Update Samsung Galaxy S4 GT I9500 to Android 4.3 I9500XXUEMJ5 Official Firmware

Yesterday, we reported that Samsung overcame its promise of rolling out the Android 4.3 update for its flagship device, the Galaxy S4 in the month of October. The update rolled out for Galaxy S4 GT – I9505 yesterday and Its just about time, and the update has started rolling out today  for GT –  I9500 as well, starting from Russia. The initial firmware is I9500XXUEMJ5 and the region code is SER.

There are no changes made to the UI apparently, but there is a number of improvements in the area of performance and a lot of bugs have been fixed as well, that might be the reason for Samsung to roll out this update too late. Anyways, a lot of you might be eager to get your hands on the new Android 4.3 Jelly Bean firmware, but it takes quite long for the updates to reach different regions through OTA or through Samsung Kies.

If you are one of those, then here is our guide for you on how you can update your Galaxy S4 GT – I9500 to official Jelly Bean 4.3 firmware.

Things you need to download:

Things you need to download:

1. Download Odin – Get it HERE.
2. Download and Install Samsung USB drivers – Get HERE.
3. Download and extract the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean XXUEMJ5 Official Firmware for Galaxy S4 I9500- Get it HERE.

How to Update:

1. Open Odin.
2. Put your phone in download mode. To do so, turn it off and wait for 10 seconds. Turn it on by pressing and holding Volume Down + Home Button + Power Key simultaneously, You should see a warning, press Volume Up to continue.
3. Connect your phone to your PC.
4. As soon as Odin detects your phone, the ID:COM box should turn blue.  Make sure that you’ve installed Samsung USB drivers before connecting.
5. Hit the PDA tab, for Odin 3.09 hit the AP tab. Select the extracted firmware file, that should be in .tar.md5 format.
6. Make sure that the options selected in your Odin are exactly as shown in the pic.
8. Hit start and wait till the firmware flashing is complete, as soon as your device restarts, remove it from PC.
9. Congrats! You’ve installed the latest Android 4.3 Jelly Bean on your Galaxy S4 I9500 now.

It is not necessary to wipe your phone completely after flashing the latest firmware, but it is highly recommended if you do so. Removing factory data ensures that all the junk has been removed and your device gives you the best performance on the latest firmware. Backup all the contacts, call logs, messages and important data on your device’s internal SD  before you wipe it completely through recovery.

Got any problems? Feel free to leave us a comment, we will try our best to help you out. Thank you.