Your Android Phone has 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 can occur for his or her system. We clarify precisely what this implies and the way lengthy Samsung, Google and others help their gadgets.

What does an expiry date imply for an Android telephone?

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

There are basically two kinds of related updates:

• Android model updates carry new options, a revamped design and enhancements. In case your system now 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 necessary class. They patch identified safety vulnerabilities that attackers may exploit to achieve entry to your system. In the event you now not obtain safety updates, you’re utilizing a tool that may grow 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 system isn’t robotically unusable, however it turns into a rising safety threat – particularly in the event you use it for on-line banking, procuring or accessing delicate knowledge.

How lengthy do producers help their gadgets?

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

For all new smartphone fashions launched since 20 June 2025, producers are obliged to supply software program updates for not less than 5 years after the system is taken off the market.

The next desk reveals the size of help main producers are at present promising:

Find out how to discover out when help will finish in your system

First off, you’ll want your telephone’s model and mannequin identify and quantity. In the event you’re unsure, you will discover the total mannequin identify of your system within the telephone settings → “About telephone”. It can say, for instance, “Samsung Galaxy S26” or “Pixel 8 Professional”.

As soon as this, probably the most dependable supply for particular end-of-life dates is the web site endoflife.date. Underneath the ‘Units’ 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 now not be offered.

Alternatively, you’ll be able to search the web in your your mannequin, together with the time period “finish of software program help” or “replace assure”. For instance, “Samsung Galaxy S26 finish of help” or “Pixel 8 Professional software program updates till when”.

Or, as a tough information, verify your telephone’s settings for the date of the final safety patch. On most Android gadgets, you’ll discover this below Settings → About telephone → 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 system could now not be receiving help.

The very best present offers for the Samsung Galaxy S26

$749

$785

$788.99

$1031.99

What must you do when the expiry date is reached?

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

It’s significantly dangerous to proceed utilizing it for on-line banking, procuring and accessing electronic mail accounts or password managers. Safety vulnerabilities which might be now not patched could be exploited by malware.

As a devoted media system – for instance, for music, movies, easy video games or as a sat-nav within the automobile – you’ll be able to proceed to make use of a tool with out updates for some time, offered you don’t expose it to delicate knowledge.

When shopping for a brand new system, you must pay specific consideration to the replace assure. Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy gadgets from the S or Z sequence at present supply the longest help interval amongst Android gadgets at seven years (and are subsequently extra economical selection in the long term, even when the acquisition worth is larger). In the event you’re particularly on the lookout for a Samsung, you’ll discover an up-to-date overview of the very best fashions in our Galaxy shopping for information. It’s also possible to try our high suggestions amongst Google Pixel Telephones.

Additional studying: Which telephones will obtain Android 17?