Galaxy S5 Lollipop Release: 5 Things to Know Now

As we enter the month of May, Android 5.0 Lollipop update details continue to swirl. With that in mind, we want to take a look at the most important things Samsung Galaxy S5 users need to know about the Galaxy S5 Lollipop release.

Samsung was extremely busy during the month of April. The company released two brand new flagships in the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge and it also released a great number of Android 5.0 Lollipop updates to older phones and tablets.

We saw the Samsung Galaxy S5 Lollipop update make solid progress. We saw the Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note Edge Lollipop updates push out to users all over the globe. The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Lollipop update finish up in the United States. And even the Samsung Galaxy S4 Lollipop release took some huge strides.

In particular, the Samsung Galaxy S5 release has been picking up incredible speed as we push into the month of May onward  to the summer. We’ve seen a flurry of new updates roll out and we’ve seen several new release details arrive for owners of the former Galaxy S flagship. Samsung’s been pushing updates rapid fire and we want to make sure that you’re caught up to speed as we move into a new month.

Today, we take a look at the progress of the Samsung Galaxy S5 Lollipop update release and outline the most recent and the most important details that’ve emerged in the past month or so.

Samsung Galaxy S5 Lollipop Release on Cruise Control

The Samsung Galaxy S5 Lollipop update is Samsung’s oldest so it should come as no surprise that it made substantial progress during the month of April. The Galaxy S5 Lollipop update is now available on all five major carriers in the United States (and C Spire and Virgin). The roll out has been pretty consistent outside of the United States.

In the past two weeks alone, the update has landed for Galaxy S5 users in Italy, Croatia, Ireland, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Indonesia, Columbia, UAE, and more. We expect the update to make even more progress in the month of May as Samsung works to get all of its international Galaxy S5 variants off of Android 4.4 KitKat.

Owners of international Galaxy S5 models will want to keep an eye out for carrier-specific information. Samsung has a tendency to keep a low profile during its roll outs and specific information typically comes from carriers, not Samsung.

Galaxy S5 Active Lollipop Update…Update

The Samsung Galaxy S5 Active Lollipop update took an interesting turn this week. Rogers, a Canadian carrier, confirmed plans to release a Galaxy S5 Active Lollipop update many weeks ago. Up until a few days ago, the carrier listed the Galaxy S5 Active Lollipop update as coming soon.

This week, the carrier removed the listing from its Android upgrade page. Now, instead of a “Coming Soon!” tag, there is simply a blank space. We still aren’t sure what’s going on here. We haven’t seen any Galaxy S5 Active users report an Android 5.0 Lollipop roll out so it may not be a typo. It’s certainly odd given that it was a mainstay on the Android upgrade page.

Mistake or not, we’re confident that Galaxy S5 Active Lollipop roll out in the Great White North will commence sometime in the near future.

Galaxy S5 mini Lollipop Release Confirmed but Still MIA

The Samsung Galaxy S5 mini Lollipop release is confirmed but it’s still not rolling out.

Weeks ago, Samsung France confirmed a roll out for Q2. Q2 spans from April to June and that means that the release window is closing. Given the progress that Samsung’s made with its Galaxy S5 Lollipop update, it shouldn’t be long before we see the company push out its Galaxy S5 mini Lollipop release. The update won’t hit every single device overnight. It will take weeks, perhaps months, to complete.

Missing Galaxy S5 Lollipop Updates

The Samsung Galaxy S5 mini Lollipop update isn’t the only update missing in action. Samsung still owes Android 5.0 Lollipop to owners of its regular Galaxy S5 variant.

There are still a number of carriers out there that have yet to confirm plans to release the Galaxy S5 Lollipop update. Carriers like Vodafone, Telstra and Optus in Australia still haven’t gotten the Galaxy S5 Lollipop release in for testing which means that we could still be weeks or even months away from a public release on those carriers. Carriers typically start talking about updates once they get them in for testing.

Of course, the testing process can be extremely unpredictable and we’ve already seen Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note Edge Lollipop updates hit snags behind the scenes. Galaxy S5 users still on Android 4.4 will want to keep those fingers crossed but it looks like we’re still a ways away from the Galaxy S5’s Lollipop finish line.

Galaxy S5 Lollipop Problems, Bug Fixes & Android 5.1

Our experience with the Galaxy S5 Lollipop update has been very good but that doesn’t mean that the update has been good for everyone.

We’ve been hearing about assorted Galaxy S5 Lollipop problems since December and we continue to get complaints about battery life, horrible performance, and other issues. We’ve seen carriers issue a few remedies, Verizon’s latest Galaxy S5 Lollipop update is apparently working well for some users, and we should continue to see a steady stream of Lollipop bug fix updates for the Galaxy S5.

@admillios The recent 2nd Lollipop update for my VzW Galaxy S5 is solid. Fixed many initial problems. Smooth now!

— Randall Kalik (@RandallKalik) April 29, 2015

Bug fix updates are unpredictable and random so Galaxy S5 users will want to keep an eye and an ear out as we move into May. Those that can’t wait will want to take a look at our fixes for common Galaxy S5 problems.

It’s also worth noting that Samsung is working on an Android 5.1 Lollipop update. The update is all but confirmed for the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge and there’s a good chance that it will roll out to devices like the Galaxy S5 down the road. While it’s not confirmed for the device, it’s an update that Galaxy S5 users should be tracking. Just in case.

There’s a good chance that it will come with bug fixes for Lollipop problems. More importantly, it appears that Samsung is tacking on a Guest Mode feature that allows Galaxy users to setup several unique profiles. This is important for those that share their phone with their kids, family members or with friends and co-workers.

It’s not clear when Samsung plans to start pushing the update in force but we recommend keeping an eye out for details as we make a push towards the summer.