‘Imagine Your Phone Is A Sandwich’: OnePlus Chief Explains Why 7 Years Of Software Updates Is A Gimmick
What Happened: Speaking to Tom’s Guide, Liu revealed that the OnePlus 12 series will receive four years of Android updates and an extra year of security patches. The lower-cost OnePlus 12R will receive three years of Android updates and four years of security support.
While this is longer than some Android phone makers offer, it is less than the seven-year software support recently pledged by Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. (OTCPK: SSNLF) and Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google for their new flagships.
Liu argued that extended software support is not valuable if the phone’s hardware can’t keep up.
“Imagine your phone is a sandwich,” he said. “Some manufacturers are now saying that the filling in their sandwich – their phone’s software – will still be good to eat in seven years’ time.”
“But what they’re not telling you is that the bread in the sandwich – the user experience – might be moldy after four years.”
He also mentioned OnePlus’ testing with TÜV SUD, which stress tests its phones to ensure performance after four years of use.
