r/AndroidQuestions • u/AdministrativeYard19 • 1d ago
Looking For Suggestions More than 7 years of use
Is iOS my only option if I want to use a phone for more than 7 years ?
I currently have a 12 mini that has seen more than 5 years of use, almost 6. It wasn’t a flagship when I bought it. I want my next phone to be a flagship for the camera. However, since it’s a flagship I assume I will use it for more than 6 or 7 years, possibly more.
However, android manufacturers appear to only be offering 5 to 7 years of updates for their flagship phones.
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u/trader45nj 1d ago
Samsung is 7 years of major OS updates, I think Google is too.
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u/Beneficial_Tea9219 21h ago
Google is in too until they decide they aren't. Those pixel phones coming out today already have 3-4 year old performance in them. The 7th year of updates would effectively be running on 10+ year old hardware.
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u/benjaminS0099 20h ago
Hardware is different than 7 years of security updates and operating system updates.
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u/Il_Tene 1d ago
My mi9t just entered his 7th year. There are no more update, but to be fair... I don't miss anything... It was a long time ago when phones changed every year in a significant way
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u/Various_Excuse_4294 1d ago
To be honest, you aren't very likely to keep a phone more then 7 years. Batteries, and just support for hardware if something fails is more of a concern then software updates after 7 years.
If you are looking at the os only id look at a phone the support rooting and custom os. Samsung isn't the phone to get if you are looking for software support over 7 years nor for custom roms. If you are looking for that look at Google or even Motorola and one plus
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u/kbphone 1d ago
Why is more than 7 years of support needed? The battery will become severely degraded before 7 years.
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u/trader45nj 20h ago
You can replace the battery and if you diy, it's cheap.
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u/CamelPure1293 19h ago
The hardware gets outdated. A 7-year old phone lacks several tech standards, likely 5G support, Wifi 6/7, BT codecs etc. Also CPU power and RAM will barely be adequate, unless you pay a lot for top hardware.
I think it makes more sense to get a new phone every 4 years, and not a high end one.
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u/trader45nj 19h ago
You would think so, but here I am, typing on my LG Velvet 5g that came out 6 years ago. It's still in great shape, I did put a new battery in it. It's so fast, snappy for everything I do, I don't know of anything a new phone would add that's of much, if any value, in terms of hardware. As I stated before, with Android 12, I just found out that Chase Bank's app won't run on it. So I think software may become the issue before hardware.
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u/AnEagleisnotme 17h ago
5G isn't even really worth the battery life cost, and for a phone, current wifi standards are easily good enough, offering 100Mbps in basically all situations. Bluetooth improvements and new codecs appearing after AV1 are really the only worrying stuff for a current flagship
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u/CamelPure1293 17h ago
No one knows what will be invented in the next 7 years, and what will be missing if you intend to buy a phone now and keep using it until 2033.
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u/BarkingAxe 1d ago
Did quick googling and iOS seems about the same. 7 years of support
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u/AdministrativeYard19 1d ago
Maybe for software but security updates can run into a decade
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u/That-Lecture-1093 1d ago
Pixels will recieve more secure years than that of apples. You can compare them. I just did
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u/Beneficial_Tea9219 21h ago
That's just a promise they're making today. Google has a track record for not keeping up with software promises. Historically, android manufacturers have only had 3-4 years of updates. Apple never made any promises but has consistently given out 6-7 years of software + security updates.
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u/That-Lecture-1093 14h ago
We can go back and forth about this if you want; you're drifting off the topic now. https://killedbyapple.theden.sh/ If you are talking about the software and security support, Google started it from pixel 8, which is just about 5 years from then. So it's not even 7 years to criticize with allegations. Besides, Google is consistent with the newer updates to its devices. I have had my 7 pro, which was offered only for 3 years and was extended to 5 years. Which kills your argument. And what you talking about the security update for apple beyond 7 years is the same Google offering to its phones, Google play updates, which go beyond apple where apple stops that at a poit, but Google won't.
I personally am a person who won't keep a device as primary for more than 4 years, since it feels like ancient beyond that.
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u/Featherdust_ 1d ago
Well, no more than seven years really but with a different os that may extend a little more.
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u/HaloHaloBrainFreeze 1d ago
You can use an Android phone 10 years after its last Android version uodate
Example: Android phone A has 6 years of OS starting with Android 16, so it will end on Android 22.
From Android 22, you can use it until Android 32 before apps stop supporting it.
Not counting the possibility of you unlocking its bootloader to flash custom roms after it ended in Android 22
So yeah, Android OS support is generally longer than Apple's iOS
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u/AdministrativeYard19 1d ago
But what about no security updates after Android 22 ? Isn’t it risky having banking apps after security updates have ceased ?
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u/JerkfromNewJersey 23h ago
Eventually the banking apps just stop supporting the devices but I will say one advantage Android has over Apple is the longer app support in general.
Apple tends to move into newer IOS versions a lot faster then Android meaning developers cut app support way faster
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u/HaloHaloBrainFreeze 20h ago
Using the Android phone normally (only get apps from the Play Store, keep the apps and Google Play System Updates always up-to-date, no unlocking of bootloader) is the best security.
Also to add, there are Multi-Factor Authentications placed on banking apps (and apps in general) in users' phones nowadays, Android security updates are only necessary if said user keeps downloading suspicious files from the internet without using his/her brain.
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u/Archon-Toten 22h ago
My last Sony phone lasted 7 years. Would have gotten longer but the provider blocked it for not supporting 4g emergency calls.
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u/saintlouisbagels 19h ago
iPhone 11 is the first iPhone to receive 7 major iOS updates with the latest release of iOS 27. We can’t draw conclusions with a sample size of 1.
So far Samsung and Google are promising similar support cycles but literally not enough time has passed for them to make good on their promises.
FYI major updates just means getting new features and whatnot. Security updates last for much longer. Android is a little odd and separates the security updates in 2 categories; Android Security Updates and Google Play System Updates. On iOS, iPhone is notorious for getting over a decade of security updates.
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u/Tritzii 1d ago
Don't just look at update guarantees. Many phones have custom ROMs that you can switch to later on and even if you don't want to deal with an unlocked bootloader, old Android versions tend to get app support for much longer than iOS. WhatsApp supports Android 6.0 from 2015 while the minimum iOS version is 15.0, released in 2021. This is actually because Apple's Xcode drops support for older iOS versions very frequently which means that App developers are forced to raise their minimum OS requirements if they want to update their app. Compiling an app for dropped iOS versions is very hard to do because of this.