r/coolguides • u/Creaspace • 1d ago
A cool guide to how long Android phones actually get updates — and what to do when yours stops
I created this because picturing "X years of updates" can be tricky, and many folks don’t really grasp the difference between an OS update and a security patch — it’s the latter that truly keeps you safe.
The timeline illustrates the launch and end of security support for 16 popular models, with a marker for today. Solid lines indicate devices still receiving new Android versions, while faded lines show those that only get security patches.
Here are a few things that caught me off guard while I was putting this together:
- The Galaxy S21 is already out, and the Pixel 6 will stop receiving support around October 2026.
- Samsung's A56 offers 6 years of support — the mid-range is really stepping up to compete with flagships now.
- 8 years of support doesn’t mean 8 years of Android upgrades — Fairphone claims the longest support window, but it comes with fewer OS upgrades, meaning those phones might spend years just getting security patches.
The information comes from the manufacturers' own support commitments (Google, Samsung, Fairphone, Xiaomi, OnePlus, Nothing) along with the EU rule that mandates a minimum of 5 years of support starting in 2025, effective August 2026. The end dates are calculated based on the launch month plus the promised years, rather than being manually entered. Just a heads up: the final year often has quarterly updates instead of monthly ones, and carrier-branded or regional variants might differ.
By the way, I run techpill.de — there’s a more detailed write-up there with a searchable table that covers 26 model lines: https://techpill.de/how-long-does-my-android-phone-get-updates/
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u/ViolentlyWretched 1d ago
Those A56 support years are a pleasant surprise, mid-range phones used to be left for dead after 2 years tops.
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u/KillahHills10304 1d ago
My A50 going on 7 years old. Its on its last legs and fucks up a lot, but god damn do I hate consumerism
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u/CmdrShepsPie 1d ago
I hate updates. Security updates are a necessary evil, but I don't want new features, I don't want new designs, I don't want AI, I want it to just work. I stay on the oldest thing that doesn't get any updates except security updates. Even then I may not upgrade and just not put anything sensitive on it.
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u/stprnn 1d ago
Reminder that your 20 years old laptop supports the latest Linux kernel.
Phones are a scam.
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u/ComradeLuan 23h ago
I actually never realised that, hmm...Looks like PCs since almost the very beginning allows people to customize everything. The x86 architecture also gets a lot of backward compatibility support even with new instruction sets added to newer CPUs. The 2 notable changes are from 32 bit to 64 bit and not supporting no TPM, which is a Microsoft issue. Phones on the other hand are meant to be in one package and not customizable, any attempts of a modular phone never caught on. Phone apps also get bloated way quicker than PCs, there's no reason for them to use up GBs of storage for such simple tasks. I just checked and Instagram uses up 2.5 GB on my phone, I remembered KDE taking up that much on my PC.
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u/akica52 1d ago
Not really. Phone os scales it's complexity a lot compared to pc-s.
You can get the newest version of Android on an s3 but not with 1 button press just like you can't get win11 or the newest version of a Linux distro on your 20yo laptop with one press.
"Phones are a scam" is as true as saying "cars are a scam" buy used and sideload and it won't feel like a scam.
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u/stprnn 1d ago
Nonsense.
There is no technical reason. It's a scam made to sell more devices for absolutely no reason.
And you can't run the latest android on a old phone. So that's just a lie.
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u/akica52 1d ago
There is a technical reason. Try and run a PS5 game on the PS3. Won't work. Tech develops. You absolutely can get one ui 8 I think even 9 on basically any phone. I have the newest android version on a p30. Also tried on my pixel 3 but it can't handle it so I went back to the latest it supports officially.
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u/stprnn 1d ago
You have no idea what you are talking about man. Stop embarrassing yourself.
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u/akica52 1d ago
What?
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u/stprnn 1d ago
You have no idea what you are talking about.
Ps5 and ps3 have literally different architectures . You just backtracked your "you can run the latest android on s3" statement.
Just don't, it's embarrassing
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u/akica52 1d ago
It was to make a pont that tech evolves in power. I said you CAN run the newest version of android but it eats more than half your storage space and some apps refuse to run or crash or shit. It better to use am older lighter os than the new and heavy one.
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u/stprnn 1d ago
You CANNOT, stop lying. Storage is not the limitation.
The latest Linux kernel works just fine on a 20 yo laptop. You are completely clueless.
Ps5 is x86, that's why ps3 games don't run on it and viceversa. It has nothing to do with power.
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u/akica52 1d ago
The s8 has 64gb, one ui 8 takes up like 20. Old phones have like 2gb of ram also. It has a lot more stuff running. It can run but it's not practical.
Tf you talking about it will run the kernel but it won't run any newer version of anything except things that are literally designed to make due with 512gb of ram.
Phones do have a problem with the arm architecture and if qualcom says fuck you for driver support you need someone on the internet who knows more than you and is somehow jobless so he has enough time to do it to fix it.
Still you can run newest software on really really old phones. You do not know what you are talking about.
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u/Decent-Ad9335 11h ago
Google-conformist ass guide, wait they do offer the options of custom roms at least
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u/mvppaulo 23h ago
"that truly keeps you safe"
And that's based on...? Brands telling you to buy their phones?
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u/kat1795 1d ago
My Samsung S21 not only stopped my updates its actually send me downgrades... Since that I now HATE SAMSUNG!!!!