Samsung gets the stable Android 12 show on the road for the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 5G

We’re obviously talking about stable rollouts here, following closely after similar promotions for the Galaxy S21, S21+, and S21 Ultra, as well as public Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 betas kicked off more than a month ago. All of that makes today’s news feel not very surprising, especially given Samsung’s impressive track record in the software support department.

Still, the company’s feat remains pretty remarkable, beating every other (non-Google) smartphone manufacturer to the Android 12 punch with not one and not two but three different devices (if we consider the S21 series as a single device). This year’s foldable entries are also a lot earlier than their predecessors to make the jump to the newest OS build, which should only improve their already great mainstream appeal further.

Naturally, not all Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Z Fold 3 5G units around the world are created equal and not all users are set to receive the OTA updates at the same time. Beta testers in a number of markets will likely be given priority, but judging from how fast things evolved for the aforementioned Galaxy S21 trio in recent weeks, it’s safe to expect everyone to get an official invite to the Android 12 party by Christmas. Yes, even folks locked to any one of America’s top three wireless service providers.

Once that’s done, the Galaxy S20, S20+, S20 Ultra, Note 20, Note 20 Ultra, Z Fold 2, and Z Flip 5G could all follow suit by the end of the year as well, at least in select European and Asian markets and if Samsung’s tentative plans pan out. 

All those goodies (and then some) will obviously be delivered to your foldable powerhouse too, although for the time being, Samsung hasn’t published a Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3-dedicated piece detailing the two’s specific changelog presumably including a number of foldable-exclusive new features and optimizations. Stay tuned for that, and in the meantime, keep manually checking your handset’s “Software update” section in the “Settings” menu if you’re yet to receive an automatic prompt.