In recent years, both Samsung and Google have committed to up to 7 years of software support for their top Galaxy and Pixel phones. That shift has been recent enough that we haven’t actually reached the 7-year mark for any phone. What we’ve seen instead is the last few devices that were promised 5 years of updates reach end of life.

As we approach the end of support for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, as well as the entire Galaxy S22 series, I started wondering if this was enough. Is 5 years of Android update support long enough or will seven years really be the proper length?

Galaxy S22, Pixel 6 updates reaching the end

Backing up for a second, the Galaxy S22 series launched at the beginning of 2022 and was promised 4 years of OS updates and 5 years of security updates. It recently switched to a quarterly update schedule, which is almost always a sign from Samsung that a device is within its last year of support. We likely won’t see updates stop until the first half of 2027, but the days really are numbered.

For the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, the story started a bit differently. Google introduced the Pixel 6 series in 2021 with 3 years of OS updates and 5 years of security updates. They later surprised us by expanding the number of years of OS updates to 5.

Weirdly, about a year ago, Google changed the update schedule for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro to a quarterly schedule, although they still won’t confirm they’ve done this. We’ve been tracking this change and all signs point to the Pixel 6 going to this new schedule as it reaches the end of its support road later this year.

Still, we’re on track for that full 5 years of updates, even if they do show up much less frequently these days. The Pixel 6, Pixel 7, and Pixel 7 Pro have seemingly moved to similar schedules.

As far as the end goes for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, Google puts Pixel update schedules on a number of years from the day they “first became available on the Google Store in the US.” For the Pixel 6 series, that was in October 2026.

I guess if we’re really talking through this, we could also look at the Galaxy S21 series, which received a full 5 years of support before reaching the end of the road in February of this year.

You could also throw the Nothing Phone (1) into the conversation, only because it recently finished its 4-year run of support and is now done receiving updates.

There isn’t a great way to gather this type of info other than just asking you, the reader. If you owned a Galaxy S21 series, Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22+, Galaxy S22 Ultra, Pixel 6, or Pixel 6 Pro, have you held onto your device this entire time and won’t upgrade until you are done receiving updates?

For those who hung on, what was the last year or so like? Do you feel like the devices are truly still supported or has the dropoff in frequency led to more bugs and a worsening experience?

For those who ditched your phones before the full 5 years of support, how long did you own the phones?

Let’s talk.