Samsung might copy Google's trick: seven years of updates for the Galaxy S24.
Quoting the tl;dr in the linked article:
Samsung could be stepping up its game by offering seven years of major Android updates for the Galaxy S24 series, and the generous update policy might extend to other Galaxy flagships.
The Galaxy S24 series might also introduce charges for AI features like Live Translate and Pixel-like photo editing tools after 2025.
There's speculation that users may need to sign in to their Samsung accounts for certain AI functionalities.
My favorite phone in the last 10 years was the Samsung S8 Active, before that, the HTC One (front facing speakers). Before that, probably the Samsung FlipShot and LG Chocolate.
I miss innovation in phone designs. They're all the same phone now.
Anyone have any recommendations for the US? I was thinking a fairphone but I think that's UK only.
These are user-centric features that stifle revenue for the corporations that make these things, and unfortunately consumers have told corporations that they don't care enough about them.
You can switch to a community ROM like Lineage when they stop. They're A/B devices that support GSI images, you can install any GSI UI over the Sony firmware. In practice some of them support more features than others but they do work.
Also, I wouldn't get my hopes up about all these promises about 7 years of updates. Google is notorious for going back on their word and Samsung only parrots them to look good
I honestly don't see either of them delivering. Even if they wanted to, neither of them has the logistics for long term support of their devices and I doubt they've developed them overnight.
Motorola has been making a lot of midrange devices lately with Mediatek chipsets and I owned one for 2 years. My particular device (edge 20 fuaion) sold pretty well but there was no ROM development at all.
So pick one with a Qualcomm chip and you will probably have a good time. I Think the recent Moto Edge 40 pro got some Custom rom development lately.