Would you purchase a new unlocked device that's still running on the previous generation Android OS?

DrakenFX · January 24, 2018 1:56AM

@jimlloyd40 said:
So if Google releases Android P in September but the Axon 9 comes out in August with Oreo it sounds like no one will purchase the Axon 9. I would because the Axon 9 wouldn't come out until around December if it's going to have Android P. Nobody except possibly Essential will have Android P for around 4 months after Google releases Android P. It's been that way for as long as Android has existed.

Android O & P , I really don't mind have either of those , BUT won't buy a device with Nougat for couple of reasons and of those reasons is "Project Treble Support "

If any device have N out of the box is 90% change Treble will NOT be there , the other 10% is if they coded / created what's needed for Treble (having Vendor partition).

If any device have O out of the box , Project Treble is supported by default.

freeza · January 24, 2018 4:47AM

@jimlloyd40 said:
So if Google releases Android P in September but the Axon 9 comes out in August with Oreo it sounds like no one will purchase the Axon 9. I would because the Axon 9 wouldn't come out until around December if it's going to have Android P. Nobody except possibly Essential will have Android P for around 4 months after Google releases Android P. It's been that way for as long as Android has existed.

... I'm fairly certain every person who said no has an exception for this exact situation. It is not very logical to expect a phone releasing in August to have software releasing in September. I'm sure everyone is aware of the software development process and wouldn't expect a phone they knew was coming out a month after the release of new software to contain said software. I believe it is accurate to assume--and maybe even implied--that the OP was about releasing a phone this year with Nougat as opposed to Oreo.

jasone · January 24, 2018 8:45AM

There is no way I would buy a new phone a few months after an OS release with an older OS on it. That sounds very lazy for a phone manufacturer to do and gives me no faith that they would update their phone.

Unfortunately, it reminds me a lot of the ZTE Blade V8 Pro which is a great piece of hardware that launched with older software and hasn't been updated since. This is a phone I could have easily recommended to many people because of the hardware but never did so because of the state of the software.

It is a sad state of affairs when an OEM releases a great piece of hardware and just leaves it out to rot with old outdated software and no support. It makes the product look bad and the company look worse. Then users are punished with a phone lacking many new features and functions.

MSTK · January 24, 2018 9:38AM

Unless the person is somewhat techy the average consumer probably will not care unless someone points out a feature on their phone that it cannot do because of old software/hardware. And it would need to be a feature that they really need or want to care about. I have a few old phones from about 3 years ago. They are usable but lacking when trying to install certain apps on them. The apps will not install.

syntap · January 24, 2018 9:40AM

I voted yes, I would, with the caveat that "unlocked" includes an unlockable bootloader.

An example why... I have several phones in my collection that run Lineage OS very well, as I recently had to do when a Nexus 5x in our family ran into a documented bootloop issue following an Oreo update. LG was great and replaced the motherboard out of warranty to address the issue, but I needed to backfill with an old phone while I waited. Out came a shelved OnePlus One, many years old but has Lineage OS support and ran modern Android just fine. Great, in fact.

So for me if a phone has an unlockable bootloader, the launch OS doesn't mean as much to me because I can put what I want on it. For me that is better scenario than getting the latest OS at launch but then manufacturer updates stop, and I can't update the OS even though the hardware would easily support it.

syntap · January 24, 2018 10:58AM

@westside80 said:
That's beside the point. Most people aren't going to buy a new phone just to unlock the bootloader and load a different ROM. Techies might but most people aren't techies.

I wasn't aware the poll was limited to non-techies and their point of view, I just read the "would you" part of the poll question... sorry!

schwartzasher · January 24, 2018 11:54AM

@jimlloyd40 said:

@westside80 said:

@syntap said:

@westside80 said:
That's beside the point. Most people aren't going to buy a new phone just to unlock the bootloader and load a different ROM. Techies might but most people aren't techies.

I wasn't aware the poll was limited to non-techies and their point of view, I just read the "would you" part of the poll question... sorry!

Don't apologize to me. It's your opinion. The poll isn't limited and I never said it was. I was just saying that the general public probably don't even know what Lineage or any other ROM is and they aren't going to buy a phone because of an unlocked bootloader. That's me assuming that ZTE is aiming to market the Axon 9 to the general public and not a specific group of techies.

The public wouldn't know what an unlocked bootloader is either. The ordinary, everyday user of a smartphone couldn't even tell you what version of the OS their phone has.

The thing is the ordinary user who they are talking about in the survey is one who knows what the software of the phone is and asks about Android Oreo. More people than you know about actually kno

saeedted · January 24, 2018 12:38PM

No. Please release the new hardware with new software otherwise I will question the company's capability of providing software support for said device. Also, there is the worry where people have issues when they update their phone to a new version- I think its best to avoid that.

TEXASMADE1978 · January 24, 2018 1:45PM

Would you buy a new car with an old engine or an old transmission? Of course not, you would want the engine or transmission that comes with that year's model.
Same with my devices. I want the newest software available as well as the latest security update to ensure that my device is set up to run at an optimum level for the time being and near future.

