It’s always a good feeling to receive a firmware update for your phone, part of the thrill is trying to see what’s new or improved. Owners of Europe’s unlocked version of the Samsung Galaxy S5 (SM-G900F) will be happy to find out that it’s on the receiving end of a performance update today.
Today’s Over-The-Air (OTA) update will see your device sporting firmware version G900FXXU1ANG2, and is a two-part affair. The first part sees a download of just over 194MB being installed, with a 1MB update immediately after. If you haven’t received the update yet, go into Settings, click About Phone and check if the update is available. If it isn’t, don’t panic, updates usually take a few days or even weeks to reach everyone depending on where you are and where you acquired your phone from. It’s also worth hooking your phone up to the Kies software on your computer to see if the update is available there.
So what’s in the new update? Well, it carries a change-log number of 2089850, and a build date of July 3. It’s still Android version 4.4.2 Kitkat, and despite being a relatively substantial update, it merely says its a performance update. Users who have already received the update have said that they have indeed noticed improvements in the S5’s performance, along with the fingerprint scanner showing improved accuracy and fingerprint recognition.
Something that may be more interesting is the fact that for the first time, ART Runtime can now be enabled via the developer options. If you haven’t already done so, go to Settings/About Phone and tap the build number 7-8 times to enable Developer options to that you can change the Dalvik Runtime over to ART if you so wish. Exciting stuff, though its important to remember that Art Runtime is still in beta stage (in 4.4.2 at least), and as such, some apps are still incompatible and don’t play nicely with ART, which means your device may crash or force close.
If you are the impatient type, you could always download the BTU firmware directly from Sammobile, remembering though that this update is meant for the Galaxy S5 SM-G900F variant only. Remember to back-up your messages, photos and other important files before you begin. Most importantly, it’s imperative that you follow the steps by the letter.
If you’ve already received the update, let us know if you’ve noticed any differences between the old and new firmware in the comments below or at our Google Plus page.