Weekly poll: How long should phones get OS updates?

04 February 2018
Most brands do not have a clear update policy, but usually the last update comes a year or two after the phone is unveiled.

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  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • 7XY
  • 05 Feb 2018

4 years is enough for you to save up and buy a new flagship phone, just like the iphone 5s for example, it still can run ios11 good enough for calls and text, couple of games maybe but thats already long enough for you to buy a new S8 or iphone 8

    Two to three years of updates is enough. No point in having more than three years of updates if the phone become slower than a speeding sloth after the third year of updates.

    Besides, manufacturers love to add features and bloatware to their software updates, which slows down the phone even more.

      • A
      • Anonym
      • 60J
      • 05 Feb 2018

      Imperator Neubaticus, 05 Feb 2018you all reflect the wasteful habits of millennials. so your... moreYou should learn a little about this fangled new thing called "internet" and the threads that it encompass to your security (and privacy). Running an unpatched OS on the device that holds the most personal data of all your devices (yes, a phone knows more about you than you think) is anything but "smart" -- the world has changed, now the threats that only very few had to consider today affect every and each of us.

        • D
        • AnonD-163739
        • X{N
        • 05 Feb 2018

        Its good that few brands other than Nexus & Pixels provide updates for their flagships at least for 2 years. But the question is..... is it really of any worth if a manufacturer pushes an update after 8 months or even a year later when a new version of OS is already on the corner???????
        For instance S8, S8+, Note 8, LG V30 etc all flagships are still in Android v7.. and Pixels and Nexuses are at 8.1

        Rumors says S9 & S9+ are going to launch with Oreo 8 and not even 8.1.

        Its a clear indication stating that all the manufacturers are forcing(If you wana keep your device upto date) us to spend 100's if not 1000 $ every year.

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • PBP
          • 05 Feb 2018

          As long as it's profitable for the manufacturer/carrier to do so. That's always how it works.

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • PBP
            • 05 Feb 2018

            Imperator Neubaticus, 05 Feb 2018you all reflect the wasteful habits of millennials. so your... moreThe typical blame-the-customer (also) argument.

              you all reflect the wasteful habits of millennials. so your phone won't get the latest os version. how is that a big deal? does it automatically make your phone obsolete? does it make developers stop supporting your favorite apps? does it heavily cripple its ability to do what phones were made for in the first place?

              quit your whining and just be patient. my old nokia e7 still runs symbian and i have loads of reasons to keep using it as a secondary phone. you're all just spoiled brats wanting the latest and greatest in everything, and when you get your hands on those, everything preceding becomes a useless paperweight. disgusting, the lot of you. and that includes the editors of this website. disgusting.

                • s
                • simpleguy
                • IVR
                • 05 Feb 2018

                4 years ++
                this is the time frame where you fully utilize the phone and worth the cash you put out.
                anything lower is impractical and those changing every year are just plain foolish

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • I8m
                  • 05 Feb 2018

                  Kangal, 05 Feb 2018If you bought your phone in December/Christmas shopping tim... moreYou got nearly all of that correct.
                  However we do not want Samsung to make touchwiz stock. Guessing what you meant by more practical.
                  We already have stock and multiple other stock and stock like skins. Touchwiz is what sets them apart and makes then more advanced. It's more than practical enough for reality.
                  However as you said putting more money into the software and improving update speed, reliability, and supporting devices for the longer and more fair/ deserved time frame. .. that would be great.

                  As well people do not buy iPhone for the best experience and perfect updates. That's the lie and belief that every other naive user falls for that has apple in the position of power and scamming they are in.
                  Just because they get updates doesn't mean the story is all better. There are other variables in play with much more negatives as well.

                  And sadly...we know consumers won't do that. Which is why with all the positive advancements we made there have been so many draw backs and steps backwards in the technology. And these companies hold such power with their greed and dirty tactics

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • sR1
                    • 05 Feb 2018

                    After 3 years, hardware mostly outdated given the rapid technology advancement, software updates not useful anymore.

                      • K
                      • Kangal
                      • uCX
                      • 05 Feb 2018

                      If you bought your phone in December/Christmas shopping time (eg Samsung NOTE 4), it should come shipping with the latest major OS level (eg Android 5.0 in 2014). If you get fast updates, as in get it within 30 days of the next major OS level, then 2 years support seems fair, because that's how long people pay for the device being on contract. In such a case, you would receive the 5.1 update in April 2015, 6.0 update in Nov 2015, 7.0 update in Sep 2016, 8.0 update in Sep 2017, and a final update to Android 8.1 in Dec 2017.

