Abstract
- Choose Android telephones now supply 7 years of software program help, however do not anticipate them to final that lengthy.
- With {hardware} and software program continuously evolving, your telephone could really feel outdated in only a few years.
- Producers could restrict options to newer fashions, encouraging frequent upgrades regardless of continued updates.
In case you’re the kind of one that not often upgrades their telephone, you are not alone. And positive, shopping for the newest flagship telephone may assist it final slightly longer, however not as a lot as you assume. Here is why you should not purchase an Android telephone anticipating it to final 5–7 years.
The 7-Yr Replace Promise Would not Matter
It is no secret that Android has a poor popularity concerning software program updates. For the reason that first smartphones arrived, Google has struggled to maintain tempo with Apple. Getting the newest yearly software program replace is simply as thrilling as essential. These updates add new options, enhancements, bug fixes, and demanding safety patches. As soon as your Android system is too old to receive updates, it is time to substitute it.
Many Android telephones and tablets solely obtain 3–4 years of software support, even when Google and Samsung are main the cost to enhance the state of affairs. For instance, final yr, Samsung introduced that future telephones (beginning with the Galaxy S24 sequence) will obtain seven years of Android OS updates, matching Google’s Pixel 8 update promise.
Positive, your Galaxy S24 or Pixel 8 can be supported previous the tip of this decade, and that new Galaxy S25 Extremely ought to get main updates like Android 22 by means of 2032. And whereas that is nice and an enormous enchancment, it is also not as good as it sounds. Software program updates aren’t the one factor you must fear about.
Time Is not the Solely Issue
It is nice that some Android producers understand they should help telephones longer. Nonetheless, the time or quantity of updates is not the one issue. You will additionally want to think about battery life, efficiency, and software program.
Whether or not you purchase the reasonably priced Pixel 9a or the flagship Galaxy S25 Extremely, battery life and efficiency will begin to degrade over time. Do not anticipate to make use of both telephone for seven years simply because it’s going to get updates for that lengthy. By then, the know-how panorama can be vastly totally different from at present—software program and {hardware} included—and you may in all probability improve early.
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Extra importantly, the telephones will not be working at optimum efficiency, and you may discover the dip. Efficiency and battery life will slowly worsen as these gadgets age. Much like previous autos getting fewer miles per gallon and laptops not holding a cost, your telephone’s efficiency and battery life will finally fall off a cliff.
Even when you have a telephone that is solely a yr previous, you have possible observed it would not maintain a cost so long as it did when it was new. Every cost cycle degrades the battery cells a bit. It is inevitable. Moreover, many individuals have skilled a telephone that begins to decelerate after a yr or so, and it is a common complaint from Pixel homeowners. Storage fills up, internals start to age, and issues are inclined to decelerate slightly. And the iPhone is no different.
Simply because your Android telephone may get help from the producer for five+ years doesn’t suggest you will wish to maintain it that lengthy. And truthfully, you in all probability should not.
{Hardware} Design and Software program Modifications
Take into consideration how a lot has modified on the planet of smartphones. Positive, they’re nonetheless massive slabs of glass with an oblong show, however new kind components like higher folding telephones and AR/VR glasses are on the horizon. I do not know what telephones will appear to be or how they’re going to function in 2030.
Updates and efficiency are important, however take into consideration how {hardware} and software program will change. Telephones proceed to get higher with every launch, even when issues are beginning to plateau, and AI is clearly the longer term in some capability. Every little thing can be totally different once more in just a few brief years.
By 2030 and several other years into proudly owning a Pixel 9 or Galaxy S24, there’ll undoubtedly be thrilling new telephones you will need. Whether or not that is a novel kind issue, loopy new cameras, fancy AI smarts, longer runtime with a silicon carbon battery, and we will not overlook about software program.
An enormous a part of this comes all the way down to software program, how issues proceed to quickly evolve, AI, and some different elements. Simply because your telephone may get seven years of updates doesn’t suggest the software program will keep up-to-date. Producers will restrict sure options to new gadgets, pressure older fashions to appear outdated, and tease you to improve.
Take Samsung’s Galaxy S24 sequence (and even the brand new Galaxy S25) for instance. A bunch of these enjoyable new Galaxy AI features are only available on the Galaxy S23, S24, Fold, or S25 sequence. When the Galaxy S24 arrived in 2024, the 2-year-old Galaxy S22 received left within the chilly and missed out on a number of options. Google’s newest Pixel telephones have unique options, and so they’re not the one ones. And even when producers give older telephones a few of these options, they usually arrive late or in a pared-down state, additional urging homeowners to improve.
Producers themselves will handicap older fashions; you will miss out on new options repeatedly, compounding the difficulty, and you may possible find yourself shopping for a brand new telephone lengthy earlier than it stops getting main Android OS updates.
A good suggestion is to upgrade your phone every two years, which is one thing most U.S. carriers have a tendency to supply anyway.
On the finish of the day, prolonged lifecycle help remains to be nice. Telephones will last more and maintain higher worth for the second-hand market, and different producers might want to step up their recreation. Total, it is a win for customers.
Simply know that these manufacturers will do every thing doable to innovate and get what you are promoting, lock software program behind new {hardware}, and attempt to get you to improve lengthy earlier than these OS updates cease coming. Consequently, you in all probability should not purchase a brand new telephone with the expectation that it will final for 7 years.