Don’t buy your Android phone for a Froyo update

June 30, 2010 3:44 pm

Categories: Mobile Phones News Tags: Android, froyo, opinion

HTC says it’s updating the HTC Desire, Legend and Wildfire to Froyo. Samsung is boosting the awesome Galaxy S to it too. Hoorays all round, right? Not quite. If there’s one thing the HTC Hero’s Android 2.1 update Odyssey has taught me, it’s that if you’re going to buy any Google phone, never, ever do it based on what it might do in the future, rather than what it does right now.

I love the HTC Desire and the Legend as they are (The Wildfire I can take or leave): they’re easily in the top five smartphones on sale right now, along with the iPhone 4 and Samsung Galaxy S. I also love what Android 2.2, or Froyo, heralds for the future: more speed, Wi-Fi tethering and Flash support on something the size of the Dell Streak will be absolutely epic.

But if you were on the fence about buying one until HTC said it would be coming to its trio of Android 2.1 phones this year, get right back on that partition. I don’t care how uncomfortable said fence is, I’m only going to believe it when I see it.

Let’s look at the HTC Hero. Running Android 1.5, it launched in June 2009 to much fanfare. At the time, we called it the first “proper contender” for the iPhone’s top spot. Then in September, Google went and rolled out Android 1.6. Then in October it went and released Android 2.0. And then in January, it upped and dropped Android 2.1 on the world.

As nice as HTC’s Sense social networking skin is on the HTC Hero, Google’s absurdly fast rollout left it looking rather stale, especially once the free Google Maps Navigation got flicked on on Android 1.6 phones. So HTC said it would update it to swizzly 2.1, and then said it was coming. So we waited. And waited.

Finally, six months after 2.1 launched, the HTC Hero has been given an official update to it. Except, only if you bought your phone unlocked (And really, who does that with expensive smartphones? iPhone obsessives maybe, and that’s it) – if you’ve got a HTC Hero on Orange or T-Mobile, you’re still out of luck. HTC assured me last week that it would hit all UK Hero handsets by the end of the month, but here we are, and for many owners in the UK, Android 2.1 is about as real as Gran Turismo 5.

Now clearly, I’m not laying the blame completely at HTC’s doorstep here, and it applies just as much to Sony Ericsson and LG and their Android phones (Which haven’t received updates yet). Google’s rapid rollout shows just how little attention the company pays to consumer experience with Android, and just how much it places on engineering prowess above all else.

But right now, I take any claims of an Android Froyo firmware update, as much as I’d love one, with a pinch of salt. Android is still young, and between Google, manufacturers and network operators, there are just too many factors involved to take any dates seriously right now.

In other words, go buy a HTC Legend or a Samsung Galaxy S, have a whale of a time with them, and try to think of a Froyo update as a potential bonus, and nothing more. If you buy one hoping for Flash support, you could be waiting a while.

What do you reckon? Am I dispensing foolish advice? Need to take a trip down to the XDA forums for some custom Android updates? Shout up with your thoughts in the comments below.

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Mornelithe

Interesting,
Philandshaz

Well – you are spot on. I bought the Hero on Orange UK contract, with the specific intention of keeping on the bleeding edge of smartphone tech, for at least 18 months, via the promised, regular updates. No such luck. Just this last week, I came across an unlocked, non branded, HTC Desire, for £70 – too cheap to resist, and it is wonderful, but had this slice of luck never came along, I would not have bought an HTC phone again. I realised, that for about 3 months, I had literally been obsessed with checking the HTC Hero site for the Android update – Twitter is full of Hero owners doing exactly the same thing. Communication and excuses from HTC have been appalling . Just to balance feelings out, I have to be honest, and say Orange UK have been so helpful. My advice though – buy a Nexus One – no contract, and no bloatware.

bensillis

Absolutely – if this is an issue for you you need a Nexus One. No other phone will do.

