Honor Commits to 7 Years of Android Updates, Unveils 'Alpha Plan' AI Strategy

Honor just copied the best feature from Google and Samsung phones

Honor now offers seven years of updates for its phones -- here's why that's a big deal Honor makes some excellent Android phones, but it's been behind Samsung and Google in terms of updates. That's about to change. As announced at its MWC 2025 keynote, Honor is bringing seven full years of updates to its Magic series devices, including regular flagship phones like the Magic7 Pro and foldables (although the current Magic V3 will miss out on this new policy). That makes it the third Android phone maker to do so, after Google and Samsung. This is part of Honor's newly-announced "Alpha Plan," the company's new mantra for being an AI ecosystem company over a device-focused one. The plan makes several changes to Honor's previous focuses. That includes big new investments and enhanced collaboration with Google and chipmaker Qualcomm, an AI Connect suite for sharing files between Android and iOS and new AI-powered imaging and safety tools. It's not clear exactly how this will play out yet, but it sounds like Honor's phones will be part of the plan going forward for some time. Longer software support helps keep otherwise fully-functional devices going for longer, hopefully preventing some unnecessary or wasteful upgrades. Other Android brands offer between two and five years for their flagship products, which shows just how far this newly-minted trio of phone makers is in the lead. There are still questions as to if offering this much support is a meaningful benefit though. Last year, the CEO of Android phone brand OnePlus argued that there's no guarantee that your phone will be capable of handling things smoothly by the time its seventh software upgrade arrives, so promising so many updates is perhaps irrelevant. Interestingly, Honor's new policy refers to seven years of Android updates, unlike Samsung which has switched to talking about seven generations of Android support. Even with rumors that Android 16 is coming earlier than expected this year, we should still only see a new version of Android every year. But if Google decides to pick up the pace again, perhaps that will lead to Honor offering a longer update cycle. Honor didn't have any new phones to show off today, but the Magic7 Pro and Magic V3 remain great devices to pick up if they're sold where you live. Instead, Honor's hardware focus was on the rest of its ecosystem, with a new Honor Tab V9 tablet, Honor Watch 5 Ultra smartwatch and Honor Earbuds Open.

Honor just matched Samsung and Pixel for Android updates

Google has filled Android with 'recommendations' to the point they are now unbearable Summary Honor promises seven years of Android updates, matching Google and Samsung's pledge. Samsung's high-end phones receive 7 years of updates, while lower-tier models get 6 years. Honor becomes the third major brand to commit to an extended software support pledge. The battle for longest software support on Android phones is heating up with a new brand promising to offer extended operating system updates for its products. Honor, the brand behind Magic smartphones, is promising seven years of Android updates to its latest phone as well as future handsets. The Honor Magic 7 Pro is the latest smartphone from the brand, which was revealed for global markets in January this year with a promise of five years of OS updates. That has now changed, and Honor is now pledging for seven years of updates taking it through to January 2032. That's likely to be Android 22. Related 5 reasons you should be jealous you can't buy an Honor Magic 7 Pro 2025 is off to a magical start Posts Honor's software is called MagicOS, and the latest handset launched on its version called MagicOS 9. If you've bought a Magic 7 Pro, expect to get extended security updates and operating system changes up to whatever the company calls its version of Android 22. The Google Pixel 8 series was the first time we saw a brand promise seven years of updates, and we've seen that same promise on all of Google's phones since that point. Soon after, Samsung confirmed its Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24 Plus and Galaxy S24 Ultra would get the same promise of seven years of updates. Samsung has done the same for its foldable phones and its Galaxy S25 series. Samsung hasn't made the promise across its entire line either, with its new Galaxy A56, Galaxy A36 and Galaxy A26 getting six years of updates rather than the seven reserved for its most expensive devices. Only three brands so far It initially seemed like we'd see a wave of other manufacturers compete to offer similar updates, but the last year has been quiet for other brands joining the pledge. Honor is now the third major brand to commit to this many updates. Honor has confirmed users of the Magic 7 Pro in Europe will first get the promise of extended software support. The brand also confirmed it will offer the extended software support to its future flagship models, whether they're standard phones or foldables. Note that the company is referring to "flagship" phones here, so we don't expect to see similar promises for the brand's cheaper handsets. The company's latest foldable, the Honor Magic V3, came with a promise of four years of software updates. It launched on Android 14, and it's already updated to Android 15, so expect another few generations of upgrades on top of that. The next step of Honor Honor also laid out its plans to reinvent itself for the AI age with what the brand calls its "Alpha Plan". Today's MWC 2025 keynote is the first with new CEO James Li in charge, and it laid out the brand's new vision for the future. Honor says it wants to move away from being a consumer tech brand to become what it refers to as an "AI Device Ecosystem company". The plan involves new AI technologies and partnerships with some of the world's biggest tech companies to better share advancements. Honor wants other companies to better collaborate in the world of AI, and part of its plan is to encourage other brands to share advancements. Honor also confirmed it will spend over $10 billion in the next five years in the AI market as part of its commitment to provide better AI experiences. As for new technologies, we've yet to hear exactly when these will come to devices, but the brand has shown off a few new ideas. The most striking is Honor's new AI Agent demo today that showed an upcoming assistant tech that can intelligently make a booking at a restaurant on a third-party service. The assistant took into account the person booking's calendar appointments and other information such as travel conditions. The brand also introduced new gadgets today with the launch of the Honor Watch 5 Ultra, Honor Pad V9, Honor Earbuds Open and a new MagicBook Pro 14 PC.

