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Question on Samsung Galaxy S2 eventual upgrade to Android 4 (ICS)

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  • Nov 22nd, 2011 4:23 am
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Sr. Member
Nov 13, 2003
765 posts
21 upvotes
Montreal

Question on Samsung Galaxy S2 eventual upgrade to Android 4 (ICS)

I have read a lot about the SGS2 being a likely candidate for a future upgrade to ICS. Without going into whether this is definitely going to happen and when I was wondering about these sort of O/S upgrades since I'm new to the Android world. Would these sort of upgrades (if they happen) typically be released by the cell carriers themselves (Bell, for example) eventually or would they normally only be an option on a rooted version of the phone? I need to upgrade my work phone (with Bell...no choice) soon and I may have to opt for the SGS2 now with the hope of upgrading later rather than wait for the Galaxy Nexus with ICS already installed whenever it's finally released. However, since it's a work phone I would be hesitant to root it just to be able to upgrade to ICS later.
2 replies
Newbie
User avatar
Aug 24, 2009
61 posts
9 upvotes
I see you got no response so I am going to state what I read about the upgrade. I learned carriers will apply upgrade in the second quarter of 2012.
Like you, I am thinking about buying SGS2 then upgrade it rather than waiting for Galaxy Nexus, for financial reasons though.

I would advise you though to contact Bell and ask them.
Deal Addict
User avatar
Aug 15, 2010
2175 posts
516 upvotes
Toronto
Its the manufacturers that get make sure any OS updates will work on supported phones. Then the carriers (if they do decide to get the updates) do their testing and eventually push the updates to customers phones.

Its not guaranteed carriers will update certain phones they carry.

Now, if you have a rooted phone - your options are much better. Since you have communities of developers that port new OS to phones. And frankly, their much more reliable (in terms of updating) compared to carriers.

Now, that being said - since your new to Android and dead set to getting an S2. Why not try the S2 as it is and see if it fits you? You might surprise yourself and be content with Gingerbread (2.3.+). If you want ICS, well - as i said, the community is much more reliable than waiting a response from the carriers (and sometimes the manufacturers themselves).

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