[dannysu]

That misses a key point I was making: OS updates.

Yes, I too have a Nexus 4 (bought in 2012) and it still works fine. But no more updates. I don't consider that on par with say my previous work laptop, which was also 3 years before I upgraded.

I also own a Moto E (2nd Gen, $60-ish) and bought a Moto G+ for my brother this year, but I can't count on them to receive OS updates for as long.

[Kurtz79]

Except you are comparing a 749$ phone with a 220$ and 60$ ones.

You could buy a new Moto G every 2 years and you would still have an up-to-date phone that is more economical than an iPhone, if OS-updates are your main worry (on average, I believe Apple supports devices up to 5 years, which objectively is a lot).

That without considering how well old phones work with newer OSs, my iPhone 4 did technically work with the last supported update, but the performance hit was so big it made it a pain to use.

[2muchcoffeeman]

Are you saying there are no flagship android phones or the flagship phones get longer official support? In the past I don't think the Samsung Galaxies got more than 2 years support. And they weren't exactly cheap.

So why buy the expensive Android phone when the low cost ones are really good for that price point and you can just buy another one with the money you save?

[bambax]

Okay, but why do we need "software updates"? If the phone still works and is able to do the job what difference does it make?

I had a Moto G for over 3 years that cost $150 in 2014 and which continued to work perfectly with zero updates (Android 4.4) during that period.

It finally died last month when I tried to recharge it on an USB cable that I wired backwards (on a motorcycle). Replaced it with a $120 Lenovo that's fantastic, does everything I could think of and more.

I think people who are ready to buy an iPhone for over $1000 would in fact pay any price; Apple should try to sell those for $2500 and see what happens.

For the rest of us, a $120 Android phone is more than enough.

[flukus]

> Okay, but why do we need "software updates"? If the phone still works and is able to do the job what difference does it make?

Yes, maybe not updates as such but we certainly need security patches. Any network connected device does and phones are more connected than most, frequently sharing networks with strangers or friends that aren't tech savy enough to keep their environment secure..

[alacombe]

Most of my family members (ie. >70yo. non tech folks) skip all update altogether, security or not. The argument is that updates introduce features changes which bother their experience and force them to figure out where everything is.

In layman terms, security updates are seen as trojan horse for larger updates they don't want.

[irishsultan]

> If the phone still works and is able to do the job what difference does it make?

Windows XP still works, but that doesn't mean I would accept my computer being locked to that version of Windows.

Security updates are important, but so is the fact that you might want to run software on it that doesn't work with an older Android version.

[marvelous]

The Motos are well supported by aftermarket ROMs if you want updates. They might be among the cheapest with this.

[StreamBright]

Well I would like to see version 1.0 sofware that receives only security updates than the current status quo that we update a huge amount of your apps every week to change a button a bit. Every update there is a risk that something is going to be broken, even at the OS level. This is pathetic that we are going this direction.

[smcl]

As it stands I think that Nexus 5 is getting neither - no functionality or security updates

[xbmcuser]

This is partly because of hardware manfacturers not supporting the latest version of Android. I think Google latest attempt to separate hardware drivers from Android itself should help a lot though the advantage will really be seen 2 years from now. If what Google is attempting works just like iOS and iPhone you will get the latest version of the OS barring a few hardware based features that your phone hardware doesn't support.

[ust]

I have Nexus 4, too, and changed stock OS to LineageOS (previosly I've used cyanogenmod) and it works great, and now I have Android 7.1.2. and I receive weekly updates...

I realize that "flashing" the ROM is not what normal user would do, but it has become very easy to do, and it does extend the (usable) life of the phone..

[ghostDancer]

You can install LineageOS and get some updates , don't know how long but you get to extend the life of both phones.

[arjie]

AFAIK the Nexus 6P is still receiving updates.

I have one of those and an iPhone 7.