Android Phones have an Expiry Date: Here’s How to Find it

The “end-of-life” date for an Android smartphone is the day on which the producer stops offering safety updates. Only a few customers know when this may occur for his or her machine. We clarify precisely what this implies and the way lengthy Samsung, Google and others assist their units.

What does an expiry date imply for an Android cellphone?

In contrast to iPhone, there’s no normal replace coverage for Android. Though Google develops the general working system, it’s the respective producer – Samsung, Xiaomi, OnePlus, or whoever constructed the machine – who decides whether or not and for a way lengthy a tool receives updates.

There are primarily two sorts of related updates:

• Android model updates convey new options, a revamped design and enhancements. In case your machine not receives new Android variations, some new apps will finally cease working. Or they gained’t run with the most recent options.

• Safety updates are the extra vital class. They patch recognized safety vulnerabilities that attackers may exploit to achieve entry to your machine. Should you not obtain safety updates, you’re utilizing a tool that may turn out to be more and more weak over time, even when it isn’t instantly obvious.

Your cell phone’s end-of-life date is the purpose at which the producer stops offering these updates. After that, the machine isn’t robotically unusable, but it surely turns into a rising safety danger – particularly in the event you use it for on-line banking, procuring or accessing delicate knowledge.

How lengthy do producers assist their units?

The excellent news is that replace durations have turn out to be considerably longer lately. Samsung and Google have led the way in which, and different producers have adopted swimsuit – partly as a result of the EU launched statutory minimal necessities with the Ecodesign for Sustainable Merchandise Regulation (ESPR), which got here into pressure in June 2025.

For all new smartphone fashions launched since 20 June 2025, producers are obliged to offer software program updates for no less than 5 years after the machine is taken off the market.

The next desk exhibits the size of assist main producers are presently promising:

The right way to discover out when assist will finish on your machine

First off, you’ll want your cellphone’s model and mannequin identify and quantity. Should you’re unsure, you could find the complete mannequin identify of your machine within the cellphone settings → “About cellphone”. It would say, for instance, “Samsung Galaxy S26” or “Pixel 8 Professional”.

As soon as you already know this, essentially the most dependable supply for particular end-of-life dates is the web site endoflife.date. Underneath the ‘Gadgets’ tab, you’ll discover an outline by producer: Samsung, Google, OnePlus and others. Clicking on the producer shows a desk itemizing all fashions with the precise date from which safety updates will not be supplied.

Alternatively, you possibly can search the web on your your mannequin, together with the time period “finish of software program assist” or “replace assure”. For instance, “Samsung Galaxy S26 finish of assist” or “Pixel 8 Professional software program updates till when”.

Or, as a tough information, test your cellphone’s settings for the date of the final safety patch. On most Android units, you’ll discover this beneath Settings → About cellphone → Android model or Safety patch degree. If the date is greater than three to 6 months in the past, that is an preliminary signal that your machine could not be receiving assist.

The most effective present offers for the Samsung Galaxy S26

$785

$849.99

$974.99

$1009

What do you have to do when the expiry date is reached?

A smartphone that not receives updates doesn’t must be consigned to a drawer right away. However you ought to be conscious of the dangers concerned and how one can shield your self.

It’s notably dangerous to proceed utilizing it for on-line banking, procuring and accessing e-mail accounts or password managers. Safety vulnerabilities which are not patched will be exploited by malware.

As a devoted media machine – for instance, for music, movies, easy video games or as a sat-nav within the automotive – you possibly can proceed to make use of a tool with out updates for some time, supplied you don’t expose it to delicate knowledge.

When shopping for a brand new machine, you need to pay specific consideration to the replace assure. Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy units from the S or Z sequence presently provide the longest assist interval amongst Android units at seven years (and are due to this fact extra economical alternative in the long term, even when the acquisition worth is larger). Should you’re particularly in search of a Samsung, you’ll discover an up-to-date overview of the perfect fashions in our Galaxy shopping for information. You can too take a look at our prime suggestions amongst Google Pixel Telephones.

Additional studying: Which telephones will obtain Android 17?