To be fair to HTC, from the execs I've spoken to, it's not at all that they don't care about getting the updates out, but I do get the impression they didn't anticipate how tricky it would be – an error in itself I guess.

DAN!

I'm just hoping the next android update (2.3/3.0?) will relieve some of the need for companies to waste time on a UI overlay (a la HTC Sense and MotoBlur) with the addition of themes (I think that's the approach). To be honest I don't really see why it takes them so long to get the OS compatible with their phones!

Android OS should have a more simple approach to updates I.e. Google release a new version of their OS and it is instantly compatible with phones currently running Android, no waiting on manufacturers and Networks. The OS should define what features are then enabled on that phone (based on its hardware capabilities).

bensillis

Themes would be nice, but the problem is while Android is open, companies can dig deep and change the underlying structure of the OS devs for iPhone obviously can't. I would like to see other companies forcing networks to backdown on update vetting in the way they've agreed to for Apple, so there's a more unified roll out.

James Holland

OS upgrades should be treated like an unexpected gift. The iPhone is just the same, yet Apple-fans have gotten so used to being given every new feature each time the OS is tweaked, I personally found it quite baffling when 3G owners bemoaned the lack of multitasking / backgrounds etc. Face it. Your phone is two years old, you're due an upgrade, so get over it!
Stephan Pieri

*coughs* Gran Turismo 5 is due out on 2nd Nov 2010…now if android updates on HTC handsets were to wait as long as they did then we might as well go back to the old sony ericsson's sitting in your spare drawer (you know…the drawer you keep all your old stuff for that “just in-case” moment).

I myself had a HTC Hero, was a fantastic phone, much faster when i received the patch (Not the android update…just the Hero update). I too was looking forward to the 2.1 update, but got fed up. At this point i had an out-of-date phone and it drove me crazy, so i hopped online and purchased an HTC Desire offline. Cost me a lot of money, but now i'm back to having the latest phone. (btw, the Hero sells really well on eBay). And now i'm in the same shoes again, A2.2 is out and HTC has promised an update for the Desire imminently, but to be honest, like you said very well in your post, i'm taking it with a pinch of salt.

I do run the check on my OTA updater every couple of weeks just in case, but i'm not totally fussed. So A2.2 adds 3-5x better performance, the Desire is lightening fast as it is. It has Flash Lite, so web pages are readable and interactable. The only thing i'd like and use a lot is the Wi-Fi tethering.

Good post by the way, i totally agree with you

bensillis

Gran Turismo 5 has a release date in America. It's just a vague “November” in Europe. And frankly, I won't be convinced until I have the disc in my hand, it's been such a Duke Nukem Forever-esque joke.

daleos

I rooted my G2-Touch and upgraded to 2.1 several weeks ago. I haven't had a single major issue yet although there are still bits of Taiwanese apps left lingering around that I could do without so I too am (patiently this time) waiting for the official ROMs to be released.

In any case, I suspect the problems are more down to getting the delivery simple enough that a non-techy person can comfortably deal with the update than actual problems with the software itself.

Having said that, even though I like the new features of 2.1, there's really is only a tiny difference and if I'd have known exactly how little the differences would effect me, I would not have got so worked up about it.

Whilst I adore my phone, I'm still of the opinion the Hero is marginally underpowered and really if you want 2.1, you're better off getting a more recent phone with a bit more oomph.

Once my contract is up, I'll be diving for a Desire or whatever the new top of the range will be when that happens.

