At Google’s Pixel 8 event, one of the major announcements was the significant extension of software support for this year’s Pixel phones.
Google made a bold promise to provide 7 years of major OS and feature updates, surpassing even Apple’s commitment to its iOS devices. The only comparable offering might be the Fairphone 5, depending on how you assess it.
However, a couple of minor concerns come to mind – phones can break, and their batteries typically degrade significantly over a 7-year period. Fortunately, Google has taken these factors into account, and an official representative has confirmed that the company will also provide 7 years of hardware support. Spare parts for the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro will remain available throughout this 7-year duration.
This would make the Google Pixel 8 one of the longest-supported phones of all time, both in the Android and iOS realm.
Although Google hasn’t disclosed specific details, it’s likely that spare parts will be offered through its official website in Europe and India, while iFixit will serve as Google’s service partner in the US.
The Pixel 8 series brings the new Tensor G3 chip from Google with better AI capabilities and hardware performance. The two phones also have much brighter displays than before while the vanilla model finally has been upgraded to 120Hz.
The Google Pixel 8 Pro gets a temperature sensor for the first time, but you can’t measure your skin temperature just yet due to a lack of approval from health regulators. Maybe it will come in the future as an OTA update.