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Comment by hddherman | Hacker News Reader

> Another key area this device hasn’t cut back on is its security. Quarterly security updates for 2 years² will help keep everything safe and sound.

That's a criminally short support period, and a great way to produce even more e-waste.

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after june 2025 producers cannot sell a phone in the EU market with such a short software support timespan

https://energy-efficient-products.ec.europa.eu/product-list/...

> availability of operating system upgrades [..] at least 5 years from the date of the end of placement on the market of the last unit of a product model

And it's even worse

> ²From the global launch date of HMD Key.

So if you buy it in 12 months time it'll only recieve 1 year of security updates.

How long do you reckon this will be on the market for?

Agreed, this would be a hard no and makes me think if feature updates will be on an even shorter lifecycle.

The about us page even states "We make phones that last for years" as their company quest[0].

[0] https://www.hmd.com/en_int/about

Well, if they last exactly two years, they're not even lying.

would be nice if the EU would mandate something like lineage os being available from day 1 for a device. manufacturer would have to provide resources to make sure it works before release.

I wish EU at least make mandate that from the moment someone stop providing security updates they have to provide some key to unlock bootloader etc and even for those iPhone that are not supported anymore. Those devices like e.g. iPhone X are still super powerful and they could be used for other purposes if we could install linux on them. They could be a much powerful version or raspberry pi with nicer form but with touchscreen, gps, 4g, wifi, bluetooth, cameras, microphones, imu, speakers, battery, audiojack/connector.

Expensive devices turns to ewaste in shorter time frames for reasons other than support. This is a poor metric to pick on.

Devices? Yes. Expensive? Only if you fail in picking them. Buy an iPhone or something. I'm in Android camp, but I only buy flagships (after some bad experiences with cheap end of the phone spectrum) specifically because I can rely on them to work for 3+ years, getting updates over that period, and importantly, still being performant enough relative to contemporary software as to not be annoying to use.

I agree with GP here. In the current security-obsessed zeitgeist, 2 years of security updates is criminally low, pretty much designed to generate e-waste.

In my experience, I had to give about 100/yr to havea relatively good device foor my needs. I could choose to buy a cheap thing every year, or 600 every 6; for similar Performance. I prefer to change device no so often. 2 years is just too short.

Something like a Samsung A55 will also get 5 years of security updates. This line usually converges to around 300 Euros halfway the yearly product release cycle. There are cheaper Samsung models with long support periods, but last time I looked, they would only get quarterly security updates. The Pixel _a_ line usually also has pretty good pricing, but they tend to have weird issues/bugs.

(I'm an iPhone user, but just to point out that there are also more affordable options with longer support periods.)

iPhones have very good resale value even after 3 years, financially not that expensive! Easily good for 5 years and even then you can have decent money for it. Of course they can become pretty expensive suddenly - just when you drop them.

There is a middle ground. I spent $94 total after taxes/fees getting a Pixel 6A in August 2023. Its security updates end-of-life is July 2027. That's 4 years of security updates for only $23 more (assuming the £59 is taxes and fees included) and my pixel 6a specs blow this thing out of the water.

Yeah, but where the hell do you get it so cheap from?

It was right around the time they started phasing out the pixel 6a (stores no longer stocking new 6a) and a deal for it came up on a popular deal forum with the abbreviation "SD". (I don't want to link to the site because I think at least half the content is ads and other sponsored content).

It seems like a valid metric to pick on. Premium devices are refreshed early/short cycle their lifespans because they are purchased by customers with disposable income. Budget devices should be sold to last as that's what's important to the customers buying them.

As a counter though, I would say with 2gb of ram this device just won't be fast enough for most of its users in 3 years anyway; so although I find this a valid argument to make, a new issue pops up immediately (for me at least).

Maybe they expect the flash wear out after 2 years, since they're using it for swap.

> That's a criminally short support period,

No. Sincerely, GCHQ.

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