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Ben Khalesi writes about where artificial intelligence, consumer tech, and everyday technology intersect for Android Police. With a background in AI and Data Science, he’s great at turning geek speak into plain English. When he’s not working, you’ll find him bouldering.
I still remember the Google I/O stage and the press blitz around the Samsung Galaxy S24 launch.
Google and Samsung stood up and promised seven years of security patches and feature drops.
And yet, not even halfway through that window, I can already feel the hardware giving up on the software’s promise.
As my battery health declines and the UI struggles with the latest AI-powered features, the seven-year software promise starts to lose its meaning.
A phone that’s up to date but takes three seconds to open a text message is lagging, no matter what the version number says.
Solid-state batteries are here, and they’re amazing
An OS upgrade brings in new APIs, heavier system services, and background processes built for the hardware of that year, not the year you bought your phone.
Google has committed to seven years of updates for the Pixel 8. However, it hasn’t guaranteed smooth performance throughout.
As the software gets more demanding and the hardware wears out, a big performance gap opens up.
By year five, your phone might technically be running the latest Android version, but it’ll probably lack the hardware — like the newest NPU or enough RAM — to support the features that define that OS.
This is the core of the problem.
Your software can be updated via Wi-Fi, but your battery is a physical, consumable part that dies a little bit every time you use it.
Batteries rely on a chemical reaction that degrades over time due to natural aging, heat, and usage patterns.
Tools like Adaptive Battery help, but they’re really just a bandage on a gunshot wound.
If you want to actually use a phone for seven years, you’re bound to replace the battery at least once, maybe twice.
The second threat to the seven-year promise is the silicon ceiling.
Operating systems get bigger, hungrier, and more complex over time.
Android 21 will run on hardware from 2031, featuring NPUs beyond our imagination and RAM capacities that’ll make today’s 12GB seem laughably small.
Ten years ago, Android worked on 2GB of RAM. Today, 8GB is the baseline, and flagships are pushing 16GB.
Every year, the OS and the apps (looking at you, Chrome and Instagram) consume more memory.
With only 8GB of RAM, the base Pixel 8 initially couldn’t handle Google’s Gemini Nano AI model, which was designed for the Pro’s 12GB.
Google eventually gave in and brought Gemini Nano to the Pixel 8, but it was a pretty clear warning.
If 8GB is already the bare minimum for running today’s AI features, it’ll become a bottleneck in the future.
If you are buying a phone today with the intention of actually making it to year seven, you need to spec it for 2031.
Don’t buy the base model with 8GB of RAM. Pay the extra $100 for the version with 12GB or 16GB.
Extra memory gives you some breathing room against future software bloat and bigger AI models.
Other than the battery and chip, everything else in your phone is slowly wearing down.
We rarely think about our phone’s storage wearing out, but flash memory has a finite number of Program/Erase cycles.
Every time you install a 5GB OS update or save a high-res video, you are physically wearing down your memory.
Seven years of heavy OS updates can cause read/write speeds to slow down over time.
This manifests as a phone that feels laggy even if the processor is theoretically fast enough.
Then there’s the USB-C port. These connectors are usually rated for about 10,000 insertions and removals.
If you plug in your phone three times a day, you’ll reach that limit in about nine years.
But that rating only holds up under perfect conditions, meaning no sideways force, no pocket dust, and no tugs on the cable.
And let’s not forget the OLED screen.
Seven years of having the same static status bar icons at the top of your screen can cause permanent burn-in.
You are left with a ghost of your 2024 UI haunting your 2031 device.
If Google and Samsung want to take credit for a seven-year promise, they need to be held accountable for seven years of affordable, accessible parts.
If first-party repair costs don’t stay low, the seven-year promise is just a way to make the phone more appealing on the second-hand market.
The reality is that for most of us, when a phone needs a repair that costs 30% or more of its current value, we throw it away and buy a new one.
So check the iFixit Score and pick devices with easy-to-service internal setups.
The seven-year timeline breaks into two lifecycles. The first three years are the golden window. During these years, the hardware and software are likely still in harmony.
After that, it’s time to sell or trade your device as it still holds value.
You get the most cash back and avoid the hardware issues and maintenance that usually show up in years four and five.
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