Samsung Galaxy A53 5G - info / discussion thread

[reebok2grapes]

That's good news. It's possible that there will be another update after that one, but even if not, you're right, it will be better than it was!

Did your phone also get the update?

Thanks Boz1.Yes, it's a relief for her to finally get an update. It's kind of like the Tracfone wheel and scratch-off games. You play and play and play and never win, then you finally win 5 points and you feel like you hit the jackpot.

After the update installed and the phone rebooted, she did run the updater again. So far there are no other updates.

My A51 did not get any update. It only gets them twice per year, so it's probably due for the next update in a month or so. I don't believe my phone has the Exynos chip flaw mentioned last night by husavik.

[Ralphman]

Yippee! While drinking her morning coffee, my wife announced that an update was downloading. I had just been telling her about this forum thread and about the helpful responses I have received so far, and she decided to give the updater another spin.

She says the update includes One UI 5.1 and the security patch level is March 1. Not great for a phone which is supposed to receive monthly updates, but it's progress.

Thanks everyone!

Hello.

I also bought the A53 from Straight Talk, expecting monthly security updates. Unfortunately, the TracFone model doesn't seem to be on the monthly security update program, like the other models of the A53. You can click this link below to see all the updates the TracFone model, S536DL, has received and the date the updates were sent out:

https://doc.samsungmobile.com/SM-S536DL/TFV/doc.html

It seems to me we get every other or every third monthly update, but usually released one to three months "late." This is consistent with my experience with several Motorola TracFone models I've owned.

TracFone just isn't very good at getting updates out in a timely manner. Very annoying, especially considering Samsung advertises the A53 as being one of its phones that gets monthly updates and that at the time of its release on TracFone and Straight Talk, the A53 was arguably the "best" phone TracFone had to offer.

I expect our next update will be the May patch, probably to be released in June or July. I wish TracFone was better at releasing necessary security patches, but I don't expect that to change any time soon.

[Turtley]

My A53 is an SM-S536DL model. It is a rebranded Straight Talk phone. I just checked and the
UI 5.1 update is ready to be installed on it.

[reebok2grapes]

Hello.

I also bought the A53 from Straight Talk, expecting monthly security updates. Unfortunately, the TracFone model doesn't seem to be on the monthly security update program, like the other models of the A53. You can click this link below to see all the updates the TracFone model, S536DL, has received and the date the updates were sent out:

https://doc.samsungmobile.com/SM-S536DL/TFV/doc.html

It seems to me we get every other or every third monthly update, but usually released one to three months "late." This is consistent with my experience with several Motorola TracFone models I've owned.

TracFone just isn't very good at getting updates out in a timely manner. Very annoying, especially considering Samsung advertises the A53 as being one of its phones that gets monthly updates and that at the time of its release on TracFone and Straight Talk, the A53 was arguably the "best" phone TracFone had to offer.

I expect our next update will be the May patch, probably to be released in June or July. I wish TracFone was better at releasing necessary security patches, but I don't expect that to change any time soon.

Hi Ralphman,
How did you manage to find that A53 updates link? Thanks a lot for posting it, it's super helpful! My wife hasn't had her A53 long enough for us to figure out how often the updates would be coming. Before you posted the link, the only thing we had figured out was that the updates definitely were not coming monthly.

Yeah, Motorola... I've had three of them - the original Moto g, an e5, and a g7 power. My wife had a Moto X. We really liked the phones, but we got tired of Motorola's lack of support for updates. It seemed like the phones were already obsolete as soon as we started using them. I would have stuck with Motorola if they would match Samsung's updates.

We never wanted to switch to Samsung, because of their screwy UI and the multitude of extra Samsung apps, but Samsung's updates policy finally won us over. As for the UI, we are becoming assimilated I guess.

As for Tracfone, I agree with you, we are very annoyed. It's ridiculous that Tracfone can sell a phone which is said to have monthly security updates, and then completely change the updates schedule for the benefit of Tracfone (with no regard for the customer). I doubt if we will ever buy another Tracfone-branded phone. I'm already looking at unlocked phones for when my A51 runs out of updates.

THANKS

[reebok2grapes]

My A53 is an SM-S536DL model. It is a rebranded Straight Talk phone. I just checked and the
UI 5.1 update is ready to be installed on it.

That's great, Turtley! Were you starting to wonder if your updates were gone forever? Hopefully you had a smooth installation.

[advcomp2019]

Hi Ralphman,
How did you manage to find that A53 updates link? Thanks a lot for posting it, it's super helpful! My wife hasn't had her A53 long enough for us to figure out how often the updates would be coming. Before you posted the link, the only thing we had figured out was that the updates definitely were not coming monthly.

Yeah, Motorola... I've had three of them - the original Moto g, an e5, and a g7 power. My wife had a Moto X. We really liked the phones, but we got tired of Motorola's lack of support for updates. It seemed like the phones were already obsolete as soon as we started using them. I would have stuck with Motorola if they would match Samsung's updates.

We never wanted to switch to Samsung, because of their screwy UI and the multitude of extra Samsung apps, but Samsung's updates policy finally won us over. As for the UI, we are becoming assimilated I guess.

