The hardware of a mobile is obviously important, but at the moment of truth we are going to interact with the software. That is why I prefer to make sure that my new mobile will have updates for a while and that your system not only works well, but also has interesting added features.
Give me a normal mobile, please…
Hardware and software go hand in hand. A mobile with the latest hardware can be insufferable with a bad Android layer. In the same way, a mobile that is very fair in specifications is going to be quite uncomfortable to use even if you optimize its software to the maximum. Google knows this and that is why it directly gave up when launching Android Go.
That is why when I look for a new mobile, I aim for the middle ground in specifications, those that are sufficient today for the vast majority of people. A few years ago this meant set the limit at 200 eurosbut finally decided to raise the budget at 300 euros to be able to aspire to a less fair mid-rangethat it takes a little longer to start limping.
Apart from that, I don’t have many other hardware requirements set in stone, and if you ask me right now the megapixels of my phone’s camera, I can’t even remember without first asking. Of course, before going through the checkout I will look carefully at everything you have and you don’t have a mobile phone, but there are one thing i look at before i start comparing processors, screens or megapixelsthe Android inside.
… but to be updated for several years
The first thing I look at when buying a new mobile is its software, the one it carries and the one it will carry. The version of Android that is installed, its layer, and how long the mobile will continue to be updated. That is, the years of Android updates.
A few years ago this was irrelevant because mobile phones were updated a couple of times -hopefully- and that was it, but luckily lately manufacturers have realized that they can attract users with an extended update policybeyond those two years of rigor.
Samsung leads with up to four years of updates, although many other brands have announced that they will update some of their phones for at least three years. If the European Union has its way, everyone will have to offer three years of Android and five system updates. This is the panorama of how many years of updates each manufacturer promises today:
Years of Android updates |
Years of security updates |
|
---|---|---|
|
up to three |
up to five |
Samsung |
up to four |
up to five |
one plus |
up to three |
up to four |
OPPO |
up to three |
up to four |
Live |
up to three |
up to three |
nokia |
up to three |
up to three |
Xiaomi |
up to three |
up to four |
It’s not just Android, it’s also because of the layer
It is not an obsession. The reality is that having the latest version of Android is less and less important as the system is updated on many different fronts and Google is getting used to porting important new features to previous versions. Then, why this interest with updates?
As a normal user, I wouldn’t mind having the latest version of Android or not (and I don’t currently have it, since I use Android 12), although when writing about technology I need to be a little more up to date than the average user. Also, new versions of Android they come with a small number of novelties that sometimes do not end up reaching our mobiles if they are not from Google or we live in the United States. Let the first stone be cast by those who updated their Android and were not disappointed that everything looked the same.
More important seems to me the updates when we talk about customization layers. In the customization layers, manufacturers use all their ingenuity to include new functions and these do end up adding in successive updates. At least sometimes.
Having a mobile that will be updated for a few years guarantees me that the manufacturer will continue to release new versions of its layer, with new applications, utilities and sometimes a new design that will give a touch of fresh air to the mobile.
Let’s not forget safety and shelf life
Mobile manufacturers have separate but related Android version update policies and security patches. Mobiles will receive security updates at least as long as they receive system updates, so the longer the support, the longer the mobile will be safe.
This refresh of the security and sometimes of the functions and the aspect of course helps extend the life of the mobilewhich in my case I hope is at least two or three years, before looking for a new main mobile.
When I change my mobile, my new test bench
Speaking of useful life, in my particular case the useful life of a mobile does not end when I change to another, but the previous mobile becomes the test mobile. Therefore, I am interested in keeping it moderately updated to be able to continue using it in tests in various applications and services, in addition to not being insufferable to use if one day I need to take a screenshot on it.
This in the past I have managed to stretch through Custom Recovery, custom ROMs, Magisk and company, but if the mobile updates itself instead of having to waste one or several afternoons updating it unofficiallyso much the better.