In the ever-evolving world of Android updates, Samsung has long held a position of dominance, offering a reliable stream of updates to its wide range of devices.
Samsung’s commitment to its users’ experience was evident as it consistently delivered two major Android version updates, a feat that eluded many of its competitors.
While Samsung’s early update releases weren’t lightning-fast, the company made significant improvements over the years, addressing this issue. While it may not be the quickest at delivering big OS updates, Samsung’s sheer volume of supported devices makes up for it.
In 2019, Samsung made a substantial stride by pledging to provide three major OS upgrades for all flagship phones and select mid-range devices.
This move brought Samsung’s update policy in line with industry leaders like Google and OnePlus, both known for offering three OS updates to a broad spectrum of their smartphones.
What set Samsung apart, though, was its commitment to extending this level of support to a wider array of devices than any other manufacturer.
As if that wasn’t enough, Samsung upped the ante further two years later by announcing that its flagships and certain mid-range phones would receive four Android OS updates and a whopping five years of security updates.
While some Chinese manufacturers followed suit, the spotlight was firmly on Google, the very company behind the Android operating system itself.
Surprisingly, Google did not revise its update policy to match Samsung’s and continued to offer just three major Android updates for its Pixel phones, both old and new, a stance that remains unchanged to this day.
The Potential Game-Changing Move by Google
Today, however, could mark the day when Google takes the lead and challenges Samsung’s supremacy.
Reports are circulating that the Pixel 8 series of phones, set to be unveiled today, may usher in a new era with a promise of seven years of updates! That’s two more than Samsung and almost on par with Apple’s renowned update longevity (although Apple has, on occasion, pushed updates for more than seven years to select iPhones).
While these rumors are enticing, they leave us with questions about the nature of these seven years of updates.
Will they encompass seven full-fledged Android version updates, or will the latter years primarily focus on security enhancements and occasional bug fixes? From our perspective, Google might strike the perfect balance by limiting major updates to five years while continuing to offer security updates for the remaining two.
Four years of Android updates may not steal the spotlight, but extending support for security updates to seven years could establish Google as the frontrunner in the Android update game.
As of now, nothing has been officially confirmed, leaving us in suspense about Google’s strategy and whether these rumors hold any truth. If they do turn out to be accurate, we anticipate a compelling response from Samsung.
While more extensive updates might potentially impact new device sales for manufacturers, it’s undoubtedly a boon for customers. Ultimately, customer satisfaction should be the paramount objective for every Android smartphone brand.
As the Android update landscape continues to evolve, competition in delivering support to users is heating up.
Samsung’s longstanding leadership is now under threat as Google’s Pixel 8 series may introduce a seven-year update policy, outpacing Samsung’s current offering.
While the details remain unclear, this potential shift could herald a new era in Android updates, benefiting consumers and challenging manufacturers to prioritize user satisfaction above all else.
The battle for Android update supremacy is far from over, and users stand to reap the rewards of this ongoing rivalry.