Qualcomm and Google announced extended support for Snapdragon 8 and 7-series chipsets this week, meaning owners of supported devices could be in line for up to 8 full years of software and security updates. Currently, the most we’re getting is 7 years, courtesy of Samsung and Google. Thanks to Qualcomm, it appears we could soon see devices launch with 8-year guarantees, which is wild to consider.
Qualcomm, in a blog post says that, “This move underscores a commitment by Qualcomm Technologies to bring as much value as possible to the products powered by our chipsets. The longer window promotes both device longevity and sustainability, while ensuring that device manufacturers have access to the latest version of Android during those eight years.”
What’s Important
- This is eligible for Android devices launching on new Snapdragon 8 and 7-series
- Increased device longevity and sustainability, so OEMs can update their devices to deliver longer-lasting Android experiences for our users on Snapdragon-powered devices
- This marks the longest software support period Qualcomm has provided for smartphone platforms available to device manufacturers
It’s important to note that it will be up to the OEMs utilizing the Snapdragon silicon to deliver these updates and take advantage of the program. Just because the support is there, that doesn’t mean any particular phone is guaranteed to receive updates for that long. However, with the announcement, it seems probable that both Samsung and Google would utilize it, considering the investment in sustainability they both preach.
Qualcomm says that Snapdragon 8 Elite-powered smartphones launching with Android 15 will be the first handsets that fall under this program. Furthermore, the program will cover the next five generations of Qualcomm Technologies ASICs as part of the collaboration with Google.
This is good news, even if the majority of us aren’t using our phones for this long.
// Qualcomm
