Who is winning the phone update war? Android manufacturers ranked from the best to the worst

The smartphone world has finally hit the point where phone updates are increasingly considered important. In simple terms, phone updates are yearly upgrades to your smartphone’s software. These updates allow your phone to work with newer apps and to support new features.

Without phone updates, your smartphone gets left behind when new models sport new software innovations and features. The problem is that different phone brands have different commitments to phone updates. Some take it more seriously than others.

For many years, Apple was the undisputed, unchallenged, champion of phone updates. The company provides five to six years of software updates to its phones. But a few Android manufacturers have now caught up and, in some cases, left Apple iPhones behind in this area.

Phone Updates vs Security Updates

Phone updates are major software updates that move an Android smartphone from one version of Android to another. An example is when you update a phone from Android 14 to Android 15.

Security updates, on the other hand, are much smaller updates that help improve the security of phones. They do not bring additional features or innovations. They are also called security patches. The main focus of this article is the major phone updates, though security patches will also be mentioned.

Also note that sometimes, phone manufacturers push out smaller software updates that are not security patches. These smaller updates usually fix a problem or a bug, and can also add or enable new functionality in the recipient phone. But these smaller updates do not update the Android version of the phone. These smaller software updates are not the subject of this article.

Having clarified these, the big question now is, how many years of phone updates does your favourite smartphone brand provide to their devices? Come, as we count down from the best to the worst.

7 years phone updates

Google: Google initially operated a software update policy of three years. Since 2023, however, the company has committed to providing seven years of software updates, along with seven years of security patches. This applies to all their products released from 2023.

Samsung: Samsung has committed to seven years of major Android updates for its flagship models – the S and Z series. More budget models like the A and M series get 4 to 6 years of smartphone updates. Four years of software updates is better than what most flagships from other Android manufacturers get, so that is still a deal even for budget smartphones.

6 years phone updates

There are no Android manufacturers offering six years of software updates for their devices. That is, apart from Samsung which has been listed above. To reiterate, some of Samsung’s A series devices have a software update policy of six years.

4 years phone updates

The following Android manufacturers have promised at least four years of major Android updates for their flagship phones. Note that their non-flagship models will not get this but receive one to three years instead.

OnePlus

OPPO

Xiaomi

3 years phone updates

This next set of Android phone manufacturers have promised at least three years of major Android updates for their top models. Their more entry-level models (where applicable) will receive one to three years instead.

Nothing

Vivo

2 years phone update

A software update policy of two years is where most Android phone manufacturers exist. The brands listed below will roll out two phone upgrades to their top models. There are almost no guarantees for the bottom models.

Alao, many of these manufacturers are slow in releasing the promised software updates, so buckle up and be prepared to exercise lots of patience.

Asus

HMD Global

Honor

Motorola

POCO

Realme

Redmi

Sony

TECNO

Infinix

0 to 1 phone update

Huawei: Because of the US ban, Huawei has no access to update the versions of Android that they have been stuck with for years. What the company does is update their own custom user interface, EMUI. The underlying Android software stays the same.

itel: itel does not have a formal software update policy. This is understandable, considering that it is a budget brand servicing the bottom of the pyramid. In a delightful first time, though, the company has promised two software updates for the itel S25 Ultra which it released in late 2024. Do not expect software updates for any other models, though.

ZTE: This is another bottom of the pyramid brand and promises no software updates for its devices.

The Winners

Google and Samsung are the undisputed winners of the software update war. They are the most dependable Android phone brands when it comes to delivering phone updates and security patches to your phone for years after you have bought it from them.

If you want to keep your smartphone up-to-date year after year, those are the best brands to look to. Of course, their devices are not often the most affordable, so you might have to look down the ladder to keep within your budget. In which case, you must be prepared to make do with much less software support for your device.

All is fair in love and in war, afterall.