breaks cover – Hypertext

• A new Samsung Galaxy A-series smartphone has appeared on the brand’s Dutch website.
• The Galaxy A16 5G will receive six generations of Android updates.
• Samsung has yet to officially announce the smartphone so details are thin on the ground.

Once a smartphone stops receiving software and security updates it becomes tougher to use. Not only is it harder to keep your favourite apps updated, performance takes a knock as well.

In a bid to keep its phone useful for longer, at least on the surface that appears to be the intent, Samsung has let its next A-series smartphone slip via its website in the Netherlands. That smartphone is the Samsung Galaxy A16 5G and the manufacturer says it will receive six generations of Android operating system updates. It does seem that this will be best effort though as if Android suddenly requires more hardware than the A16 5G is packing, it will be impossible to keep up its end of the bargain.

As for the spec sheet, this is what the A16 5G is packing:

The CPU variant isn’t listed by Samsung but Android Authority reckons it will be the Exynos 1330 chip. It should also be noted that the microSD card takes up the second SIM slot.

In fact, aside from the Dutch website, we don’t have much else to go on as Samsung hasn’t even officially announced the handset on its website. The web listing then seems to have listed the handset ahead of schedule

Pricing is an unknown quantity but the Galaxy A15 retails for under R3 000 locally if you know where to shop. 5G connectivity will likely add a few extra Rands to that price but we don’t foresee it costing a whole lot more.

Of course, with no official word directly from Samsung, we have no idea whether it will arrive locally but we suspect it will especially given the specs and the headline that it will receive six years of updates.

When we learn more about this handset, we’ll be sure to share more information.