'Imagine Your Phone Is A Sandwich': OnePlus Chief Explains Why 7 Years Of Software Updates Is A Gimmick

OnePlus' COO and President, Kinder Liu, has tried to justify the company’s software update policy for the OnePlus 12 series. The devices will receive four to five years of software updates, a duration shorter than the seven years offered by some competitors.

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. SSNLF and Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL Google for their new flagships.

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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.

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Why It Matters: The OnePlus 12 series, powered by Qualcomm Inc.’s QCOM Snapdragon chipsets, was launched in January.

Earlier, Samsung launched the Galaxy S24 series, which borrowed several features from Apple Inc.’s AAPL iPhone 15 and Google Pixel 8 series.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Photo courtesy: OnePlus