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summary
- OEMs offering seven years of software updates is a positive trend for customers who use their phones for a long time.
- However, many new features may be paywalled in the future and will require a subscription.
- Promising extended software support can be disappointing for consumers, as it does not guarantee access to all new features.
One of the best trends we’re seeing in Android right now is OEMs offering seven years of software updates for their new premium flagship devices. One of Apple’s biggest victories in the never-ending battle of Android vs. iOS is that it now offers five years of software updates, compared to the two or three that most Android devices used to deliver. supported smartphones for a longer period of time. This situation finally changed last year when Google announced that it would support the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro for his 7th year. And earlier this year, Samsung also jumped on the seven-year bandwagon.
Such a move could attract customers who tend to use their phones for multiple years and who consider a product’s resale value when making purchasing decisions. If you’re impressed by these claims, here are some caveats to keep in mind.
set the right precedent
There are some concerns worth keeping in mind
The first issue that I’m sure customers will face in the coming years is that many of the new features will likely be paywalled (requiring a subscription) in the future. For example, the new Galaxy AI feature on the Samsung Galaxy S24 series is free only until the end of 2025. So overall he’s less than two years old. After that, a subscription is required. As OEMs continue to look for new ways to keep that cash flowing, you can expect to need to pay more to access nearly every distinctive feature.
Samsung hasn’t disclosed pricing, but Samsung Mobile president TM Roh recently revealed how the Galaxy AI features will be monetized, with free users getting access to the basic features while paid users get the basic features. We have made a distinction between free and paid features so that you can: “More powerful AI features.” I believe this is just the beginning, and brands will try hard to push more users into the paid segment by keeping the best features exclusive. You will. Samsung isn’t the only company with this problem. Even some of the new Pixel 8 features require a Google One membership.
So while Samsung and Google (and other OEMs in the future) have been committed to supporting their devices for the better part of this decade in a sense, it remains to be seen how this development will be handled. I have no choice but to be pessimistic about the future.
Sure, these phones get updates and security patches for newer Android versions, but they rarely change the way you use your phone. It’s more innovative and smart features that breathe new life into your device. And for now, it doesn’t seem like you’ll be able to join, at least not for free.
This leads to major problems that consumers are expected to face in the future. Samsung and Google are only obligated to provide Android and security updates, and not necessarily any new features announced in the future. Even in one generation, the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro didn’t get the same feature set. And with AI getting better by the day and more smartphones relying on software to differentiate themselves, this is something we hope to have the best of in the coming years. This will be a big disappointment for consumers.
Hardware and software go hand in hand
More than just a new OS upgrade
Simply put, don’t expect the Pixel 8 or Galaxy S24 to have any new eye-catching features debuting on the Pixel 14 or Galaxy S30 in 2030. This pretty much defeats the purpose of the promise of longer software support. Don’t get me wrong. I still appreciate this move, but it doesn’t fundamentally change the way people use their phones. You’d be surprised how few people even know their device’s current Android version number. That doesn’t seem to be of concern to users.
You don’t even have to go too far into the future to imagine how this will play out. Take the Pixel 7, for example, which promises at least two more years of updates. However, it won’t have the new AI features announced with Pixel 8, such as Magic Editor and Video Boost. Samsung is doing a little better in this regard by promising to offer Galaxy AI on its 2023 flagships, but not on its 2022 launches.
How soon will I receive updates for my Google Pixel?
Google’s Pixel smartphones are one of the longest-supported Android smartphones
Samsung tried to justify this move by suggesting that its older hardware could not keep up with the processing power requirements of new software features. But wouldn’t that logic mean that in the future most functions will require more processing power? Furthermore, if we look at how they are currently managed, heavier functions will be offloaded to the cloud for processing. It has been. Then it shouldn’t be difficult to get them onto your old device. There is also a direct cost to the infrastructure that provides these features, which can help justify the subscription.
A maverick among Android giants
Don’t be put off by the moldy sandwich analogy
If there’s one company that’s outside of this phenomenon, but also takes its own views into account, it’s OnePlus. The OnePlus 12 is promised to come with four generations of Android updates, while the OnePlus 12R will only get three generations. The company’s moldy sandwich analogy was unnecessary, but it makes sense. An approach that provides fewer updates and recognizes the limitations of the hardware is less misleading.
I’m not trying to throw shade at Samsung or Google. What they have started will help improve the industry and make Apple more competitive as a whole. We hope that what we are proposing never becomes reality, but customers need to know what you are getting into. After all, cell phones aren’t getting cheaper.
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