OnePlus explains why it's only promising 5 years of Android updates, not more

06 February 2024
It all has to do with sandwiches.

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  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • fCE
  • 06 Feb 2024

In plain words, a phone's hardware will be unusable as a flagship grade just after 4 years, the performance will turn slower, the battery will be severely deteriorated, and it's possible that the phone itself doesn't last that long because of it's build quality. So 7 years of support is pointless. After that many years, the user will already be on their 3rd phone or so, because most users just get bored of having the same device for long so they upgrade a lot sooner than that 7 years period

So while on paper, it sounds good, in practice no one will actually require it

    I'm using my Tab S7+ and S23 Ultra every day. They are on different Android versions (13 / 14) but I don't even think about it.

    I don't think most users care or even realize that they are using a phone with an old Android version.

    I bought a Google Pixel and its hardly possible to use it at all, it's painfully slow. Maybe they updated the Pixel too many Android versions?

    It seems 2 or 3 OS updates is enough for most phones (budget / midrange). Flagships can probably take 4 or 5 OS updates.

      pl2rts, 06 Feb 2024I dont think that budget and middle class will catch up to ... moreUpper mid-range surely will get there, as SD 7 Gen 3 has performance of SD 865 - 4 year old flagship.

        Anonymous, 06 Feb 2024Let's see how it works. You buy phone like S24 Ult... moreFor not much more? On what planet you're living on? Those gonna cost like 1600-1700 by then.

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • fCE
          • 06 Feb 2024

          People that buy flagships or expensive phones with 7 year long support, don't actually keep their phones for that long, more like a few years or so, or maybe 4 years

          Now oneplus is offering updates for exactly that long. Also, phone hardware, even on flagship, I doubt will remain fast and smooth beyond that duration. And the battery starts to be unusable by then as well, because of the way batteries work. I think 4 years for OS isn't bad level of support at all

          Also, the oneplus 12 is a $800 device so 4 updates aren't really a dealbreaker. While the S24 Ultra costs double, for this region, so 7 years of updates are appropriate at price paid for it

            Anonymous, 06 Feb 2024Well thanks to changeable batteries from new legislation th... moreWell I guess this is less about what fair upgrade period length is, than about the excuse being lame.

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • pKL
              • 06 Feb 2024

              Well thanks to changeable batteries from new legislation the battery excuse will be gone, although I think 5 years is fair.

                • A
                • Alecs
                • srr
                • 06 Feb 2024

                Reality is, most people keep their phones for a couple years and then just swap it. Oneplus is right, 7 years make no sense in the real world.

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • 0p}
                  • 06 Feb 2024

                  Nick Tegrataker, 06 Feb 2024Making an excuse regarding why you can't offer a servi... moreLike oneplus has financial conditions to do it.
                  Samsung mobile alone makes more revenue than oppo and vivo combined.

                  It is like expecting someone that makes $3000/month to copy lifestyle of whocmakes $20.000/month.

                    nybreath, 06 Feb 2024this has no sense at all...if i sense my phone is not good ... moreTrue, and it doesn't even have software support since 2021 or something. Now imagine the S24 with the SD 8 Gen3 and 7 years support. The only thing stopping that phone from reaching 2031 still swinging with crazy smoothness is if you break it in half. Of course only 20% of people who buy it will keep it for more than 5 years, but at least they can if they want so. And if they buy another after 4 years for better cameras or RAM or storage, he can replace the battery and sell a beast phone to someone trying to save some money and still het 3 more years software support. Everybody wins. Even Samsung.

                      Of course this is all about greed, and selling new phones...

                      IF it was about the actual cost to do a firmware upgrade, it would be SO easy to after the initial years to crowd fund it!!
                      If they each year could attempt to scrape enough money in for one year extra of support for the model plus some profit. If they could, do it, if not, well sorry guys, the project is cancelled.

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • 0p}
                        • 06 Feb 2024

                        Anonymous, 06 Feb 2024OnePlus is missing the point. The reason for 7 OS updates i... moreYou can replace battery, but other components will still be aged.
                        Pointless.
                        Nobody is going to pay after 2 years 50% of the initial price for used phone when newer gen will be heavily discounted.

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • 0p}
                          • 06 Feb 2024

                          walkman8, 06 Feb 2024It's not about holding on to a phone for 7 years, it&#... moreLet's see how it works.

                          You buy phone like S24 Ultra for €1400 today. Only somene dumb enough will be paying like €700 for your used S24 Ultra in 2027, when for not much more same person can find brand new in the box S25 Ultra or S26 Ultra.

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • 0p}
                            • 06 Feb 2024

                            Where does Apple sell more iphones? USA
                            Exactly where survey shows people get new iphones within 24 months.
                            Despite the 6 versions of iOS provided.

                            And no, monthly payment or trade-in discounts are not excuse. Getting new phone that soon is choice, no matter if you pay $800 or $100. You do not have to, you want to.

                              this has no sense at all...if i sense my phone is not good enough i can buy a new one after 5 years, it isnt like 7 years update forces me to have a phone for 7 years if i dont feel like it...
                              not to mention i got a 5 years old s10 and doesnt feel slow at all...

                                Making an excuse regarding why you can't offer a service just as good as what your competitors do is never a great move. Not only does it make them sound desperate and insincere, but it would also prohibit them from changing the policy in future in case they change their mind about it and decide to provide users longer software updates than what they have currently. OnePlus' update policy is better than those of many other manufacturers (including Vivo, Motorola, Sony, Asus etc) but there's no reason why they can't strive to push it even further to match what Apple, Google and Samsung are doing in the field.

                                  Anonymous, 06 Feb 2024Exactly 4-5 years is the max for a phone's hardware to... moreJust because you enjoy consumerism it doesn't mean most people do it. Not in every country people have salaries to be able to be slaves of smartphone brands working tiressly to buy their new phone every year. Even people who make a lot of money might rather keep their phone from 5 or more years and use the money to give something nice to the people they love. Besides, a phone from 2015 in 2020 is not the same as a phone from 2025 in 2030. Phones from 2025 already have the processing power to run smooth on android indefinitely. I got the 2018 Huawei Mate 20 Pro and this thing is still smooth and would be even smoother if it was in the latest Android. Has 50% of the CPU power of the SD8Gen3 and only 20% of the GPU power. Can run most games smoothly and never slows down. This is a phone launched almost 6 years ago. I assume any phone with SD8Gen2 or better will not struggle if software is kept up to date and even long after that. Chip manufacturing has peaked. In 3 or 4 years the phones will either become really big with chip die size increasing, or the processing power will remain constant and the focus will become more software based improvements.

                                    • M
                                    • Michael
                                    • Lch
                                    • 06 Feb 2024

                                    Oneplus is just greedy, they know if they update for more years will cost more money and people will no longer change phones as fast... Europe should enforce sellers or manufacturers to keep at least 5 years updates for all phones, Xiaomi is no better, even worst than OnePlus so... We need at least 5 years so less etrash and less waste.

                                      Anonymous, 06 Feb 2024Exactly 4-5 years is the max for a phone's hardware to... moreHardware as of now is really the last thing you need to worry about for next 5-7 years.
                                      For that budget to middle class need to catch up but these are really slow on catching up with performance. I dont think we get SD8 Gen 3 performance in 5 to 7 years for budget class. It's good if the middle class catch up even

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • yBj
                                        • 06 Feb 2024

                                        JayJerry, 06 Feb 2024According to me, 3 years is okay.. updates usually decrease... moreExcept on iPhones and Google Pixels.

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