Seven-year software update policy of Galaxy S24 and Pixel 8 smartphones "misses the point," says OnePlus president

[Redaktion]

In an interview with Tom's Guide, OnePlus president and COO Kinder Liu explained why the company chose four to five years of software support for the OnePlus 12 and 12R. Liu says the seven-year update policy of Google Pixel 8 and Samsung Galaxy S24 devices "misses the point" because the hardware may not keep up.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Seven-year-software-update-policy-of-Galaxy-S24-and-Pixel-8-smartphones-misses-the-point-says-OnePlus-president.800732.0.html

[Massa78]

He's absolutely right. The 4-year-old Samsung Galaxy S20+ already has huge performance problems... e.g. the smartphone freezes more and more often, for example when there are several tabs in the browser and at the same time you watch a YouTube video via split screen; sometimes the browser app even crashes completely and needs to be started again.

Not an isolated case. Observed on six such Galaxy S20+ devices.

[heffeque]

He's absolutely right. The 4-year-old Samsung Galaxy S20+ already has huge performance problems... e.g. the smartphone freezes more and more often, for example when there are several tabs in the browser and at the same time you watch a YouTube video via split screen; sometimes the browser app even crashes completely and needs to be started again.

Not an isolated case. Observed on six such Galaxy S20+ devices.

I'm going to assume that you are not very tech savvy, so I'll be gentle:
That, sir, is a software issue, not a hardware performance issue.

CPU performance going from S16 to S20 is a lot larger and noticeable than going from S20 to S24.

The only thing that I can think of that could make phones "need" upgrades in the next few years are AI chips, and going from 5G to 6G.

Single-threaded and multi-threaded performance are both superb nowadays on flagship phones, and have been that way for a bunch of years. And the GPUs aren't bad at all.

Adding to that, battery tech has advanced quite a bit, so now batteries last more years with less degradation.
So... Kinder Liu just isn't happy that people will see less of a reason to upgrade as years come, software updates are maintained longer, and more people stay with their phones longer.

This has already been a trend in recent years, and its only going to get better (for consumers, and for the environment).

My "Mi 9T" is still an excellent phone and works like a charm (other than the battery, which I could replace), and that there are no official OS updates (but I could resort to unofficial OS versions).

Still waiting for a good reason to change it (and the fact that pop-up selfie cameras no longer exist is making it even more complicated).
In my case I think that good Wifi 7 with triple-band MLO, and under 400 € might do it for me.

So aaanyway:
Your S20+ doesn't have hardware performance issues.
It probably just needs a fresh OS install.

[Papsy]

"Planned obsolescence" is a thing for your info,cut across every OEM,I've decided  not to update to any 'security update' nor 'software update' thing....Will do so when I'm about getting a new phone

[Massa78]

(...)

You attack the customer instead of the company. Companies love customers like you who even defend the companies' bad actions. You allow them to get away with their actions.

[Ricci Rox]

He's absolutely right. The 4-year-old Samsung Galaxy S20+ already has huge performance problems... e.g. the smartphone freezes more and more often, for example when there are several tabs in the browser and at the same time you watch a YouTube video via split screen; sometimes the browser app even crashes completely and needs to be started again.

Not an isolated case. Observed on six such Galaxy S20+ devices.

My S20+ has no such issues.

[julian.vdm]

You just need to do a firmware reset

He's absolutely right. The 4-year-old Samsung Galaxy S20+ already has huge performance problems... e.g. the smartphone freezes more and more often, for example when there are several tabs in the browser and at the same time you watch a YouTube video via split screen; sometimes the browser app even crashes completely and needs to be started again.

Not an isolated case. Observed on six such Galaxy S20+ devices.

My S20+ has no such issues.

Sounds like a factory reset is in order. Android has always had weird software stuff that makes performance drop over time. They just get cluttered up with useless files and processes hanging around in the background. It used to be my policy to do a factory reset on my phone at least once a year, but it hasn't been necessary for the Galaxy A52 I'm on just yet, so it's definitely improving.

[Blueyezboi]

I had an unlocked Galaxy S4 that I ran All the way up to Android 10 before I finally upgraded only because I broke the screen. what was that originally on Android 4? I would routinely go in to carrier stores and do speed tests on the newest phones; Galaxy S9 for example and my phone would run just as fast opening the browser, YouTube app and games. it wasn't until the S10 that I actually noticed improvement in speed and it was negligible at that. so from personal experience, I think the statement made by him is absolutely untrue and I used to buy OnePlus phones just so I could unlock the bootloader and upgrade it myself after updates discontinued. now if he said people can come unlock phones and upgrade them out that would have made sense.

[heffeque]

You attack the customer instead of the company. Companies love customers like you who even defend the companies' bad actions. You allow them to get away with their actions.

