Install Android 4.4.2 on the Galaxy S4 I9500: official firmware

It was only a few days ago that we shared a custom ROM for the international Galaxy S4 I9500 with Exynos 5 chipset. Now, the official Android 4.4.2 firmware has been released by Samsung for the Galaxy S4 I9500. If you don’t want to wait for the slow OTA delivery of the firmware in your area, you can flash it right here, right now. Because this is official Samsung firmware there’s no warnings, flash counters, voided warranties or otherwise; pushing the update manually via Kies is no different than waiting for it to arrive over the air, just faster. You’re simply going to pick up that pizza rather than waiting for the delivery man to bring it to you. This is official, final Android 4.4.2 firmware for the Galaxy S4 I9500 with Exynos 5 chipset, dated Thursday February 13th with a build number of I9500XXUFNB3. The firmware is tagged for Russia, but as long as you do not have a carrier-branded S4 you are good to go.

If you want to wait for the OTA version to arrive, simply go to Settings > More, About Phone > Software Updates > Update. I won’t bore you with the changes as I’m sure you know them by now, but if not, check out our video on the Android 4.4.2 features on the Galaxy S4. Alternatively you can push the update to your Galaxy S4 via Kies but you’ll have to wait for your country’s firmware to appear on Sam Mobile’s firmware page. If all this waiting kills you inside a little bit, you can flash the Russian firmware using the steps below as long as your S4 is not carrier-branded.

Install official Android 4.4.2 firmware on Samsung Galaxy S4 I9500

1. Download the firmware here: Android 4.4.2 official firmware for Samsung GT-I9500 Galaxy S4.

2. Unzip the zip file.

3. Download Odin 3.09, and unpack the .zip also.

4. Launch Odin.

5. Reboot your Galaxy S4 in download mode (Volume Down + Power + Home button).

6. Connect your Galaxy S4 via USB cable to your computer and wait for Odin to recognize it. A blue box should then appear (in the program).

7. Click the AP button and locate the tar.md5 file in the zip package and hit Start.

8. Make sure that the re-partition box is not checked.

9. Click Start and wait a few minutes until the procedure ends. Do not disconnect your S4, be patient.

10. Once your Galaxy S4 restarts, it's over!

As usual, if you have any concerns at startup, perform a wipe data/factory reset in recovery mode (Volume Up + Power + Home button).