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At this point, the only thing I care about is whether or not they plan on releasing quality software updates in a timely manner for a reasonable amount of time.
by agnsaft 9y ago
At this point, the only thing I care about is whether or not they plan on releasing quality software updates in a timely manner for a reasonable amount of time...
- nicktelford 9y agoThey stated 2 years OS updates, 3 years monthly security updates in the blog post.
- jordanlev 9y agoIt's kind of funny what they follow that up with: > Essential Phone will get guaranteed Android OS updates for 2 years and will get monthly security updates for 3 years, so your phone will always be secure and have the latest features. I do not think the word "always" means what they think it means :)
- ksk 9y agoIf we go one level up the abstraction, always doesn't mean always either. The universe's life is finite. :)
- fredsir 9y agoYou can't fool me. The universe doesn't exist.
- pier25 9y agoUnconceivable!
- melling 9y agoI do not think it means what you think it means.
- bsimpson 9y agoThe worst piece is that they usually measure from first day of sale, not last. If you buy this same phone next year, you'll only get a year of updates.
- beezle 9y agoI am mostly moving on from an LG G2 to the new Essential Phone. For the past year I have been running AICP, currently at Android 7.1.x Prior to that I had about a year of Cyanogenmod. Granted, third party roms are not for the average user but it amazes me how few on HN seem to run them and instead whine about why their 3 or 4 year old phone is no longer getting the latest greatest. People here like to point to Apple/iOS but really, how many of the iPrecious users are still on an iphone 4 or 5? Seems that crowd rolls over every 12 to 18 months so what difference does it make?
- martin_bech 9y agoIts scary that this is impressive for Android, while still 2+ years less than ios. (iPhone 5s will get ios 11)
- AndrewCHM 9y agoperiods like that make phones feel more like a hardware subscription service: (with protection plan) $5 per week for 3 years for security updates $7.60 per week for 2 years for OS updates
- acover 9y agoIt is still end of life after 3 years.
- agumonkey 9y agoToo short IMO, I personally would value having a 5yo device still useful, above that I can accept limitations in terms of new; below it's just pushing for renewal for no reason.
- ProAm 9y agoBatteries don't last that long still, last I heard you get about 1000 charges before you need to do serious maintenance to a phone, in which case you'll probably want the latest and greatest anyhow.
- agumonkey 9y agoI don't know, most of my phones are 4 years old and battery life is ok.
- icebraining 9y agoin which case you'll probably want the latest and greatest anyhow. Why, if it still works fine? //Nexus 7 (2012) user here
- agumonkey 9y agoOh and btw, it's very possible that speed is a software issue. Latest gmail app update tweaked a few things in how mailboxes are loaded and it's way snappier. I have a moto g3 quadcore and 1G(maybe 2G)RAM. I cannot reason about slow performance for non gaming / pixel heavy stuff.
- soperj 9y agoI'm still using a Galaxy S3(2012) with no battery problems. I use it every day, and I don't even plug it in every night.
- ksk 9y agoI can see (though don't entirely agree) why companies feel some pain, when the customer paid for the phone, but the public's expectation is free updates for "life" (however you define that). I wonder if having a subscription where they reduce the cost of the phone for the general population, and let others sign up for a paid subscription model for updates, backed up by some kind of SLA type agreement would work. I definitely would prefer a model where instead of finding other ways to screw you (selling data) they get paid by me and serve my needs.
- criley2 9y agoIt's moot. Apple offers ~3 years of software updates included in the price of the phone. Right now, Android companies COMPLETELY FAIL to match Apple's update value. The idea that Android companies should switch to a paid update subscription model, while iDevices retain free updates for most of device life, would be a hilariously incompetent decision. "They're better than us, we know it, so why not subscribe to us and pay us monthly to help us catch up to what they were doing a decade ago?"
- melling 9y agoIsn't it more like 4 years, at least on the Phones? I wouldn't mind getting an additional Android device, but two years of upgrades really isn't enough. It's nice to get a new OS upgrade every year.
- federicotdn 9y agoIt can be around 5 years, the iPhone 4S technically had the latest version of iOS from October 2011 to June 2016.
- gurkendoktor 9y agoiOS 10 launched in September 2016, and I think the 4s was kept current up until then. Also five years for the iPhone 5 (2012-2017). since iOS 11 supports the iPhone 5s, it will also get its fifth years of updates. (Hopefully more! Mine is still going strong, the arm64 processor was revolutionary.) Five years does not seem to be an outlier for iPhones anymore.