                      Now, that's fair. The device had 4 major OS running on it through its lifetime, and 2 worthwhile minor updates. The only issue is that OEMs are cheap and lazy (business orientated), so they will always lean towards slower updates, and only easy/minor updates. In such a case, the OEMs are going to lean towards shipping an older OS and doing only 1 major update and 3 pointless minor updates (emoji's, seriously?). If that's the case the phone needs to be supported at least 3 years, and maybe 4 years, or 5 years.

                      It really depends on the OEM, because we cannot define what "supported" really means. With iOS it is the easiest because we know their update schedule, and have a good understanding based on past performance. With Google Pixel it is a little grey, because they are not as diligent, but is genuinely positive. Outside of those two examples, and its a mystery depending on the OEM. SONY has proven to be the best, however, they are rather slow. Moto went from being the worst, to being the best, back to being the worst (thanks Lenovo). Samsung and HTC are all over the place. LG is bad. And while OnePlus looks positive, they don't deserve that ruling yet due to some erratic choices.

                      All I know is that if we "force" OEMs to have 5 year support, it will result in something bad where they will abide by it... only to give verrrryyyy sssloooowww updates, making things worse. Instead, what consumers need to do is give the OEMs an incentive to make good support. And that's achieve only through buying the devices which promise and do support devices for longer. Imagine if Samsung lost 40% of its GalaxyS/Note customers this year to Google Nexus/Pixel products... they would hurry and scuttle to copy Google the next year. And Samsung will divert a big share of money from their Marketing Department into their Software Department where they will focus on making a New-New TouchWizz where its a practical shell over Vanilla Android, so that it could be updated almost as fast as Pixel devices, and stick-to supporting their 1-2 year luxury/flagship devices.

                      This is one of the big reasons people pay more upfront to get an iPhone, they know the experience is one of the best phones available at the time, AND they know they will get proper hardware and software (and App) support for a long time.

                        • D
                        • AnonD-687126
                        • va3
                        • 05 Feb 2018

                        BCHLIU, 05 Feb 20183-4 Years is appropriate. Especially with Security updates ... moreI agree on the security updates.
                        At the very least they should be taken as seriously as desktop OSes take them.

                        I hope Treble makes that more possible.

                        I get that you cheapie prepaid phone won't get proper OS updates. But security matters for everyone.

                          3-4 Years is appropriate. Especially with Security updates (should be 5 years). OS Updates would be nice but that does eat into the Vendor's resources. Most people update their devices between 2-3 years anyway so I think 3 years on OS update is fair.

                            • m
                            • mark
                            • PMa
                            • 05 Feb 2018

                            don't worry fanboys will never mind how long your phones get os updates as long as they have the latest feature.

                            android-- don't expect too much in getting your phone up to the latest os

                            ios- guaranteed Os support 4-5 years.

                              • S
                              • Smartphones Fan
                              • m5M
                              • 04 Feb 2018

                              once a two or three months

                                Well if you ask manufacturers then the answer will be six months,maybe less than that...because they`ll all be very happy to sell ya a new hugely overpriced phone,especially for the flagship ones...
                                From the buyers point of view,when you unload,say,$800+ for your new machine I guess that it`ll be fair to expect,say,five years of updates,,,system&security...but they just don`t care...

                                  • m
                                  • m-p-3
                                  • Mh@
                                  • 04 Feb 2018

                                  In my opinion a minimum of two years of system updates, and three years of security updates.

                                    • D
                                    • AnonD-733422
                                    • JF0
                                    • 04 Feb 2018

                                    Big Daddy, 04 Feb 2018IDk why people want updates for more than 3 years. How do y... moreExplain me how laptop and PC Maker's then made profit? I can understand that if the most smartphones cost about 150-200$.But they cost about 400-500 $,like laptops.Thing is in that smartphone Maker's want huge profit every year and they force people to buy stopping updates after 1 or 2 year's.

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • ka8
                                      • 04 Feb 2018

                                      Not as long as the LG V20

                                        • A
                                        • Aadrian
                                        • 0wE
                                        • 04 Feb 2018

                                        4 years at least. Phones are nowadays almost as expensive as laptops, some even more expensive. Laptops and PC's also get updates for years. So phones should get a long term update service as well.

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