Samsung has released an unexpected firmware update for its five-year-old Galaxy S20 lineup, months after the phones were officially declared end-of-support. The patch, now rolling out to Verizon variants of the Galaxy S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra, upgrades the devices to the July 2025 Android security level. No functional changes were listed, and Samsung did not explain the late-cycle release, which follows the series’ final planned update in March. The move comes the same day the company confirmed that four lower-cost models—the Galaxy A22, F22, M32 and M42 5G—have been removed from its security-update schedule. Those handsets, all launched in 2021 before Samsung extended its software policy to seven years for newer devices, will no longer receive official patches, leaving users reliant on work-arounds or new hardware to maintain protection. Samsung’s latest actions highlight the widening gap between its flagship and budget phones in post-sale software support, even as the company signals that surprise patches for legacy models remain possible.