See Which Manufacturer is the Fastest to Release Android Updates

Choosing a new smartphone from an increasingly crowded market is a tough job. Everyone decides on what to purchase after deciding the factors most important to them. Some people want a better camera, some want a bigger battery and some might want it to have the latest software updates as soon as they are available.

Today, we are going to look at the complex world of Android software updates, and why that matters for a lot of people who want the best and the most secure updates.

Android OS Updates

Software updates are a very important factor for people when choosing a new smartphone. It depends more on the manufacturer, rather than on the phone, whether they’ll keep on updating their devices or not.

It’ll be nice for people to know which OEMs update their phones timely and which don’t. The people over at Apteligent have done exactly this.

If you’re deciding which Android manufacturer to go with, then Apteligent’s recent report may be useful for you. So, let’s dive into the report and see what is says.

Motorola Takes the Lead!

Apteligent examined the device data for major OEMs such as Samsung, LG, Sony, HTC, Motorola and ZTE to determine which manufacturer pushes out updates the fastest. Nexus devices were excluded from this test because they always receive updates the fastest, regardless of the manufacturer.

The report compared the time it took to upgrade from Android 5.x Lollipop to Android 6.0 Marshmallow. You can see the update speed graph for both the US and India.

 

Screenshot (202)

Screenshot (203)

As apparent from the above graph, Motorola takes the lead in both markets. Motorola was the first to push Android 6.0 to its devices, with Moto X Pure and Moto X Style being the first to receive the update. Once that was done, Motorola began updating more and more of its compatible devices.

What About the Other Manufacturers?

LG took a similar approach, by updating the G4 first and later rolling out the update to compatible devices. HTC pushed the update to all compatible devices once it was ready. Samsung and Sony waited quite a bit before finally pushing out the update to their devices.

Reliability of the Updates

Of course, simply pushing out fast updates is not the answer and some OEMs are right in their approach to offer reliable updates even at the cost of a few weeks’ delay. It won’t make much sense to offer updates which crash apps and are filled with bugs (looking at you Galaxy S5).

The report also included a reliability test at the end which calculates the reliability of the updates by recording the crash rates of these updates. It concluded that Sony, one of the slowest to offer updates, is the winner with an average crash rate of just 0.08%. It’s slightly less prone to crashing as compared to the rest. Only ZTE had a higher rate of crashing.

Screenshot (205)

Conclusion

On the other hand, the report doesn’t mention the bugs. Sometimes, fast updates result in a buggy OS, breaking some of the most useful features making OEM-skinned smartphones unique. The best approach would be to find a middle ground and offer updates faster, not necessarily fastest, but not at the cost of OS functionality.

At the end of the day, it’s only Nexus phones that receive the updates the fastest. So the answer for anyone looking for an Android smartphone that gets the latest updates, a Nexus phone (especially those released in the last 1.5 years) will do.

However, it might not suit everyone’s needs. So, if you’re going with any other manufacturer, Motorola seems to be the answer as it has proven in both markets that it provides the fastest updates.

Who is your favorite Android OEM? And for what reason? Let us know in the comments below!


  • Why every manufacture release their software update first in US? Does they need to develop different software for every region?

      • You are right but my point is can’t they just release the software update for every region at the same time.

        • They can’t exactly do that. There are several technical factors that prevent them from doing so. First of all, software updates for AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, etc. phones are separate from those of unlocked phones. So each of those carriers’ locked phones have to get a separate software update (unique for each phone model and cellular carrier); the update is pushed through the respective cellular provider, instead of OEM. Then, even the unlocked versions throughout the world aren’t the same. Unlocked version being sold in the US are usually different from those being sold in the EU, those being sold in the EU are different from those being sold in the Middle East, so on and so forth. So one phone has tens of different models and each model has to get a different software update.

          If you’ve ever done rooting/flashing, you know that flashing a Verizon phone’s Bootloader/Kernel/ROM on a non-Verizon phone of the same model mostly results in the phone being bricked (if you’re successful in flashing, that is. Most phones/recoveries will prevent you from flashing incorrect software, but there are exceptions to this rule).

          • its more like US and rest of the world (english speaking world)
            US phones usually are on qualcomm
            non US uses different chips (samsung)
            you can flash (different regions) mostly on all non US phones, exmple you can flash europe firmware on phones from hongkong/singapore/pakistan….etc

            • Mostly, but not necessarily. Note 3, Note 4, as well as Note 5 EU versions sported Qualcomm. It’s at the discretion of the OEM.

              • i meant US uses qualcomm, rest uses different chips… aka mix, but again mostly non qualcomm

        • majority of US phones are carrier based, oem’s have no hand in the update/upgrades.
          hope this answers.

  • Bought Droid turbo, having lollipop 5.1 … Battery draining fast… Come to know that lollipop drains the turbo battery.. Waiting for the marshmallow to come :( Suggest me guys which charger should I use fr this device.. As I am using DVe 3 amp charger which charge it in 2 hour 40 mins :(

  • Using MOTO G for few years now, no issues or bugs. Get updates few months after they are relaesed in US.

    More Expensive Samsung and Huawei Mobile, never updated.

  • These days security vulnerabilities in Android are being discovered so I would say that it is more important to know which OEM is the fastest to release the SECURITY updates. Android OS updates are usually done once a year and are more concerned with adding new features, changes in design, etc.

    In my case, I own a Google Nexus 5 with Android 6.0. Every month, it gets installed with security patches thereby eliminating any security vulnerabilities as soon as they are published.

    With the promise of timely security and OS updates, a person should look no further than buying a Nexus smartphone.


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