How to update the Samsung Galaxy s3 to the latest firmware version

For as long as smart phones has been around there has always been updates to their software. Phone manufacturers has always been in a hurry to get new products out to a hungry audience waiting for the next big thing to hit the cell phone market. As a consequence the phones will almost always be put out for sale before the quirks and errors has been taken out of the system. As a way of correcting these errors the makers of phones will from time to time need to update the firmware to phones. In most cases these updates will show up on your phone when the time is right, but for those of who are not willing to wait a second longer than necessary there is a way to check for these upgrades manually. This will also work for the American versions : ,SGH-I747,SGH-I535,SGH-T999,s III,I9305.

If you are looking for an update for the Galaxy s4 check out our Galaxy s4 update tutorial.

Connecting to Samsung Servers

If you have bought the SG3 you already have the best cell phone there is. If you want to make it even better follow the instructions below.

First a small warning! Although updating your phone to the latest firmware should not entail any risk there is a small chance that some of your data could get lost. This is why there is always a good idea to backup data that is irreplaceable.

Backup your files before updating

To backup your contact list check out : Backup android contact list tutorial.

To backup your photos and images : Backup Android photos.

Now to the good part:

1. Make sure your phone is connected to wi-fi. Simply pull down the notification area and press the leftmost button named Wi-Fi. Alternately you could do this using mobile data but this could get expensive if you are not on a data plan with your operator.
2. Press the apps icon to take you to your apps.
3. Find and press the settings icon to take you to the settings menu.
4. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and press the About Device.
5. At the top there is a tab named Software update, press it.
6. On the next screen there is a tab named Update, press that one.
7. Your phone will now connect to the Samsung servers and if there is a update available the upgrade should start imminently.

If you for some reason are having problems updating your phone OTA as I did you could always update it through Kies from Samsung. I made a tutorial if you don’t know how :Update Galaxy s3 with Kies.

Why update the firmware

To make your phone into the best cell phone it can be it always pays to have it running on the latest version since the manufacturers fix and tweak the software to have it work as smooth and as secure as possible. Another good reason to apply this particular update is that there is rumors that this one is the one that makes your Galaxy s3 ready for the big update to Jelly bean android 4.1