Are you living for the present, or living for the future?
When it comes to buying a smartphone, you have a lot of decisions to make. Modern devices are better than ever, but our favorite Android phones are ones that nail everything they’re attempting. Killer cameras, a high-res, high-refresh rate display, long-lasting battery life — all of it is more important than ever before. But at the end of the day, it’s tough to beat a smartphone with a lengthy update policy. After all, what good will a smartphone do you if it’s no longer supported after a couple of years?
We’ve seen some serious movement on this front recently. For much of the last decade, Google was the undisputed king when it came to updates, and with good reason — it develops the damn operating system. Pixel phones (much like the Nexus lineup before them) usually receive new patches on time and without delay, give or take a Pixel 6 debacle. And currently, Google promises that its Tensor-powered devices will all get three major OS upgrades paired with five years of security updates. That’s long been the gold standard, but these days, two companies are beating Google at its own game.
First, there’s Samsung. Although it’ll always lag behind when it comes to releasing major OS upgrades to its phones, the company often beats Google to the punch on security patches for its most recent flagships. That’s impressive enough, but its actual policies for updates are even better. For many of its most popular phones, Samsung promises four major OS releases alongside five years of security support. Then, this week, OnePlus followed suit, promising a similar commitment to four years with some unfortunate caveats.
It’s clear that Android manufacturers are finally getting the picture on updates. Users are keeping their phones longer than ever before, and with Apple keeping phones alive and supported for five or six years past their initial launch, we’re expecting the same. Nearly two years ago, former AP editor Ryne Hager ran a similar poll to this one, asking readers what the most important aspect of their smartphone was. Update support was far and away the winner, besting battery life, cameras, and displays — the very thing reviewers spend thousands of words on whenever a new device launches.
So, I’m curious where we’re at these days. Does update support still top your list of concerns when buying a phone, or are you satisfied with whatever’s available out of the box?
