Software updates on Android have come a long way, and most brands now guarantee at least four years of guaranteed platform updates — at least on their high-end phones. Google and Samsung, meanwhile, deliver seven years of Android updates, and Google extends the guarantee to the mid-range Pixel 8a.
Honor is now joining that elite club, with the manufacturer announcing at MWC 2025 that it will start rolling out seven Android OS updates to its Magic flagships. It's starting with the Magic 7 Pro, and will include Honor's foldable devices as well, but the Magic V3 isn't on that list as it debuted last year.
This is a big deal in and of itself, as Honor becomes the only Chinese manufacturer to deliver the long-term update guarantee. It gives the brand's devices a distinct advantage over its Chinese rivals, and alongside Honor's efforts around AI-focused utilities, MagicOS now has a unique differentiation.
Honor wants the move to "inspire industry peers to replicate" a similar guarantee on their own devices, but I don't see that anytime soon. OPPO is emphatic about four Android OS updates being enough on its phones, and Vivo isn't making any changes to its update schedule this year. Xiaomi, meanwhile, still continues to struggle with timely platform updates, and it just doesn't have the wherewithal to guarantee seven Android OS updates at this moment in time.
Just like with Google and Samsung devices, Honor's phones will last considerably longer than their rivals, and even if you don't use the Magic 7 Pro for anywhere close to seven years, the long-term update guarantee means it will retain its resell value much better, and that's a great thing.
Another area where Honor is clearly looking to differentiate itself is AI; the brand outlined an overarching AI strategy at MWC 2025 wherein it is trying to build a connected ecosystem of devices that leverage AI. Look, I'm not particularly interested in AI and don't really use any generative AI services, but the way Honor puts it, the mobile agentic AI coming to its phones is designed to work as an assistant, allowing you to automate mundane tasks like booking a cab, a table at a restaurant, setting up calendar entries, meetings, and so on.
Honor is also building out utilities that make it seamless to transfer data to and from any device — even those not made by the brand — and it's aiming to create a collaborative platform of interconnected devices.
The idea is intriguing, but as with most things to do with AI, I'll withhold judgement until I'm actually able to use the features as advertised. That said, Honor has a decent suite of AI utilities on the Magic 7 Pro, and while most brands are shoehorning AI because it's the buzzword of the year, Honor has a clearly defined strategy around it, and the manufacturer is investing $10 billion over the next decade to building out this vision.
While I'm not keen on generative AI, I am absolutely in favor of an agentic model that can automate day-to-day tasks; that will be a big enough differentiator that if Honor actually manages to get it out the door before its rivals, it will be a sizable victory.
