Oppo phones will now get up to four years of major Android updates, five years of security patches

Ben Schoon | Dec 21 2022 - 6:00 am PT

The software commitment of Android OEMs has been getting much better in recent years, with Oppo now the latest brand to commit to four years of major Android updates and five years of security patches.

In a press release this week, Oppo announced that its Android 13 rollout has been the fastest in the company’s history.

ColorOS 13 has rolled out to 33 devices so far, over 50% more during the same time period as Oppo managed with its Android 12/ColorOS 12 upgrade last year. The rollout started with the Find X5 series back in August, just days after Pixel phones, and has expanded widely in the time since.

But the bigger news from Oppo this week is that ColorOS is getting a new update policy, with Android updates promised for longer periods of time on select devices.

Oppo says that this new policy will guarantee four major Android updates and five years of security patches on “flagship” devices launched in 2023 and beyond. It stands to reason that the Find X6 series and perhaps the Find N2 Flip will be among those eligible for the new policy.

OPPO also announced the new ColorOS update policy. This includes the commitment to guarantee four major ColorOS updates with 5 years of security patches for global users on selected flagship models starting in 2023.Through it, OPPO aims to bring longer-lasting and more stable intelligent experiences to global users by continuing to build on ColorOS.

This policy mirrors that of OnePlus, which also committed to upping its software support timelines starting next year. Samsung, meanwhile, has offered the same guarantee on its flagship devices since early 2022, and extended that back to devices launched in late 2021 as well. Google offers a similar, although slightly lesser policy with three years of major Android updates and five years of security updates, though Google’s policy also extends to its more affordable A-Series devices.