Google Bait and switch tactic.

[AlphaJohn]

One of the big reasons to go for Android One seems to have quitly vanished off the Google site https://www.android.com/one/

The 2 year OS upgrade guarantee. It use to sport this as a feature: https://vgy.me/NCay1Y.png
but now is no where to be found. All you get now that you will get 3 years of security updates.

Its the one feature that Android lags behind when it come to other OS's and one I would say they should focus on esp seeing that the prices of phone are skyrocketing. Was ok justifying up to R10K for a 2 years but with phones reaching R20K plus having an up to date phone is even more important now than before as you might want to keep it for longer.

Not anymore it seems.

 

[Zoomzoom]

Does a R20K phone do anything soooo much better than a R2K phone to justify the outlay? Especially when all the stuff comes from the first world where 'throw it away when a new one comes out' is SOP?

 

[CranialBlaze]

Does a R20K phone do anything soooo much better than a R2K phone to justify the outlay? Especially when all the stuff comes from the first world where 'throw it away when a new one comes out' is SOP?

That's a wide bridge comparison and yes there are massive performance differences and quality with things like cameras.

That being said, you still don't need to spend over 20k on a phone. You can get away with a damned good phone in the 5 to 10k range. Lower priced phones can also be extremely good, it does depend on your usage, but once you get past 10k you are paying for an advertising budget not a better phone.

I am. However surprised googles devices have become soo pricey when guys like Nokia are also shipping high spec one devices for near half the price. Xiaomi and Huawei make stellar phones in the 10k price point.

My Redmi 3 that cost like 4k is still an excellent phone, and comparing it with my Nokia 6 there is little difference other than the os, at some point I would say the Redmi may have been more snappy. However, comparing either of those to my Nokia 8 Sirocco is a non compete, the 8 is far more powerful, capable, exponentially faster and the camare is amazing, yet it still cost 11k and while on paper probably does not out perform a P20 or a Note 9, I would be improseed if in day to day usage users would notice a difference, let alone a 14k difference, especially as Samsung has been busted a few times tweaking the os to BS benchmarks, and you cannot honestly expect an os that 4x larger than its base to perform as optimally, and let's not forget that owing to these tweaks, Samsung runs the least secure android flavor.

So an extra 14 for a device that in the real world under performs comparatively to its hardware and is less secure than any other non Samsung phone out there, what are we really paying more for...

 

[Wasabee!]

This isn't a bait and switch tactic. It's an amendment to be more regionally specific. From the bottom of the page of https://www.android.com/one/

** Confirm exact duration of support for phones in your territory with smartphone manufacturer. Monthly security updates to be supported for at least 3 years after initial phone release.

 

[HeftyCrab]

That's a wide bridge comparison and yes there are massive performance differences and quality with things like cameras.

That being said, you still don't need to spend over 20k on a phone. You can get away with a damned good phone in the 5 to 10k range. Lower priced phones can also be extremely good, it does depend on your usage, but once you get past 10k you are paying for an advertising budget not a better phone.

I am. However surprised googles devices have become soo pricey when guys like Nokia are also shipping high spec one devices for near half the price. Xiaomi and Huawei make stellar phones in the 10k price point.

My Redmi 3 that cost like 4k is still an excellent phone, and comparing it with my Nokia 6 there is little difference other than the os, at some point I would say the Redmi may have been more snappy. However, comparing either of those to my Nokia 8 Sirocco is a non compete, the 8 is far more powerful, capable, exponentially faster and the camare is amazing, yet it still cost 11k and while on paper probably does not out perform a P20 or a Note 9, I would be improseed if in day to day usage users would notice a difference, let alone a 14k difference, especially as Samsung has been busted a few times tweaking the os to BS benchmarks, and you cannot honestly expect an os that 4x larger than its base to perform as optimally, and let's not forget that owing to these tweaks, Samsung runs the least secure android flavor.

So an extra 14 for a device that in the real world under performs comparatively to its hardware and is less secure than any other non Samsung phone out there, what are we really paying more for...

Yup. Just got the new MIUI 10 on my Redmi Note 3. Thats pretty good support. When I look at some of the new phones in my price bracket they basically have the same specs as my Redmi Note 3 thats like 2 years old. 32Gig onboard storage. 3Gig RAM. Snapdragon 650. Full HD screen.

To what the OP was speaking about: I was also looking at an Android One device for my next phone, but noticed the terms changed recently.

 

[AlphaJohn]

This isn't a bait and switch tactic. It's an amendment to be more regionally specific. From the bottom of the page of https://www.android.com/one/

Erm it is. They use to have at least 2 years of OS upgrade and 3 years security updates, now its only 3 years security updates....



That part is no more. The reason people I know go for Android One phones is because of their long term OS outlook. With Android One you lose a lot of OEM added functions but the price was worth it if you know your phone would feel like "new" for longer.

The region thing is just a cop out, Don't get the new OS upgrade, yeah sorry its because of your region.....

 

[CranialBlaze]

Erm it is. They use to have at least 2 years of OS upgrade and 3 years security updates, now its only 3 years security updates....

View attachment 596440

That part is no more. The reason people I know go for Android One phones is because of their long term OS outlook. With Android One you lose a lot of OEM added functions but the price was worth it if you know your phone would feel like "new" for longer.

The region thing is just a cop out, Don't get the new OS upgrade, yeah sorry its because of your region.....

You mean OEM added performance reducing bloatware, its fine, even without 2 years os upgrades I will happily take a phone that will perform better without me having to resort to a custom rom to remove the cpu and memory hogs the OEM calls "features"

 

[DeathStrike]

I'm using a hauwei p9 lite. so far i have been getting all the security updates. and i am only 1 major OS update behind.

pretty good compared to my older phones.

when it stops getting updates i will look at rooting device.

 

[Ghost729]

Due to Google relaxing the Android One standards to accommodate various manufacturers and hardware, the number of Android One devices have increased considerably. Thus Google themselves are no longer pushing updates to phones, instead manufacturers are now responsible optimising updates and pushing them OTA.

Google has just not relaxed 3 year security update criteria that is why it is still on their website. Just make sure the phone you get does have OS updates guaranteed for 2 years.

 

[sajunky]

Due to Google relaxing the Android One standards to accommodate various manufacturers and hardware, the number of Android One devices have increased considerably. Thus Google themselves are no longer pushing updates to phones, instead manufacturers are now responsible optimising updates and pushing them OTA.

Correct. They are pushing now updates on OEMs. Not sure it is a good things, these "security updates" are just updates to the spy engine called "Google FoolPlay Services".