Xiaomi promises four years of updates for upcoming 11T and 11T Pro devices
Xiaomi promises to provide the upcoming 11T and 11T Pro devices with Android upgrades for three years and security updates for four years. Other devices do not receive the extended support, although Xiaomi says it is investigating that possibility.
Xiaomi says it does this because smartphones last longer. Currently, only the 11T and 11T Pro smartphones will receive four years of support. The company is investigating whether it will also continue to update older Xiaomi smartphones for four years. “It is not an easy task for Xiaomi to achieve this,” said Albert Shan, head of product and technology at Xiaomi International, in a blog post.
Last month, Xiaomi announced that the company would release a new security update at least every quarter, for more than 60 smartphones. How frequently users can expect an update of the operating system in the meantime varies per device. Devices from subsidiaries POCO and Redmi are also supported.
Xiaomi is not the first company to promise to support its smartphones for longer. Samsung announced at the beginning of this year that it would provide security updates to all Galaxy phones from 2019 and newer for four years. Cheaper models such as the A10, A20 and A30 will also be supported for longer. For devices from 2018 and older, the situation of at least three years of security updates will be maintained.
The Chinese OPPO announced a few months ago that all its smartphones would receive security updates for three years. The company’s cheaper phones will also receive at least one new Android upgrade during the device’s lifetime. OnePlus also recently announced that its flagship devices will receive Android upgrades for three years and security updates for four years.
In Europe, there is a debate about the support for smartphones by manufacturers. The German government is said to have urged the European Commission to require manufacturers to release security updates for Android and iOS devices for a minimum of seven years. According to the German government, repair parts must also be available for seven years. Another bill from the European Commission talks about five years of mandatory security updates.