Android OS upgradability

Grendels

Are there any particular Android companies or phone series that offer good upgradability of the OS?

About 6 years ago I had an Android phone that I could upgrade the OS perhaps twice only. I'm hoping things have changed since then, so I can get something with more upgrade longevity, rather than having to buy a new phone every year.

If you've had an Android phone for more than a year:

• How long have you had it for?
• How well has it done with OS upgrades?

ct5amr2ig1nfhp

A google phone will be your best bet. Have a look at the Pixel range.

testicles

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ct5amr2ig1nfhp

Google are promising updates for at least 2 years on Pixel models.

I have not seen any other manufacturer guarantee or promise updates.

It is not in the interests of phone manufacturers to bring the 'latest and greatest' to older handsets. It forces you to buy newer models if you want the latest features.

testicles wrote: »

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rebeve

Root and the a custom rom is the way to go .

D'Peoples Voice

Grendels wrote: »

Are there any particular Android companies or phone series that offer good upgradability of the OS?

I'm hoping things have changed since then, so I can get something with more upgrade longevity, rather than having to buy a new phone every year.

You do know that most of the blame for the lack of upgrade lie with the maker of the CPU(for example
Qualcomm snapdragon, Huawei hisilicon, Samsung Exynos or MediaTek hello). If they don't realise the drivers, the phone manufacturers are screwed. Of that three, MediaTek are the worst - don't believe they have released drivers for Nougat yet.

As for the best manufacturer, the ones that have the lightest skin should be first as they have less reprogramming and testing required. So, that should be Motorola & Sony (outside of pixel/nexus) with snapdragons. Samsung with Exynos can be good too because being the CPU chip manufacturers they have early access to the driver likewise Huawei have access to their own CPU drivers. I believe Xiaomi are soon to start using their own CPU chip so they should be quicker with updates.

OldMrBrennan83

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listermint

Motorola.

HTC generally have the best record, disregarding Nexus/Pixel devices. They update for 2 years, so you will move on to at least 2 further versions of android. For example, the M9 started on lollipop, and has gone to marshmallow and nougat since. They also have probably the most active dev community, so lots of options for custom ROMs.

corwill

Basil3 wrote: »

HTC generally have the best record, disregarding Nexus/Pixel devices. They update for 2 years, so you will move on to at least 2 further versions of android. For example, the M9 started on lollipop, and has gone to marshmallow and nougat since. They also have probably the most active dev community, so lots of options for custom ROMs.

I bought the HTC 10 largely because of that reputation, but I've not been blown away. I'm not in any great rush to get from 7.0 to 7.1.x, but to still be on the January security patch is less than impressive.

corwill

corwill wrote: »

I bought the HTC 10 largely because of that reputation, but I've not been blown away. I'm not in any great rush to get from 7.0 to 7.1.x, but to still be on the January security patch is less than impressive.

Yeah, their Nougat update to EU unlocked devices was a mess, to be fair

StereoSound

Those new Nokia phones are promising fast android updates when they come on the market.

D'Peoples Voice

StereoSound wrote: »

Those new Nokia phones are promising fast android updates when they come on the market.

Were they not promising fast security updates rather than OS updates?

learn_more

Grendels wrote: »

Are there any particular Android companies or phone series that offer good upgradability of the OS?

About 6 years ago I had an Android phone that I could upgrade the OS perhaps twice only. I'm hoping things have changed since then, so I can get something with more upgrade longevity, rather than having to buy a new phone every year.

If you've had an Android phone for more than a year:

• How long have you had it for?
• How well has it done with OS upgrades?

The upgrades you get on android are utterly trivial. There would be no reason to buy a new phone every year.

If you really want the latest version of android then you must seek out a phone that is popular on XDA where ROM development is high.

OldMrBrennan83

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Sleeper12

I have an S6 & it's 2 years old. There's any update on the way for it.

cal60

For me this limited support issue is a major disadvantage with Android. Imagine if you had to replace your laptop after two years to keep current on security. Not sure about Apple as I don't have an iPhone but I know my iPad has until recently been receiving OS updates.

I'm beginning to feel that carrying a computer round in your pocket (smartphone) is not logical - a phone should be primarily a phone rather than the phone component almost being an afterthought.

