On April 5th, LG confirmed its plans to exit the smartphone business by July 31st. But in a surprise twist, the company now promises three years of Android OS updates for “premium” phones released 2019 and later, plus two years of updates for select budget handsets released in 2020.
LG’s press release is a bit vague and doesn’t include a concrete timeline for its devices. But the company confirms that G-series, V-series, Velvet, and Wing devices released 2019 and later fall under its “premium” label. These devices will receive three years of OS updates from their release date—meaning that 2020 handsets like the LG Wing and Velvet, which launched with Android 10, will complete their lifecycle running Android 13 (assuming that Google maintains its yearly update schedule).
As for budget handsets, LG confirms that “certain 2020 models such as LG Stylo and K series will receive two OS updates.” In other words, phones like the LG K62 and the LG Stylo 6 will end their lifecycle running Android 12. At the time of writing, LG hasn’t confirmed if other 2020 budget handsets like the LG Xpression Plus 3 will receive long-term update support.
While we’re sad to see LG leave the phone business, it seems that this was the best possible outcome for people who actually own an LG handset. LG has never been great at updating its phones, and devices covered under this guarantee probably wouldn’t make it through three years of updates if LG had decided to stay in the game.
Anyway, don’t expect these updates to come in a timely manner. LG’s 2020 devices are still running Android 10 and aren’t scheduled to get their Android 11 update until the end of this year. There’s also the possibility that LG will fail to meet its promise, which is something to keep in mind if you’re thinking of buying a discounted LG phone.
Source: LG
