[ryuuchin]

The obvious thing to say is to just get a Nexus/Pixel device and enjoy your updates but I'm sure this isn't an option for some people.

I think the best thing that you can do to ensure you still get security updates is either make sure you get a device with an unlocked bootloader or hope there's a root exploit available so you can put something like LinageOS[1] on it.

I picked up an Essential Phone (on the cheap) for the former even though they appear to be getting timely updates so far (one day behind pixel) if you're willing to sideload with adb (and promises of support for 3 years). Also managed to grab it for < $150 TOTAL (sprint lease after buyout on day 1). They really seem to want to offload some of the stock.

I don't think I'll ever buy an android phone that's not a pixel (formerly nexus) that's not unlocked again.

[1] https://lineageos.org/

Edit: On second thought some of what I wrote is probably not correct[2].

[2] https://twitter.com/CopperheadOS/status/852833915073056769

[macspoofing]

>The obvious thing to say is to just get a Nexus/Pixel device and enjoy your updates

... for 2 years.

[kbwt]

... if you buy it on release day.

[ryuuchin]

It's 3 years now with the Pixel. The Google branded devices have always received timely updates. That's the only point I was trying to make. I'm not saying this is ideal, just pointing it out.

Also unless you get the Verizon version it's going to be unlocked so you can load whatever you want on it.

[slyall]

Nexus 5x and 6p was always 2 years of Android version updates plus another year of security. They have recently increased that by a month or two.

https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/4457705?hl=en

Add me to the list of Nexus users who like plain Android with guaranteed updates but don't really want to pay $650+ for our next phone.