I went for a Moto G4 last year as I read that they were fairly good at updates ( I did receive nougat around the end of March I think) . However I found the close to pure android to be somewhat barebones e.g I could not save contacts to a "phone account" and had to search around to find an app to provide this functionality.

cal60

cal60 wrote: »

For me this limited support issue is a major disadvantage with Android. Imagine if you had to replace your laptop after two years to keep current on security. Not sure about Apple as I don't have an iPhone but I know my iPad has until recently been receiving OS updates.

I'm beginning to feel that carrying a computer round in your pocket (smartphone) is not logical - a phone should be primarily a phone rather than the phone component almost being an afterthought.

I went for a Moto G4 last year as I read that they were fairly good at updates ( I did receive nougat around the end of March I think) . However I found the close to pure android to be somewhat barebones e.g I could not save contacts to a "phone account" and had to search around to find an app to provide this functionality.

What's a "phone account"?

Support isn't really an issue. Your phone still functions long after the android updates cease. You just don't have the latest version of android. It's no different to someone with a Windows PC who never updates from the OS that came on it.

cal60

Basil3 wrote: »

What's a "phone account"?

Support isn't really an issue. Your phone still functions long after the android updates cease. You just don't have the latest version of android. It's no different to someone with a Windows PC who never updates from the OS that came on it.

A phone account is where the information resides on the device only and not just a google account with sync turned off.

Point about a Windows PC is that securit updates will be made available for up to 10 years. If you continue using an older version of android then you won't receive security updates.

cal60

cal60 wrote: »

A phone account is where the information resides on the device only and not just a google account with sync turned off.

Point about a Windows PC is that securit updates will be made available for up to 10 years. If you continue using an older version of android then you won't receive security updates.

I guess the real question is why would you only want local contacts?

With Google treble, updates will be faster and I'm assuming they can be provided for longer. I'm looking forward to seeing how that pans out.

Sleeper12

Sleeper12 wrote: »

I have an S6 & it's 2 years old. There's any update on the way for it.

Update arrived yesterday it's now on Android 7

cal60

Basil3 wrote: »

I guess the real question is why would you only want local contacts?

With Google treble, updates will be faster and I'm assuming they can be provided for longer. I'm looking forward to seeing how that pans out.

Treble looks very interesting - I hadn't heard of it . Thanks for the info.

Regarding local contacts . I have enough grey hairs to be able to well remember mobile phones before iPhone , android etc and the simple answer is privacy . One could still have a backup without having to use the cloud ( a.k.a " someone else's server ":) )

@ sleeper12 - great news . I'm glad you received the update.

OldMrBrennan83

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Patww79

Patww79 wrote: »

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Oh ye of little faith. The existing Pixel will be using treble when Android O drops later this year. From a technical point of view, it's definitely doable.

OldMrBrennan83

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Patww79

Patww79 wrote: »

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I was referring to you saying that it would never see the light of day.

OldMrBrennan83

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Patww79

Patww79 wrote: »

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That will happen. Google are keeping HTC alive at the moment, with that and the pixel devices.

god's toy

Grendels wrote: »

Are there any particular Android companies or phone series that offer good upgradability of the OS?

About 6 years ago I had an Android phone that I could upgrade the OS perhaps twice only. I'm hoping things have changed since then, so I can get something with more upgrade longevity, rather than having to buy a new phone every year.

If you've had an Android phone for more than a year:

• How long have you had it for?
• How well has it done with OS upgrades?

not a phone but, If you're talking Tables then the Nvidia Shield has fully received official updates since KitKat! Currently on its 4th version of Android, 7.0 Nougat

Dravokivich

Basil3 wrote: »

What's a "phone account"?

Support isn't really an issue. Your phone still functions long after the android updates cease. You just don't have the latest version of android. It's no different to someone with a Windows PC who never updates from the OS that came on it.

It's very different than a pc. Apps have requirements that get updated based on the version of Android you are running.

Dravokivich

Dravokivich wrote: »

It's very different than a pc. Apps have requirements that get updated based on the version of Android you are running.

But you could have an Android device running kit kat, which would essentially work the same as the day you bought it.