One thing though, I'll not be getting a phone on contract 18 or 24 month contract ever again. I always get the itch for a new phone about 10 months into a contract and barely survive it until 12. These 18-24 month contracts seem like an infinity to me. It's going to be a 12 month contract or I'm going 'off piste'.
MIkey P

You should NEVER buy a phone for what it might be in the future. It's always a bonus if it gets better.
By the reasoning of this article Google should not bother improving Android because it might upset people who have bought the phones. Well maybe we should up sticks on progress and go back to the stone age. I don't care if you don't want progress I do. Also you can root the phones if you want to and are not happy. Google have already said they will slow the rate of Android releases. In the mean time live with it.
Google are not responsible for handset manufacturers wanting to skin Android nor the delay in getting said skins to you. Likewise HTC are not responsible for phone operators not giving you the latest version of their skins. There is an upside to the apple eco-system. But the price is too high for me.

Also just to let you know I buy all my handsets unlocked. If there is a better contract available then I want to switch and not be locked in for another 12 months. I prefer the freedom of Android and SIM free phones. Also I don't feel my costs have gone up since I started going SIM free. Mainly becuase the free minutes and textx on a contract are a con unless you use most of them. I also always get local rates abroad and can switch SIMs to get better local reception with PAYG.

I've tried Froyo since rooting. To be honest I like Sense and I went back as I am content to wait. The Desire is good enough to not need Froyo and still be one of the best phones on the market. Froyo will make it better. Gingerbread will address a lot of the UI issues with vanilla Android and that is when I will get a vanilla Android device.
Bob

Or you could buy a Nexus One

Stephan Pieri

Oh yeah, that's right i forgot that. Yeah everyone do that. Whenever Android release an update, go buy the latest phone!!! Silly me i should have thought about that before.

Google will only support the Nexus One for about a year. Reason being as the device will be out of date and will need more up-to-date hardware.

So for now people, yeah listen if you want 2.2, but other than that just ignore Bobby
bensillis

yeah but then you have to deal with that trackball, and Google's stock keyboard. Give me Samsung or HTC's anyday.

Gerbal

i bought the damn hd2 back when it was released here in Sweden . i bought it hoping that windows 7 would be released and we would have a hell of a mobile , but that never happened and ms went on to release an entirely new mobile , windows phone 7 ( or whatever it is called ) .-

i bought the legend about 7 weeks ago and its by far the ebst mobile i ahve ever had , came with 2.1 directly when i fired it up the first time . i love it . but with all the talk about 2.2 i would love to have it and now that it will be coming i am even happier .

these phones cost a lot of money and i am tired of the monthly releases of bigger and better smart phones ( with newer builds ) and we, that bought our phones 2 months ago are left in the dust . its time to see a turn a round . these phones are capabile of running more and more . so i say keep updating our phones and stop releasing so many damn new devices every month and forgetting about your loyal customers , by not giving us updates and customer service

so i guess all in all i agree and i am 50% / 50% satisfied and unsatisfied with this market

Moof

Of course, the biggest example here is the Motorola Milestone – released with a massive bug that made the camera unusable over christmas, but on the same day the bugfix was released on the Droid, with an update to Android 2.0.1. People (inlcuding me) bought it in the knowledge that the bug was there and the hope that it would soon be fixed.

Android 2.0.1 finally made it to the Milestone 2 months later, completely buggering up Christmas, given the phonecam didn't work then. It was painful – for some reason known only to Motorola, the rollout was per-country, and took abotu a month to get from the german lot to the British lot. And to add insult to injury, about two weeks later the Droid started getting Android 2.1, and it was a 3-month wait for the rest of us.

Of course, the most annoying thing about the Milestone is the fact that the bootloader is locked down, and will only accept official Motorola ROMs – so we can't even load up a CyanogenMod or something like that. Again, this is unlike the Droid, which can be flashed.

So, er, yeah. Buy a phone for what it *can* do, not what it might be able to do in the future.

And it would actually be a sensible thing to add to reviews of Android phones whether it is known if they're upgradeable to custom ROMs.

bensillis

We'll bear that in mind for future reviews Moof, thanks! To be fair, credit's probably due to Motorola for being one of the few companies that's managed to rollout a 2.1 update at all (HTC's only just got round to it, sort of).

Don’t buy your Android phone for a Froyo update

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