Bad news today if you own HTC‘s 2012 flagship phone, the One X — HTC have confirmed that they will not be updating this device beyond its current OS version of Android 4.2.2 with Sense 5.0.
The news first broke when they replied to a question via Twitter, and was then confirmed when they released the following statement:
We can confirm that the HTC One X and One X+ will not receive further Android OS updates beyond Android 4.2.2 with Sense 5. We realize this news will be met with disappointment by some, but our customers should feel confident that we have designed both devices to be optimized with our amazing camera and audio experiences.
HTC
Understandably, this has upset a number of people. While the One X+ was never released in Australia, the One X is just coming up to its second birthday, and similarly-aged devices (eg, Samsung’s 2012 flagship phone, the Galaxy SIII) have been updated to Android 4.3.
It’s not a good sign for owners of more recent HTC devices such as last years HTC One flagship device. With HTC’s next phone – currently codenamed M8 – rumoured to be just around the corner, it seems possible HTC will drop support for the One later this year or early 2015. Conversely, the One was far more successful commercially than the One X, and that could play a part in HTC’s decisions about software updates.
Are you a One X or One X+ owner? What do you think of this news? Let us know in the comments.
This is typical of manufacturers. They appeal to the novelty of a new toy wearing off with most. After going through the upgrade transitions to finally land at 4.2.2 I now have my pocket office (One XL) in a perfect productive condition with which I’m very comfortable! Go ahead HTC, why leave everything running smoothly, the ‘new toyers’ thrive on solving tech problems with new toys.
Thats why I dumped mine and have jumped ship to Samsung never to buy HTC again and in the time ive owned their devices and ive had a few found the customer service very poor.
This is a huge continual problem for Android devices…manufacturers took your cash and doesn’t want to dedicate any more resources on your devices after less than 2 years.
even google only has 18month software support upgrade!!!
Galaxy Nexus, which first launched two years ago, falls outside of the 18-month update window when Google and others traditionally update devices.
Yeah but that’s Google and they can do no wrong, so they’re exempt from everybody’s vitriol.
and that’s one reason why I wouldn’t call myself fanboy to any camp. I love tech whoever makes it.
It’s worth remembering that HTC has been cutting a lot of its costs in the last two years, so it’s likely the case that they no longer have the resources to provide updates to these devices.
There’s one very important thing that I’ve noticed has been missed in many of these articles and thankfully Joel’s avoided the same pitfall.
HTC’s statement is that they will not receive “further Android OS updates” which is a distinctly different situation to “not receiving any future software updates”. So many have proclaimed that HTC are exposing their customer to security risks or performance problems, however HTC can still issue maintenance releases to address these without necessarily bumping the Android version along with it.
Not a great situation, no, but definitely not the death-sentence many are proclaiming it to be.
Am I the only one that thinks this is perfectly acceptable for a 2 year old device? Tegra 3 powered devices suck anyway in 2014.
I agree too. I don’t know what the fuss is about, it’s a 2 year old phone. Yes Samsung gets updates.. but it will be a 4.x update with no cosmetic or any changes at all.. probably reducing performance
Not only is it two years old, it’s a flagship from a few generations ago: m8, One, then hox
Yup used to love HTC, but switched to a Nexus 5 after the HTC One S got shelved. I think about 3-4 years of support is reasonable. Samsung and others seem to be doing much better in this area. Bad move HTC.
Seriously? 4 years support? The One X is at the end of it’s days. Two year contracts are the lifespan of a phone.
It wouldn’t have been hard for them to update it to 4.3
Sean, in the Twitter link, one response to what HTC say is very much a WTF.
JB 4.3 was released 9 months after the launch of the One X+
So that’s 15 months back, and only now, does HTC finally get up the courage to kick users in the balls, by telling them ‘No more updates, the One X and One X+ are now EOL’.
This is why I steer clear of HTC. My next device may be a Motorola or a Sony device.
Huh ??? Motocrapola Australia is NOT reliable when it comes to updates!
Razr V xt885 support was dropped only after 1 update.
I feel like they’ve changed within the past year though. Definitely willing to give them a shot.
it’s also worth remembering google only supports their product for 18months
i saw this coming months ago. it’s a shame as the one x is a great device but if it wasn’t for the tegra 3 soc, we might still be getting updates. sense is so hard to port to tegra hardware as evidenced by the results from xda which was bootloops and nonboots before the official update rolled out.
Wow.. this was the reason I left HTC after my Desire (which I loved). I was considering going back because I thought current hardware looked sweet.. but I won’t.
What fate of the HTC One XL ???
I take it that support of that model is dropped too given that it wasn’t too successful either.
My dad has the One XL. I hope it gets another update.
Title is missing a ‘no’
I ditched my One X last month for a Nexus 5 and it was the best decision. I feel that HTC’s software support for older devices is terrible, considering they did it for the Desire HD, now the One X. As you stated before, Samsung is still going to bring out 4.3 for a device of the same age, and have continued to update older devices to Jelly Bean (other variants of course) but HTC seem to update the phone for that year and a half, then scrap it once it hits the one and half year mark. The 4.2.2… Read more »
Exactly why I own a Nexus 5… but please don’t anyone mention the Galaxy Nexus!
Oh but i was just going to mention it! Y years support is what most manufacturers are giving. Or maybe rather 2 OS updates…sometimes 3