Android 5.0 Lollipop For Samsung Galaxy S4: Exynos Variant Likely To Be Updated Early Next Year

Despite silence from Samsung about its plans to roll out the latest Android 5.0 Lollipop, a report claimed Monday that the company’s Galaxy S4 is confirmed to receive the new firmware in the coming months. The report comes after a recent tweet from the South Korean company indicated that the Galaxy Note 4, the latest model of the company’s flagship phablet, could be updated to the new Android version sooner than expected.

The Samsung Galaxy S4, which is still within the 18-month update cycle, is expected to get Android 5.0 Lollipop -- its third major firmware update after Android 4.3 and Android 4.4 -- by early next year, with the Exynos variant of the handset (GT-I9500) likely to become the first model to receive the update, SamMobile reported, citing sources.

However, the SamMobile report stated that Samsung might change its plans depending on carrier and regional delays as well as based on how quickly the company can turn the move around. The report also said that Samsung is likely to bring the same new look of the Android 5.0 firmware to the Galaxy S4 as it did on the Galaxy S5.

Here is a video, provided by SamMobile, which shows a Galaxy S5 running Android 5.0 Lollipop:

An earlier report from the same publication said that Samsung has upgraded its Android Lollipop base from LRW58J to LRX02E. According to the report, the latest build includes the new Android Bird game as an Easter egg, and uses black and yellow striped rectangles instead of using lollipops as blockades.

The report also provided a list of changes and new features that have been added to the new Lollipop build:

• A new Galaxy Note 4 fingerprint lock screen
• A new thinner system-wide font
• Smoother animations
• Google Search bar in the recent menu
• Brightness slider in notification center has a new yellow color -- while changing the brightness, the notification center disappears, allowing users to view the content beneath it
• “Interruptions” from Sound settings are removed
• In the Gallery app, media content can be sorted using new filters including Pets, Events, Scenery, Documents, Food, Vehicles and Flowers.
• Improved user interface for Music
• In the Clock app, navigation bar icons are now accompanied by text
• In the Calculator, square grids surrounding the numbers and symbols are removed
• A new search box in Contacts
• The Lollipop theme’s core green elements are replaced with blue color
• Improved UI and new icon colors in the Settings
• A new UI for setting wallpaper from Home screen