As for Tracfone, I agree with you, we are very annoyed. It's ridiculous that Tracfone can sell a phone which is said to have monthly security updates, and then completely change the updates schedule for the benefit of Tracfone (with no regard for the customer). I doubt if we will ever buy another Tracfone-branded phone. I'm already looking at unlocked phones for when my A51 runs out of updates.

THANKS

You get that link from "Software update" on the phone.

You can get other phone models if you know the model and CSC/region code too.

Like this, here is unlocked A53 5G: https://doc.samsungmobile.com/SM-A536U1/XAA/doc.html

Here is A53 5G A536U1 with Tracfone CSC: https://doc.samsungmobile.com/SM-A536U1/TFV/doc.html

Here is a Comcast branded A53 5G: https://doc.samsungmobile.com/SM-A536U/CCT/doc.html

There is some that does not work even if you have the model and CSC/region code.

[Turtley]

That's great, Turtley! Were you starting to wonder if your updates were gone forever? Hopefully you had a smooth installation.

Installation went just fine. I haven't seen much difference in it yet. I did notice that my phone battery used to display the battery would last 2 days, 2 hours but now it says the battery will last 4 days! Now I have 3 days, 14 hours left as the time of this post.

[reebok2grapes]

You get that link from "Software update" on the phone.

You can get other phone models if you know the model and CSC/region code too.

Like this, here is unlocked A53 5G: https://doc.samsungmobile.com/SM-A536U1/XAA/doc.html

Here is A53 5G A536U1 with Tracfone CSC: https://doc.samsungmobile.com/SM-A536U1/TFV/doc.html

Here is a Comcast branded A53 5G: https://doc.samsungmobile.com/SM-A536U/CCT/doc.html

There is some that does not work even if you have the model and CSC/region code.

It’s interesting to compare the updates for the unlocked A53 5G which you provided, and for the Tracfone A53 5G posted by Ralphman. There seem to be lots of differences between the two. Thanks for the links, very helpful!

[reebok2grapes]

Installation went just fine. I haven't seen much difference in it yet. I did notice that my phone battery used to display the battery would last 2 days, 2 hours but now it says the battery will last 4 days! Now I have 3 days, 14 hours left as the time of this post.

It sure seems unlikely that they discovered a way to double the battery life, but it would be amazing if they actually did it somehow! After my wife charged her phone on Saturday morning, I asked her to check the battery display. Just like yours, hers showed 4 days remaining.

[Turtley]

It sure seems unlikely that they discovered a way to double the battery life, but it would be amazing if they actually did it somehow! After my wife charged her phone on Saturday morning, I asked her to check the battery display. Just like yours, hers showed 4 days remaining.

I think they are back in usage learning stage. It sure would be nice if it lasted 4 days though! I tried attaching a screenshot but wasn't able to. Mine shows that I have 2 days, 9 hours remaining with the phone's battery showing 57%.

[Turtley]

Well with my normal usage I got 2 days 18 hours with 40% remaining then charged it back up to 100%
It still displays 4 days, 4 hours remaining so maybe that means battery run down to 0%?

[hpham]

I don't rely on the projected remaining battery time. To gauge how much battery my phone uses (idling most of the time), I take a screenshot every 12 hrs (at 10AM and 10PM) for a few days. Typically around 8-9% every 24 hrs with my main phone (S22).

[Turtley]

I don't rely on the projected remaining battery time. To gauge how much battery my phone uses (idling most of the time), I take a screenshot every 12 hrs (at 10AM and 10PM) for a few days. Typically around 8-9% every 24 hrs with my main phone (S22).

Before the UI 5.1 update it used to be fairly accurate with the original 2 days, 2 hours. Sometimes I'll be over the stated time and sometimes under.

[Ralphman]

Hello.

I also bought the A53 from Straight Talk, expecting monthly security updates. Unfortunately, the TracFone model doesn't seem to be on the monthly security update program, like the other models of the A53. You can click this link below to see all the updates the TracFone model, S536DL, has received and the date the updates were sent out:

https://doc.samsungmobile.com/SM-S536DL/TFV/doc.html

It seems to me we get every other or every third monthly update, but usually released one to three months "late." This is consistent with my experience with several Motorola TracFone models I've owned.

TracFone just isn't very good at getting updates out in a timely manner. Very annoying, especially considering Samsung advertises the A53 as being one of its phones that gets monthly updates and that at the time of its release on TracFone and Straight Talk, the A53 was arguably the "best" phone TracFone had to offer.

I expect our next update will be the May patch, probably to be released in June or July. I wish TracFone was better at releasing necessary security patches, but I don't expect that to change any time soon.

I'm happy to announce that the TracFone and Straight Talk A53 just received the May security update!!! Very surprising to see us actually get the May update in the month of May, even if it is the very end of the month.

The July update should be our next one. We'll have to wait and see how long it takes TracFone to approve that one, when the time comes

[reebok2grapes]

I'm happy to announce that the TracFone and Straight Talk A53 just received the May security update!!! Very surprising to see us actually get the May update in the month of May, even if it is the very end of the month.

The July update should be our next one. We'll have to wait and see how long it takes TracFone to approve that one, when the time comes

Great, Ralphman! Thanks to you, my wife's A53 also has the May security update. She installed it this morning.

Thanks for the tip!