OnePlus surpasses Google with four years of major OS updates

Android OEMs still don’t provide the six years of updates you get with Apple phones, but some manufacturers are trying to close the gap. OnePlus is adding an extra year to its smartphone update promise and is now offering four years of major OS updates and five years of security updates.

Timing-wise, this plan is in line with Samsung’s, although Samsung offers monthly security updates while OnePlus does not. The company still only promises security updates every two months, so it can’t boast too much. Android maker Google, who you think would have the best update plan, is in a distant third place with only three years of OS updates and five years of security updates.

There is still time for updates to consider. In terms of execution, OnePlus is faster than Samsung as it only took OnePlus one month to put Android 13 on its latest flagship, while it took Samsung two months. Google wins here as it is still the only Android company to offer Apple-like updates with day one updates.

The first phone to get this treatment is likely to be the OnePlus 11, due out in the next few months. OnePlus is going through a complicated merger with BBK subsidiary Oppo, which has resulted in major negative changes to the OnePlus Android skin. OnePlus used to ship a great lightweight yet customizable build of Android, but since the merger with Oppo, the skin looks like a clumsy copy of iOS.

OnePlus changed its OS strategy a month before the release of the OnePlus 10, saying it would ditch Oppo’s unified skin. One month isn’t enough time to make major changes, so it’s hard to tell what the company’s Android design strategy really is. However, the upgrade plan has gotten a little better.