Why we still need the Nexus

TECHLIFE’S EDITOR WEIGHS IN ON WHETHER GOOGLE’S NEXUS DEVICES ARE STILL A GOOD IDEA, OR WHETHER THEY’RE ACTUALLY UNDERMINING OTHER ANDROID HARDWARE MAKERS.

GOOGLE RECENTLY ANNOUNCED the latest refresh of its Nexus smartphones — this year we’re getting a 5.2-inch model (the 5X) made by LG and a 5.7-inch unit (the 6P) from Chinese vendor Huawei. Australian pricing and release dates were still TBD as we went to print, but expect them to be pricier than their predecessors, as the Aussie dollar has taken a pummelling over the last year.

Now, there’ve been arguments against Nexus devices since they rst debuted, and the announcement of these new models has some commentators again suggesting that they’re no longer necessary and that, rather than providing an aspirational pointer for other Android makers to emulate, they’re just middling devices that further muddy an already-overcrowded Android market.

From a hardware perspective, that argument makes some sense. e new Nexuses don’t really break any ground in terms of agship hardware features or even what’s under the hood. And even considering the so ware side of Android, vendor versions of the OS have certainly improved. Even Samsung’s tuned up its notoriously clunky Touch Wiz interface to the point where there’s really very little to complain about. But that said, there’s one spot that continues to be an open, weeping wound in the side of what is an otherwise healthy and vibrant smartphone platform: OS updates, or lack thereof. e current situation with Android is only marginally better than when Nexus devices were rst introduced: there are no guarantees.

is isn’t just about getting the latest glitzy OS features either. As 2015 has shown, security on both Android and iOS is by no means bulletproof, so being able to roll out patches for vulnerabilities quickly is something every vendor should aspire to.

And in that department, Apple’s set the bar very high. Buy an iPhone and you’re guaranteed major OS updates and important security patches for at least 3 years.

Buy on Android and you’ll get no such assurance.

Some vendors are admittedly better at this than others. Sony and Motorola deliberately keep their builds of Android close to stock to make it simple to roll out updates in a timely fashion. But with Samsung, who sells many more Android phones than any other company, unless you’re on a agship device that’s less than a couple of months old, you’ll be lucky to see a major OS update within 3 months of Google releasing it.

Device makers aren’t entirely at fault for this delay — carriers o en hold things up with internal testing too, adding weeks or months to the process. But given that all iPhone owners get major iOS updates on the same day, the reasons for Android delays don’t hold as much water. Of course, the Nexus program mostly works the same way — which shows that it can be done on Android, too. And as long as that remains the case, there’ll still be a strong argument for Google to make Nexus gear.