The Samsung Galaxy S24 is already said to be feature-packed, but a newly rumored seven years of updates (via Android Headlines) means even more to play with down the road.

Samsung was already one of the more generous Android manufacturers, offering four years of full updates for its latest devices and five years of security updates. Raising this to seven years would be an even better deal for users who want to extend the life of their new phones as long as possible.

Samsung chose this particular time frame because Google has promised a full seven years of updates for the Pixel 8 series. It is also conveniently longer than the five years that Apple tends to target for iPhone updates.

Hopefully this applies to more than just the Galaxy S24 series. When Samsung last extended its update schedule to 2022, it made it partially retroactive to include some devices from the previous year. If Samsung follows the same pattern, perhaps the current Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy Z Fold 5, and Galaxy Z Flip 5 will also be blessed with additional updates.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves; Android Headlines reports that it is unclear whether the seven-year period applies to Android-wide updates or only to security updates.

It would be nice to be protected from potential security risks for seven years, as that would be an upgrade over the five years Samsung currently offers. However, it won't be as good as getting new software features every year until (presumably) Android 21, as the Pixel 8 has promised; we hope Samsung will clarify this once the Galaxy S24 is actually released.

Speaking of which, Galaxy Unpacked, where the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Ultra should debut, will be held this Wednesday. We will be covering the launch live from San Jose, so be sure to check back here for more information on the new models and features that were announced.