Honor commits to 7 years of Android OS updates as it unveils 'Alpha Plan' strategy

Honor is now supporting its flagship phones for 7 years of Android OS updates, while also unveiling its new "Alpha Plan" AI strategy at MWC 2025. Starting with the Magic 7 Pro that launched earlier this year, Honor is now committing to a 7-year update schedule. The company will provide both 7 years of Android OS updates as well as security patches. As detailed on its website, Honor provides monthly updates for its flagship devices which eventually drop down to quarterly updates. There's no word on how this will break down over time, but it's a welcome extension nonetheless. For now, this only applies to Magic 7 Pro, but will extend to future "bar phone and foldable phone" devices that are flagship releases. Honor says: The extended support not only extends the lifespan of devices and reduces e-waste, in line with the sustainability standards, but also ensures users enjoy secure, high-performing devices with the latest AI technology throughout their extended lifecycles. HONOR Magic7 Pro users in the EU are the first to benefit from the support extension. In the future, HONOR will offer the extended support to more flagship models, including bar phones and foldable phones. The extension is a part of the new Honor "Alpha Plan," also being announced at MWC 2025. Google was the first to adopt a 7-year update commitment for the Pixel 8 series in 2023, and has since extended the same to Pixel 9. Samsung also supports its flagship devices for 7 years, including the Galaxy S24 series, S25 series, Z Fold 5, Z Flip 5, Z Fold 6, Z Flip 6, Tab S10 series, and select others. Samsung also offers a 6-year promise for some of its lower-end devices, such as the recently-announced Galaxy A phones for 2025. So what is Honor's "Alpha Plan" announcement? Under its new CEO, Honor says it will transition from being a "smartphone maker" to being an "AI device ecosystem company." Honor explains: THE HONOR ALPHA PLAN comprises three steps: The first step begins with the development of an intelligent phone. HONOR will work with partners to open technology boundaries to co-create a new paradigm for AI devices in the agentic AI era. Next, HONOR will open industry boundaries and co-create a new paradigm for AI ecosystem in the physical AI era. Finally, in the AGI era, HONOR will open human potential boundaries and co-create a new paradigm for civilization. Working with Google and Qualcomm, Honor says that its "personal mobile AI agent" will be able to use context in other apps to help you perform tasks. The company offers the example of making a restaurant reservation through a service while being able to look at your calendar and plan around existing appointments, and take traffic details into consideration. Honor's "AiMAGE" is also being used to boost image quality, including "AI Upscale" which is able to improve existing shots. That feature will come to Magic 7 Pro "gradually' starting in March. Honor showed off some examples of its upscaling features on Twitter/X ahead of today's announcement. Other features being announced under the Alpha Plan include AI Deepfake detection (coming soon to flagship phones) and a new file-sharing feature that will work across Android and iOS devices. The first devices being announced in the Alpha Plan include the Honor Pad V9, a thin 11-inch Android tablet, the Honor Watch 5 Ultra, a smartwatch with 15-day battery life, and Honor Earbuds Open, which supports AI translation for real-time interpretation. These are launching for €250, €279, and €149, respectively. Honor also teased its next laptop, the MagicBook Pro 14, which is launching soon. Follow Ben: Twitter/X, Threads, Bluesky, and Instagram

