On the 20th of November, we reported that the Android 4.3 for the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 was being pushed to the international variants of the phone, models GT-N7100 and GT-N7105. As of today, according to SamMobile’s tracking pages, the update has only made it to 5 regions on the GT-7100 and 2 regions on the GT-N7105. Between now and then, even the Canadian carriers have started rolling out the much anticipated update to their Note 2’s (don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with Canada; I’m just ranting).
This is a very personal issue for me as I own an international Galaxy Note 2 (GT-N7100) and while I could flash a Android 4.3 ROM on my device or even acquire and apply the update via ODIN (which I’m sure the large majority of the some 30 million Note 2 owners won’t be bothered to do), this ‘roll-out’ is getting on my nerves. You may say that I am slightly biased by the fact that I am personally affected by this, and to a certain degree, you would be correct, but that doesn’t make it any less mind-boggling that an international roll-out of an international update has already taken almost 3 weeks only to reach 7 corners of the world (out of a total of 216 regions, mind you).
The objective issue at hand is not why the update hasn’t been pushed to all Note 2’s yet; the issue is why hasn’t Samsung said anything. I’m sure quite a few of you who own Samsung Galaxy S3’s will be quite familiar with the fact that Samsung withdrew the Android 4.3 update due to serious issues with it. While that roll-out has begun again in earnest, there has been no such communication regarding the Note 2 update. If there are similar issues, most of us would probably understand a delay. But as it stands, with no indication from Samsung, the large majority of us who have waited for this Android 4.3 update have waited far too long already to stay quiet.
Who else has had similar experiences with other manufacturers and other phones? I know this definitely isn’t a isolated issue, but it seems just so ridiculous that the update hasn’t even reached the major markets of the international Note 2 (Europe and America). Let us know what you think about this in the comments.
UPDATE (17/12): As of today, Samsung has rolled out the update in 9 additional regions including France, Germany, Hungary, India, Netherlands, Nordic countries, Poland, Slovenia, and United Kingdom. If you see the update, feel free to let us know!
