New T Mobile Phone

[luca19608]

I'm coming from a 6s. I'd like some advice on T Mobile Android phones. I really like the feel of the G6. Will this phone get updates? Is it better than an S7 Edge? Really new to the Android world, just looking for some help. Thanks

 

[jhilker]

I'm coming from a 6s. I'd like some advice on T Mobile Android phones. I really like the feel of the G6. Will this phone get updates? Is it better than an S7 Edge? Really new to the Android world, just looking for some help. Thanks

I can't give you info on the S7 Edge, but I've been very happy with my G6. Best phone I've ever had.

 

[chanchan05]

I'm coming from a 6s. I'd like some advice on T Mobile Android phones. I really like the feel of the G6. Will this phone get updates? Is it better than an S7 Edge? Really new to the Android world, just looking for some help. Thanks

The G6 is using a newer chipset, and while usually I would pick a Samsung, in this case the G6 is polished and would be a good choice, considering that the Samsung doesn't have a good history of optimization on Snapdragon chips. So in a case of G6 vs S7, I'd honestly pick the G6, even if I have never used an LG before. Lol.

 

[anon(9918034)]

I'm coming from a 6s. I'd like some advice on T Mobile Android phones. I really like the feel of the G6. Will this phone get updates? Is it better than an S7 Edge? Really new to the Android world, just looking for some help. Thanks

Yes the phone will get updates, the question is if when. Luckily TMobile has an update status page. There you can see what they are working on and the current stage of the update.

Android works differently than iOS. On iPhone apple puts out one update for all devices a few times a year. Good put out updates every month for core security issues. The rest of the updates for Google are done through google play services.

After Google releases and update, the manufacturer of said device has to go in and tweak what they need to for the device. Once that is done, the cell provider (in your case) TMobile will take the updated software and make sure it plays friendly with thier network. After all of that then the update gets pushed to the device. Most big phone makers like LG, Samsung, HTC run about 1 month behind the pixel and Nexus line for the latest Google security update.

The major firmware updates are a different story and the only Android I have used that has 7.1.1 was the HTC U11. Those for some reason those take Samsung and LG a while to put out. That I can't answer why and it can get frustrating. Especially since Android o will launch this fall and Samsung and LG will finally put 7.1.1 on thier devices.

 

[ubizmo]

The major firmware updates are a different story and the only Android I have used that has 7.1.1 was the HTC U11. Those for some reason those take Samsung and LG a while to put out. That I can't answer why and it can get frustrating. Especially since Android o will launch this fall and Samsung and LG will finally put 7.1.1 on thier devices.

I can't prove this but I suspect it's a financial matter. It costs money to tweak updates for particular models and skins. As far as the manufacturer is concerned, that's money down the drain, since they aren't getting any additional revenue from the buyer in return. Security updates are somewhat more urgent, since it's a major black eye for a company if there's a security breach on their phones that could have been prevented if they'd only sent out the security update.

To some extent it's also a black eye to fail to send out firmware updates, but less so. Most users are unaware of such things and have no expectations. The enthusiasts who really care, like those of us who post about these things on forums, are a minority.

As for how and why Apple keeps pushing out updates, even to old phones, they charge more for those phones to begin with, so the expense is covered. Android OEMs operate on a tight margin, making it a lot harder to justify the expense of firmware updates, unless there are fairly serious performance issues at stake that could affect sales. If LG actually plans to push Android O to the G6 they have no incentive to spend money on 7.1.

That, at least, is the way I see it.

 

[Mike Dee]

I can't prove this but I suspect it's a financial matter. It costs money to tweak updates for particular models and skins. As far as the manufacturer is concerned, that's money down the drain, since they aren't getting any additional revenue from the buyer in return. Security updates are somewhat more urgent, since it's a major black eye for a company if there's a security breach on their phones that could have been prevented if they'd only sent out the security update.

To some extent it's also a black eye to fail to send out firmware updates, but less so. Most users are unaware of such things and have no expectations. The enthusiasts who really care, like those of us who post about these things on forums, are a minority.

As for how and why Apple keeps pushing out updates, even to old phones, they charge more for those phones to begin with, so the expense is covered. Android OEMs operate on a tight margin, making it a lot harder to justify the expense of firmware updates, unless there are fairly serious performance issues at stake that could affect sales. If LG actually plans to push Android O to the G6 they have no incentive to spend money on 7.1.

That, at least, is the way I see it.

Apple updates are easier because they don't go through as many hands and as many devices.

 

[ubizmo]

Apple updates are easier because they don't go through as many hands and as many devices.

That's true, and in addition their OS is designed from the ground up for their hardware.

In any case, Android is what it is. The more it's optimized for a particular OEM hardware, the more time and cost are involved in delivering updates.

I bought my G6 after using a OnePlus One for almost three years. Then I got a OnePlus 5, hoping the goodness would continue, but it was a lemon, and I didn't feel like gambling on a refurb/replacement. Moreover, OnePlus has a mixed record on updates, as I guess most Android OEMs do. The OP5 was running Android 7.1 (Oxygen OS variant) and I did hesitate before buying the G6 for that reason. But in the end I decided to go with it. There are always compromises and on the whole the G6 seemed like a good choice. I'm still in my two-week trial period but I plan to keep it. Being stuck on 7.0 isn't enough to make me return it.

 

[anon(9918034)]

I can't prove this but I suspect it's a financial matter. It costs money to tweak updates for particular models and skins. As far as the manufacturer is concerned, that's money down the drain, since they aren't getting any additional revenue from the buyer in return. Security updates are somewhat more urgent, since it's a major black eye for a company if there's a security breach on their phones that could have been prevented if they'd only sent out the security update.

To some extent it's also a black eye to fail to send out firmware updates, but less so. Most users are unaware of such things and have no expectations. The enthusiasts who really care, like those of us who post about these things on forums, are a minority.

As for how and why Apple keeps pushing out updates, even to old phones, they charge more for those phones to begin with, so the expense is covered. Android OEMs operate on a tight margin, making it a lot harder to justify the expense of firmware updates, unless there are fairly serious performance issues at stake that could affect sales. If LG actually plans to push Android O to the G6 they have no incentive to spend money on 7.1.

That, at least, is the way I see it.

Apple updates are way easier because there is no different version for each phone. They all run the same iOS until it reaches the hardware limitations. All the carrier features are baked into iOS and divided up based on carrier vs unlocked when the updates roll out.

Android has to be released by Google. The let's say LG has to then take that and add and removed from it until it fits thier design language and features they want in it. They have to do that for several different phones with several different specifications. So each version needs to be tailored to that phones specific hardware to reach max effiecency for said device.

After that the carrier has to take that firmware and add in VoLTE, WiFi calling and all they other network specific features.

The security updates are faster because they don't contain major changes to the software, there is no need to reprogram the software to work well with each other.