Google's five years of software support for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro has a relatively large caveat

Google announced the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro to much attention this week. During its presentation, Google confirmed that the smartphones would receive five years of updates, supposedly because of its move away from Qualcomm SoCs.

To date, Pixel smartphones have received three years of OS and security patch updates, coverage that only OnePlus matched until recently. Older smartphones like the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL remain some of the first to receive OS upgrades, which cannot be said even for last-generation OnePlus flagships.

The likes of Samsung and Xiaomi have upped their games though, with the 11T series promised three OS upgrades and four years of security patch updates. Initially, Google was expected to bring four major OS updates to the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, as we reported. Unfortunately, the company can only guarantee OS upgrades until October 2024, or Android 15.

Hence, the Pixel 6 series matches its predecessors on OS upgrades, with another two years of security patch updates guaranteed. Arguably, that is commendable itself and is something that no other Android OEM offers. However, claiming that software support will last for five years during your launch presentation only to include caveats after the fact is misleading at best.

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