Samsung Galaxy S3 GT-I9300 Official Android 4.4 KitKat "Cancelled" Based on Upgrade Plans for April to June 2014
Samsung's Android 4.4 KitKat eligible devices have been unveiled after an internal document leaked online. It consists of nine devices receiving Android 4.4 KitKat starting from April to June 2014 while the tenth device Galaxy S3 GT-I9300 has been eliminated from the update at this time.
Samsung Android 4.4 KitKat List
An internal document was grabbed by SamMobile revealing Galaxy smartphones eligible for Android 4.4 KitKat update starting from April to June 2014. The list contains ten popular Samsung Galaxy handsets including the former flagship models Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2.
Model Name | Model Number | Status | Firmware | ETA |
Galaxy Note 2 | GT-N7100 | Rolling Out | N7100XXUEND3 | April 2014 |
Galaxy Note 2 LTE | GT-N7105 | Complete | N7105XXUFND8 | May 2014 |
Galaxy S3 | GT-I9300 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Galaxy S3 LTE | GT-I305 | Final Testing | I9305XXUFND5 | May 2014 |
Galaxy S4 Mini | GT-I9190 | Final Testing | I9190XXUCND6 | June 2014 |
Galaxy S4 Mini LTE | GT-I9195 | Complete | I9195XXUCND5 | June 2014 |
Galaxy Note 3 Neo | SM-N750 | Complete | N750XXUBND7 | May 2014 |
Galaxy Grand 2 | SM-G7102 | Complete | G7102XXUBND2 | June 2014 |
Galaxy Mega 5.8 | GT-I9152 | Testing | I952XXUBND4 | June 2014 |
Galaxy Mega 6.3 | GT-I9200 | Testing | I9200XXUDND6 | June 2014 |
It confirms the initial document that leaked several months ago revealing the list of subjected Galaxy smartphones for Android KitKat upgrade plans. Unfortunately, Galaxy S3 GT-I9300 is not going to receive the update anytime soon due to some issues.
Galaxy S3 GT-I9300 Update Terminated?
Earlier news claimed that Galaxy S3 will receive an Android 4.4 KitKat which was backed up by Samsung U.S. based on their software support page. However, the support page did not specify which models will be updated. Samsung released two Galaxy S3 models in the market, mainly GT-I9300 3G and GT-I9305 4G/LTE.
U.S. network carrier Sprint has started rolling out the official Android 4.4 KitKat for Galaxy S3 GT-I9305 or the LTE model and it is expected to be followed by other major network providers in the country. So why was Galaxy S3 GT-I9300 excluded from Android 4.4 KitKat upgrade list?
1. According to the leaked document, Galaxy S3 GT-I9300 update has been cancelled due to unsolved problems.
2. Unsolved problems may relate to the hardware component, specifically the 1 GB RAM that has been reported unfit for the new firmware with the 2 GB found on GT-I9305.
3. Strong influence of the 18-month software update support expiration based on the official release date in the market.
Galaxy S5 has been tipped as well to receive Android 4.4.3 KitKat version after Samsung finishes the testing phase of the new firmware.