Software Update Policies Compared: Which of Our 11 Phones Will Still Be Supported in 2030?
Seven years, five years, or two — how long a phone keeps getting security patches varies more than almost any other spec on this list. Here's the real update commitment behind every phone we've reviewed.
Every phone in our 11-phone lineup will feel dated eventually, but the date at which it actually stops receiving security patches — the point where using it becomes a genuine risk rather than just a performance compromise — is set by a manufacturer promise made at launch, not by anything the hardware itself dictates. Those promises vary from two years to seven, and the gap has never mattered more given how long people are actually keeping their phones.
Samsung: Seven Years, and a Real Commitment Behind the Number
Samsung set the new industry benchmark with the Galaxy S24 series, promising seven generations of Android OS updates and seven years of security patches — an extension of the company's earlier four-OS-update, five-year-security pledge. That commitment covers the flagship Galaxy S24 fully; the Galaxy A54, as a mid-range device from a slightly earlier policy window, carries a shorter but still respectable four-year OS and five-year security update commitment. The Galaxy Z Flip5 inherits the same tier as the Galaxy S24 as a current-generation Samsung flagship, meaning Samsung's foldable line gets the same long-term software runway as its conventional flagship despite the much harder hardware repair story covered in our companion piece on phone repairability.
Google: Matching Samsung at Seven Years, With Feature Drops Included
Google made an identical seven-year pledge for the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro — both OS upgrades and security patches running until 2030 — and unlike a pure security-patch guarantee, Google bundles quarterly Feature Drops into that window too, meaning Pixel 8 Pro owners keep receiving new camera and software features, not just vulnerability fixes, for the full seven-year span. This was a genuinely significant jump from Google's own prior three-year standard and briefly made the Pixel 8 Pro the longest-supported phone on the market until Samsung matched it days later with the Galaxy S24 announcement.
Apple: No Published Number, But a Long Track Record
Apple is the outlier in this comparison because it has never published a fixed years-of-support number the way Samsung and Google now do — though its more recent documentation states a minimum of five years of support from an iPhone's first supply date. In practice, iPhones have historically received major iOS version upgrades for around five to six years, with security-only patches continuing meaningfully longer for some models. Both the iPhone 15 and iPhone 14 remain comfortably inside their supported window as of 2026, and the budget iPhone SE, despite its low price, inherits the exact same iOS update schedule as Apple's flagships rather than a shortened budget-tier version — a real advantage over how most Android manufacturers treat their cheaper models. Apple's own support documentation, and the pattern visible across its last several device generations, makes this the one area of the comparison where a lack of a published number hasn't actually translated into worse real-world outcomes for owners.
Xiaomi and HONOR: Real Improvement, Still Behind the Leaders
Xiaomi's HyperOS update policy for flagship devices like the Xiaomi 14 lands around four years of major OS updates and roughly six years of security patches — a meaningful improvement over Xiaomi's update reputation from just a few years earlier, though still a year or two short of Samsung and Google's seven-year ceiling. HONOR's Magic6 Pro shipped with three major Android version upgrades and five years of security patches, and while HONOR has since announced a much more aggressive seven-year policy for newer Magic-series devices released after the Magic6 Pro, that expanded commitment doesn't retroactively apply to the Magic6 Pro itself — a useful reminder that a manufacturer's current policy for its newest phone rarely applies retroactively to the phone you already own.
Nothing and Sony: The Shortest Windows in This Lineup
The Nothing Phone (2) was promised three years of OS updates and four years of security patches at launch — Nothing has since dramatically increased this commitment to seven years for its newer Phone (3), but that later policy change doesn't extend the Phone (2)'s own original, shorter promise. Sony's Xperia 1 V sits at the very bottom of this entire 11-phone comparison with just two years of OS updates and three years of security patches, a strikingly short window for a phone that launched at $1,399 — worth weighing seriously against its otherwise excellent camera hardware, as we cover in our full Xperia 1 V verdict.
Why This Deserves More Weight Than Buyers Give It
A phone's update window directly determines its safe usable lifespan independent of how good its camera or chipset still feels years later — a phone with unpatched, known security vulnerabilities is a genuine liability for online banking, email, and stored personal data regardless of how well its hardware has otherwise aged. It's also directly tied to resale value, a connection we explore further in our resale ranking piece: buyers shopping secondhand increasingly check remaining update runway before purchase, and a phone nearing the end of its security-patch window resells for noticeably less than one with years of coverage still ahead of it, independent of physical condition.
The Full Ranking, Shortest to Longest Support Window
From shortest to longest commitment among our 11 phones: Xperia 1 V (2 years OS / 3 years security) sits alone at the bottom; the Nothing Phone (2) (3/4 years) and HONOR Magic6 Pro (3/5 years) form a middle-low tier; the Xiaomi 14 (roughly 4/6 years) and Galaxy A54 (4/5 years) sit in the middle; the iPhone 14, iPhone 15, and iPhone SE all benefit from Apple's roughly 5-6-year unpublished-but-consistent track record; and the Galaxy S24, Galaxy Z Flip5, and Pixel 8 Pro lead the entire lineup at a confirmed seven years each.
Verdict
If long-term security support is a genuine priority rather than an afterthought, the Galaxy S24, Galaxy Z Flip5, and Pixel 8 Pro are the only three phones in our 11-phone lineup backed by a confirmed seven-year update commitment, while Sony's Xperia 1 V asks buyers to accept the shortest support window of any phone here in exchange for camera hardware that remains genuinely excellent in the years it is supported.