Google Pixel 8 Could Set A Benchmark For Samsung, Other Android Manufacturers

Google's recently unveiled Pixel 8 series may leave Samsung with no option but to offer more software updates. Google announced that the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro smartphones will get a whopping 7 years of software updates in its latest blog post.

Drawing inspiration from one of its biggest rivals, Samsung is reportedly planning to improve its own offering. SamMobile interviewed the Principal Engineer and Technical Program Manager of the security team at Samsung's Mobile eXperience division, Shin-Chul Baik, at the Samsung Developers Conference.

The top executive told the publication that Samsung has been "actively discussing" extending the five years of security updates that the company currently offers. Considering that the company launches multiple smartphones each year, this could turn out to be an arduous task.

The Korean smartphone giant currently updates more than a billion devices every month, with over 150 different models receiving updates on a bi-annual, quarterly and monthly basis. However, it is unclear whether Samsung is planning to offer six or seven years of updates.

Can Samsung outperform Google in terms of updates?

The company may be planning to outperform Google by offering eight years of updates. It is worth noting that Fairphone is the only company that currently offers that kind of commitment.

While those who upgrade their phones every one-to-two years aren't likely to be affected, providing longer product support could be a major step forward for the industry as a whole. Smartphones will be more sustainable as they can be safely used for longer.

It is no secret that buying an old phone is a security risk, but with assured security updates, that won't be a big concern. However, it is worth noting that this is just an ambition at the moment.

So, it will be interesting to see whether Samsung actually ends up expanding security updates beyond 5 years. Also, it is unclear how the company will implement this, given that the current five years of security updates apply specifically to select Galaxy devices.

So, there is a possibility that the upgrade could be available just for flagship Galaxy phones that feature more powerful hardware. Apparently, the low-end handsets are more likely to benefit from longer shelf lives.

According to the SamMobile report, this specifically applies to security updates. There is no mention of expanding the Android or One UI update window beyond four years.

Nevertheless, it's great news. If Samsung expands security updates beyond its current five years, it will apply pressure on other manufacturers to follow suit.

Meanwhile, Google has been sparing no effort to improve its recently unveiled Pixel 8 series. For instance, the company is reportedly planning to add new AI features to the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro soon.

The search giant is also prepping to launch the next-generation Pixel Fold or Pixel Flip, according to a piece of new evidence.