Software and security updates are the new displays, cameras, and batteries, as each phone maker looks for another way to differentiate its phones from the competition. The latest to join the crazy is Honor, who unveiled a new commitment to software and security updates during its AI strategy unveil today.
Honor makes some of the more interesting phones on the market, and until the launch of the Oppo Find N5, its Magic V3 was the world’s thinnest folding phone at just 4.4mm. Now, future folding phones and flagship devices will all get seven years of software and security updates.
Here’s which phones will get the updates and what it means for you.
Diving into Honor’s software commitment
In essence, Honor’s commitment is straightforward: seven years of security and software updates for flagship Honor Magic series phones. This is starting in the EU — unsurprising given that Honor phones aren’t sold in the US — but it’s unclear whether the commitment is just for EU buyers or a global commitment.
The first phone covered by the commitment is the Honor Magic 7 Pro, although it’s unclear whether any other existing devices will get the same support. The company says that in the future, it will offer the same support to other flagship devices, including both bar phones and folding phones.
This essentially means that any Magic flagship device should get this support, but it’s also unclear what will constitute a flagship device. There’s also no commitment to a specific timeline for updating phones, although most companies fail to hit these stated timeliness goals as it relies on several different variables.
Why this commitment matters
You may be wondering, why does this even matter? And truth be told, for most people, it won’t matter. However, as more consumers feel the pinch and smartphones become more expensive, there’s a growing contingent of phone users who are opting to keep their phones for longer.
In the UK, YouGov found that more than 55% of smartphone users want to keep using their phones for more than three years. In the US, analysis of trade-ins last year suggested that 33% of iPhone users and 22% of Android users had their phones for over three years, with the average lifetime of a device increasing to 3.7 years.
Honor’s commitment won’t impact users in the US, but for those in the UK — and especially those buying very expensive folding phones — it provides some reassurance that their phone won’t become obsolete, at least not for a few years.
It’s worth noting that this is for phones going forward, so devices like the Honor Magic V3 almost certainly won’t get an increase from their current commitment of four years of Android software updates and five years of security updates. The new commitment is a healthy increase and also brings Honor in line with the competition.
How does this compare with the competition?
The biggest competition — or rather, the most globally available competitor — is Samsung. Recent devices like the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and the Galaxy S25 series all get seven years of software and security updates. Samsung first adopted this commitment last year with the Galaxy S24 series, so any devices launched before will likely get four years of software and five years of security updates.
Honor’s other big competitor is Oppo (and OnePlus, depending on the market). For the flagship Oppo Find N5 foldable, the company has committed to just four years of major OS updates and six years of security updates. The same update schedule applies to the OnePlus 13, which is further surprising given it is a flagship like the Magic 7 Pro and Galaxy S25 Ultra.
Honor’s commitment to updates also brings it in line with Google’s Pixel 9 lineup, with the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold all getting seven years of guaranteed software and security updates.
Today’s commitment makes Honor only the third Android phone maker to commit to this update schedule, and while it’s disappointing that existing devices apart from the Magic 7 Pro won’t get the update, it makes future phones like the Honor Magic V4 more appealing.