Samsung Galaxy S3 Update: Specs Of Smartphone’s Global Edition Will Not ‘Effectively Support Platform Upgrade’ To 4.4 KitKat; ROMs Provide Alternative

Samsung Galaxy S3 update: Specs of the Samsung Galaxy S3’s global edition will not “effectively support platform upgrade” to Android 4.4 KitKat, according to the most recent reports on the Android 4.4 KitKat rollout.

Samsung Galaxy S3 users, however, are provided an alternative via the numerous ROMs available. Android Pit notes that the top 5 ROMs available for Samsung Galaxy S3 are: Cyanogenmod, OmniROM, SlimKat Stable 3.0, Resurrection Remix ROM, and the NeatROM.

As a handset that has a strong following, these ROMs will enable S3 lovers to have the features of the 4.4 KitKat on their handsets.

The report on the lack of an official S3 update came from SamMobile who reached out to the South Korean tech giant to confirm if the unavailability of a KitKat update is true. Samsung said that since Samsung Galaxy S3’s international variant and Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini’s specs are not capable of running KitKat smoothly, it won’t get the update. The official response below from Samsung U.K. sent to SamMobile noted that the handsets’ will not “effectively support platform upgrade.”

“In order to facilitate an effective upgrade on the Google platform, various hardware performances such as the memory (RAM, ROM, etc.), multi-tasking capabilities, and display must meet certain technical expectations. The Galaxy S3 and S3 mini 3G versions come equipped with 1GB RAM, which does not allow them to effectively support the platform upgrade. As a result of the Galaxy S3 and S3 mini 3G versions’ hardware limitation, they cannot effectively support the platform upgrade while continuing to provide the best consumer experience. Samsung has decided not to roll-out the KitKat upgrade to Galaxy S3 and S3 mini 3G versions, and the KitKat upgrade will be available to the Galaxy S3 LTE version as the device’s 2GB RAM is enough to support the platform upgrade.” – Samsung Mobile UK

According to SamMobile, the response from the Samsung confirmed fears that RAM would be the deciding factor if the Android units will be getting an update or not.

Android KitKat does support 512MB RAM for devices and it’s already running on some Android handsets with that much RAM. The issue lies in the fact that Android KitKat is able to run within those constraints but only if the phone is on stock Android and does not have any added features or bloatware that Samsung and other Non-Nexus devices offer.

Since the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini and Samsung Galaxy S3 will not receive the Android 4.4 KitKat update many expects, it means that the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean is the last official update for the handsets.

As SamMobile notes, “Samsung won’t be extending any further update love to one of its best-selling smartphones.”