I definitely will not buy a phone that is running any version of Nougat or older, due to the fact that any phone released with 8.0/8.1 Oreo will have to support Treble, thus making updating to the newest versions of Android easier and quicker.

ryampolsky · January 24, 2018 3:35PM

@DrakenFX said:

@jimlloyd40 said:
So if Google releases Android P in September but the Axon 9 comes out in August with Oreo it sounds like no one will purchase the Axon 9. I would because the Axon 9 wouldn't come out until around December if it's going to have Android P. Nobody except possibly Essential will have Android P for around 4 months after Google releases Android P. It's been that way for as long as Android has existed.

Android O & P , I really don't mind have either of those , BUT won't buy a device with Nougat for couple of reasons and of those reasons is "Project Treble Support "

If any device have N out of the box is 90% change Treble will NOT be there , the other 10% is if they coded / created what's needed for Treble (having Vendor partition).

If any device have O out of the box , Project Treble is supported by default.

Well, it's not impossible to release a Treble-ready phone running nougat. Essential did that. Just set up the partitions that Treble needs and when the time comes, voila. So, I'd rephrase the whole question. "Would you buy any new device that is not configured for Treble when it gets Oreo?" But yes, @jmlloyd40, odds are the A9 will be Oreo out of the box, so - Treble day one!

DrakenFX · January 24, 2018 3:38PM

@ryampolsky
It is possible to bring Treble ready device with N, but will need/require more work than devices shipping with O.

TEXASMADE1978 · January 24, 2018 8:49PM

Would you buy a new car with an old engine or an old transmission? Of course not, you would want the engine or transmission that comes with that year's model.
Same with my devices. I want the newest software available as well as the latest security update to ensure that my device is set up to run at an optimum level for the time being and near future. I definitely will not buy a phone that is running any version of Nougat or older, due to the fact that any phone released with 8.0/8.1 Oreo will have to support Treble, thus making updating to the newest versions of Android easier and quicker. > @DrakenFX said:

@ryampolsky
It is possible to bring Treble ready device with N, but will need/require more work than devices shipping with O.

I don't see many OEM's spending extra time/money to make phones shipping with Nougat, Treble ready. IMO their time & money would be better spent shipping devices with Oreo, thus Treble supported.
Granted their are exceptions to the rule such as Essential, and Google.

cf07 · January 24, 2018 10:21PM

I am happy with vendors that will update their phone to latest OSif hardware is not the stumbling block.

diamonddave · January 24, 2018 10:35PM

If the purpose of this poll is to gauge whether or not I would buy the Axon 9 with Android 7.1.2, the answer would be "it depends on the rest of the device details". Specifically, I won't touch the Axon 9 unless it has a industry leading camera. I can live with Nougat just fine. But I'll be damned if I buy a smartphone that forces me to carry another phone just so I can take competent pictures. The camera on the Axon 9 is the most important feature for me. I won't consider the Axon 9 if ZTE just settles for anything less than a superior camera . As always, just my two cents.

freeza · January 25, 2018 1:32AM

Hopefully there's another enhanced version with 8gb of ram and please for the love of everything good, support unlocking the bootloader

redbird · January 25, 2018 7:54AM

I would prefer the current operating system. As a part of the current operating system, I'll be looking for a clear policy for releasing security updates and for how long.

Given the choice between a new device with an up to date operating system that is unlocked and one that isn't. I may give preference to the unlocked one so one could easily switch to a third party rom that better supports that device.

tfoust1012 · January 25, 2018 9:08AM

I voted yes, but that is only assuming that the phone offered something completely remarkable that other phones did not.

hollap · January 25, 2018 11:23AM

@jimlloyd40 said:

@schwartzasher said:

@jimlloyd40 said:

@westside80 said:

@syntap said:

@westside80 said:
That's beside the point. Most people aren't going to buy a new phone just to unlock the bootloader and load a different ROM. Techies might but most people aren't techies.

I wasn't aware the poll was limited to non-techies and their point of view, I just read the "would you" part of the poll question... sorry!

Don't apologize to me. It's your opinion. The poll isn't limited and I never said it was. I was just saying that the general public probably don't even know what Lineage or any other ROM is and they aren't going to buy a phone because of an unlocked bootloader. That's me assuming that ZTE is aiming to market the Axon 9 to the general public and not a specific group of techies.

The public wouldn't know what an unlocked bootloader is either. The ordinary, everyday user of a smartphone couldn't even tell you what version of the OS their phone has.

The thing is the ordinary user who they are talking about in the survey is one who knows what the software of the phone is and asks about Android Oreo. More people than you know about actually kno

@schwartzasher I stand by what I said. The AVERAGE everyday user of a smartphone does not know what version of Android they are currently using. The pharmacy that I deliver for has around 50 employees and people will come to me and ask a question about a problem that they're having or how to do something on their phone. Without looking at their phone I'll ask what version of Android they are running so that I can respond. I get an answer like I'm using a Samsung Galaxy phone and I'll say okay but what version of Android and they don't have a clue. Those are the average users. 99% of the people in this forum are above an average user. An average user doesn't join a forum.

I'd be willing to bet the AVERAGE user is also not buying an unlocked phone in the first place, which is what the poll is asking.

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Would you purchase a new unlocked device that's still running on the previous generation Android OS?

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