Quite simply, Pure Android experience and promised timely updates by Google make Nexus and Pixel smartphones stand apart from other android devices. Software experience on these flagship smartphones is smooth, fast, with no bloatware, and you get software updates directly from Google. You’ll be the first to get them, and you’ll get them a guaranteed two years (three years for security patches). What else you want from your Android smartphone.
Google has had a policy in place for a while that Nexus and Pixel devices will “get security patches for at least 3 years from when the device first became available on the Google Store, or at least 18 months from when the Google Store last sold the device, whichever is longer.
To clarify it further, particularly for each and every device, Google has now released a list about when the last security patch will land to each of its current and past devices. This is when the device ceases being entirely secure. Though this is not a huge issue (keep in mind, most non-Google devices are not on the latest security patch anyway), it’s something to consider after owning your device for approximately three years that Google supports it.
Minimum update period:
| Phone | No guaranteed Android version updates after | No guaranteed security patch updates after |
|---|---|---|
| Pixel XL |
October 2018 |
October 2019 |
| Pixel |
October 2018 |
October 2019 |
| Device | No guaranteed Android version updates after | No guaranteed security patch updates after |
|---|---|---|
| Nexus 6P |
September 2017 |
September 2018 |
| Nexus 5X |
September 2017 |
September 2018 |
| Nexus 9 |
October 2016 |
October 2017 |
| Nexus 6 |
October 2016 |
October 2017 |
| Nexus 5 |
October 2015 |
October 2016 |
| Nexus 7 (2013) |
July 2015 |
August 2016 |
| Nexus 4 |
November 2014 |
November 2015 |
| Nexus 10 |
November 2014 |
November 2015 |
| Nexus 7 (2012) |
June 2014 |
June 2015 |
While many devices on this list are no longer eligible for an update, this will give you a good idea of when it’s time to upgrade your device. Three years of support is not only above average, but pretty good as far as smartphone longevity goes. And if you recently picked up a Pixel, you still have over two years of support to go!
