How long should a phone last?

As the wheels turn, you can rely on Google Pixel to help you make plans, document big moments, and keep in touch with friends – while the phone itself gets along the way. To protect your sensitive data from new threats and you from new-phone FOMO, Pixel 8 Pro and Pixel 8 come with seven years of Google phone security updates¹ Feature Drops,² and OS upgrades. So the Pixel you buy today will only get better over time.

“We know Pixel users love our devices, so we’re always trying to think of new ways to keep them in their hands for as long as possible,” says Aisha Sharif, Pixel product manager.

Multiple times a year, you’ll get fresh new features and world-class security updates. And you’ll keep getting them all the way into 2030. 

How long should your phone last? Over the past few years, Sharif and her team noticed users were holding on to their phones for longer periods of time.

Some people fell in love with the feel or colour of a specific Pixel phone, or grew attached to the device they’d been using for years. Others bought the newest Pixel and passed their old phones down to their children to use.

The Pixel team needed a solution that allowed users to keep the phones they love while giving them access to the newest features and security updates as well as ways to get the most out of their battery life. “At Pixel, we want our devices to get better over time,” Sharif says.

Each new Pixel Feature Drop brings updates that ensure your smartphone’s lifespan keeps improving. In December 2023, Pixel 8 Pro phones received updates that included Gemini Nano, Google’s most efficient AI model built for on-device tasks. Gemini Nano powers Summarise in Recorder,³ which provides a summary of recorded conversations, interviews, presentations, and more.

This Feature Drop also added Video Boost, which uses computational photography in the cloud to adjust colour, lighting, stabilisation, and graininess in your videos.⁴ Portrait mode in photos also got refreshed, with a new model that enables Balance light to remove harsh shadows.⁵ And those are just a few of the many updates in a single Feature Drop.

“It’s like getting a gift,” Sharif explains. “There’s that exciting moment when you purchase your new phone. But it doesn’t stop getting exciting after that point.”

Plus, behind the scenes, Pixel is getting safer all the time thanks to regular security updates and bug fixes. The aim is to deliver updates to Pixel users on a consistent basis. This means security updates, bug fixes, and feature updates won’t roll out on a specific day each month – they’ll arrive as soon as they’re ready.

Sharif stressed that each new Feature Drop is designed to work seamlessly with existing Pixel hardware.

For Sharif and her team, the seven years of updates are the culmination of years of work to make Pixel feel fresh but also familiar. “We want you to feel like you’re always getting a new phone,” she says. “But it’s still the old Pixel that you love.”

So how long can a phone last? If it’s Pixel 8 Pro or Pixel 8, a lot longer than you’re used to.