What? Did you even read what I posted?
We need some reading-comprehension exercises here...

I said that customers have it better now because HW is "good enough" for almost everything (and have been for several years now), and software updates are now available for longer on some brands (unlike what OnePlus wants).

I'm not blaming customers of anything.
If anything, I'm blaming you for not maintaining your phone properly, because normal customers don't have the issues you have (and "julian.vdm" and I told you how to solve the issue: factory-reset your OS for a clean install).

As "Ricci Rox" comments: "My S20+ has no such issues."

[massa78]

If anything, I'm blaming you for not maintaining your phone properly, because normal customers don't have the issues you have

How do you wanna know how I "maintain" my smartphone?


"normal customers"
So you decide which customers are "normal" and which are not "normal"?


"factory-reset"
The thing after which you would have to setup the order of apps and the settings of apps.

Keep on defending Samsung... as it makes Samsung happy to know that they have customers like you.

As "Ricci Rox" comments: "My S20+ has no such issues."

I didn't know that "Ricci Box" represents all "normal" people.

[ergre]

only mobile developers need 7 years of updates, they buy a phone and it's just lying around on the desk to test apps, always on latest software, while they are running around with their iphone. usually they were the only target audience for google pixels.

for normal user its 3-5yr average lifetime
don't start on "i have my phone from 1995 and i'm still using it" and "planned obsolence" dogshit

[NikoB]

Google are scoundrels - some time ago, they forcibly updated all the installed software on my smartphone with custom firmware (which they could update through the Play Market), although before that I always clicked "no" on such explicit requests. After upgrading the application, most of the "fixed" and "new" ones began to eat up much more RAM and flash and at the same time work crookedly and completely not the way I needed and are no longer configurable. Unfortunately, I didn't make a backup of the smartphone's flash; due to laziness, I only have a backup from 2 years ago and it's already problematic to roll back to it.

But this shows the real attitude of criminals at Google towards clients - they forcibly, using criminal methods, update Google Play and all applications from Google Market without even asking the permission of the smartphone owner.

Unfortunately, I cannot disable Google updates even in custom firmware, because... blocking some of their blatant functions via root access leads to the inoperability of some of the software I need.

Unfortunately, in order to get rid of their criminal methods and the same methods of smartphone manufacturers, you need to remove the proprietary firmware and install an alternative one, but even in this case, if you need software related to Google services, you are forced to install them and lose full control over your smartphone .

And now it has reached the point of complete impudence on the part of smartphone manufacturers - they refuse to unlock the bootloader on a smartphone, at the request of the owners! This is a clear direct indication that you are not the owner of the smartphone, but they are the owners of your smartphone and can do whatever they want with it without asking your permission.

It won't be long before 99% of the world's population ends up in a digital concentration camp. Moreover, these brainless sheep themselves are asking that they be sent there...


Or take double authorization using a SIM card on Google services, for online banking and any more services - this is a complete violation of the real security of account owners.
You can read in detail why this terrible and deliberately unsafe solution is used in all countries here:
keydiscussions.com/2024/02/05/sim-swap-attacks-can-be-blamed-on-companies-embracing-sms-based-password-resets/

[Collab]

for normal user its 3-5yr average lifetime

Not everyone is buying phones just when they release though, especially with current high end SoC pricing. For example, I'm thinking of ordering a SD8+1 phone from 2 years ago, that is heavily discounted now. It is brand new / sealed - so there's absolutely zero wear on the battery. I could easily use this for another 3-5 years. Unfortunately, it'll be getting it's last OS update / security patch next month or so despite the SD8+G1 still being a very capable SoC even for todays standards.

Don't get me wrong, I've had a Pixel and have had OS updates that made the phone pretty much borderline unusable for me. At the same time, phones with shorter update policies tend to drop in value far faster which in turn ensure better deals for us end consumers (well as long as you're not on the eBay reselling business side of things). So I can see the other side and the benefits as well.

[Name]

OnePlus really took a huge downfall after the 7t pro. Extremely ugly and overpriced phones with generic china themed android.

This literally proved they have changed. All they care about is taking your money. Making a good phone with good software and hardware is no longer in their interests...

[ergre]

I'm thinking of ordering a SD8+1 phone from 2 years ago, that is heavily discounted now

it's meh though, normal battery life started with 8gen2

complete impudence on the part of smartphone manufacturers - they refuse to unlock the bootloader on a smartphone, at the request of the owners

there is literally a button in samsung phones to unlock bootloader lol

Unfortunately, I didn't make a backup of the smartphone's flash; due to laziness,

if you don't know apkmirror exists you aren't qualified enough to pick what software you can install, google was right to screw you up, at least you got all the security patches