CNET
Google’s new seven-year software update commitment for the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro is a significant step forward for Android. But it also highlights one of the biggest weaknesses most Android phones face, regardless of their price: They don’t get enough software support. Google’s $449 Pixel 5A from 2021, for example, won’t receive new Android OS upgrades or software updates past August 2024. Three years of updates can go by pretty quickly.
Smartphone sales continue to decline year over year amid inflation, and people are likely looking for devices they can hold onto for as long as possible. Market analyst firm Canalys is predicting that the North American smartphone market will decline by 12% this year, though it also notes that phone-makers are still relying on the otherwise stable market for premium phones. As customers hang onto their phones longer, keeping those customers up to date with new features and security protections requires longer upgrade periods.
And it’s not just inflation that underlies the need for phones to get more years of software support. The update extension arrives alongside a push for phones to become more repairable. An increasing number of US states are passing right to repair laws that cover electronics, and right to repair proposals recently adopted by the European Union also include phones and tablets.
Now, as Google begins to push its own Android phones to last longer, here are the biggest reasons phone buyers stand to benefit should the wider industry embrace longer phone lifespans.
Android update support is still a mess across the industry
Google last increased its security update policy in 2021, giving the $599 Pixel 6 and $899 6 Pro five years of security updates (that’s set to end in October 2026). But software updates stayed at three years — meaning that after next year’s release of Android 15, the Pixel 6 will likely receive no new software features.
Meanwhile, over on iOS in 2021, if you bought the then-$599 iPhone 12 Mini or $829 iPhone 13 from Apple, you were assuredly receiving software and security updates for much longer than three years. Apple’s iPhone XR and XS from 2018 each received this year’s iOS 17, and though 2015’s iPhone 6S is no longer getting software updates, it’s getting security-focused updates for anyone who’s still using those phones.
Looking at Samsung, Motorola and OnePlus, the situation varies drastically. Until the Pixel 8 announcement, Samsung had surpassed Google’s software update promise by providing four years of software updates, and it had matched Google’s security update policy with five years for its Galaxy S and Z phones. The cheaper Galaxy A series offers a range of support levels, with Samsung’s $200 Galaxy A14 5G getting two years of software updates but five years of security updates.