I know folks that have 18-month-old flagship Android phones, that can’t get the latest Android releases.

When they ask me what Android phones to get, I always say a Pixel, because they will at least get the latest OS support in a timely fashion.

They are also excellent phones.

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nomel 7 hours ago | parent | next [-]

"Just jailbreak your phone and install <blank>!" they said.

I did that for a while, depending on some random guy in a forum to maintain a working image for my device. He bought a new phone, and that was the end of the updates.

	▲	Shank 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		With Play Integrity / SafetyNet this is also an uphill battle without doing even more work to spoof your Integrity status, if you want mobile banking and finance apps to work.

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pjmlp an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I, like most people I know, buy Android devices around the 300 euro limit, use them until they break for whatever reason, which is measured in years.

The only apps that get installed nowadays are the ones that must be for a specific service, or gaming.

Many people even turn updates off due to the way companies get creative changing the application on every update.

In the old days before the iOS/Android duopoly there were no updates at all, and the few times they happened to be supported, it required the developer SDK to update the firmware.

Outside communities like HN, regular people hardly care about updates.

	▲	stuaxo an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Current one was 150 quid off Ebay, I've also used backmarket. Last time I had a "flagship" phone it got stolen out my hand. The screen was also expensive to replace. If I drop this its no big deal (the back is plastic anyway). It also comes in a fun colour so its not just another black rectangle. I'll replace it with the Jolla phone when that arrives.

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thebruce87m an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> I always say a Pixel

Given the emergency call issue that has plagued the series for years and are seemingly still unresolved I would think twice about this.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37714579

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com2kid 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I've never had a pixel phone survive through its support period. The hardware always dies first.

Tbf some pixel models have proven reliable, my mom's pixel 4 lasted long enough to be out of support and then it got owned and her bank accounts got taken over.

The downside of reliable HW I guess.

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AndrewDavis 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I had a perfectly functional Galaxy A71 this time last year, still had great battery life, etc.

I had to replace it because it only has 5 years of support. Samsung offers 7 years of support but only on their top tier phones.

Google offer 7 years, even on their A series phones so I chose a pixel 9a. It's fine, I don't love it or hate it, but it's not doing anything I care about better than my last phone.

	▲	canucker2016 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		After the battery problems that the Pixel 4a, 6a, and 7a have had, I'll stick to the regular Pixel phones (well - who knows far this sideloading clampdown will go). I know people have had battery problems with non-a Pixel phones, but the number of 'a' phones with battery problems caused Google to publicly respond.

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trelane 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> I always say a Pixel, because they will at least get the latest OS support in a timely fashion.

You can also install e.g. GrapheneOS after Google stops supporting them. https://grapheneos.org/faq#supported-devices

	▲	garciansmith 5 hours ago \| parent [-]
		GrapheneOS only updates Pixels for as long as Google does. All their supported devices currently receive the stock OS updates from Google. LineageOS is different in that regard.

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tombert 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> They are also excellent phones.

I'm glad you had a good experience with it, but I had the Pixel 7 Pro and it was the single worst phone I have ever used. Utterly dogshit, to a point where I swore a blood oath to never purchase another Pixel ever again. I've heard that the later Pixels are better but I guess I'll never know.

It's possible that I had a defective unit, but regardless of the reason it was a laggy mess, that got terrible battery life, and sometimes simply wouldn't finish turning on (it would just stay on a black screen indefinitely). I bought it in July of 2023 and I ended up giving it to a family member and buying a refurb iPhone 13 Pro Max, which I still have and it has been considerably better.

It's not like I'm this huge Apple fanboy (feel free to look at my history complaining about my time working there), but if the Pixel 7 was 2023's flagship Android phone, then I have very little interest in using Android anymore.

	▲	jmaker 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Same here with a Pixel 10 Pro. Having seen issues that others have been struggling with, I’m shocked at the poor quality controls. It’s not only hardware, the software breaks every now and then. Looks like every patch introduces some bugs or bricks some Pixels. According to Gemini, it’s all known and has been discussed for a long time. I checked Pixel bug reports, some of them closed with wont-implement states, while users still struggling. This was the first time in two decades that my smartphone broke, and it could only be replaced. In the end, to me it’s really too much maintenance with Pixels and Android devices in general. Really don’t get it why people prefer Android. It’s like desktop Linux. Not there yet.