Honor's Magic Phones to Get 7 Years of OS and Software Support

Some Honor phones are getting a major commitment. The company announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that all of its Magic Series phones will receive seven years of OS and security updates. Previously, flagship Honor phones received only five years of both OS and security updates. Lengthening the support window by two years puts Honor on par with Google and Samsung as the only manufacturers to offer seven years of Android updates and security patches to their phones. This helps keep devices secure and performing their best for the majority of their lifespan. Apple doesn't specify the number of years each iPhone gets OS and security support. However, iPhones generally see seven to eight years of iOS updates. Honor's most recent flagship, the Honor Magic7 Pro, was announced in January of this year. The phone positions itself as a rival to Samsung's Galaxy S25 series. It features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, a 6.8-inch display, and 12GB of RAM with 512GB of storage. AI is baked into the phone, with Google Gemini, Circle to Search, and AI translation on board. It also uses AI processing tools for advanced photo features like enhanced zoom and lighting effects. The Honor Magic7 Pro is currently only available in the UK and it's unlikely that it will make its way over to North America. Honor's increased software support comes ahead of its AI-based Honor Alpha Plan, which the company is also set to launch at MWC. Honor says that its latest phones will now be able to get new AI features for longer. Updated hardware is usually needed to run brand-new AI features, so current phones might not be able to take advantage of all the future AI tech.

There's a new reason to make the Honor 7 Pro your next phone buy | Stuff

Seven year promise moves Honor to Android's top tier for software support Long-term ownership has long been an Android stumbling block, but the future is suddenly looking brighter for anyone with an Honor phone in their pocket. The firm has committed to seven years of software support for its flagships going forward, leapfrogging most of its major rivals in the process. The move makes it easier than ever to recommend one of the best phones I've tested in 2025 so far. When I reviewed it back in January, the Honor Magic 7 Pro was set to get four major OS upgrades and five years of security patches. Now the brand has extended that support to seven years of each , putting it on par with Google and Samsung - and ahead of every other phone brand out there. Going forward, Honor's EU market flagships will all get the same treatment. That also includes foldables, so means the rumoured Magic V4 should have just as long a lifespan - assuming seven years of folding don't do a number on its flexible inner screen. The longer software commitment was announced at Mobile World Congress as part of Honor's new Alpha Plan corporate strategy, which will see the firm double down on AI. As well as protecting your data against bad apples for longer, Honor is also planning to keep its artificial intelligence tap running for the full seven years, so older handsets aren't left behind. Not upgrading your phone as often will also cut down on e-waste, and leave your wallet that little bit healthier too. Honor hasn't suggested this level of support will filter down to its more affordable models, though, so you'll still need to splash out on a flagship. But seeing how you can get a Magic 7 Pro directly from the Honor website for £200 less than the original January retail price, that's not as expensive as you'd think. At £899 SIM-free, it undercuts the Pixel 9 Pro, Galaxy S25+ and OnePlus 13. You're getting a top-tier Snapdragon CPU for your cash, along with a huge battery, modern design, and a seriously capable set of cameras. The 200MP periscope zoom can uniquely invoke generative AI to fill in the gaps when shooting at extreme magnification. IP69 water resistance and scratch-resistant NanoCrystal Shield glass means it should see out its full seven years of software support fully intact.