Following an announcement that its most recent major software update - ColorOS 13 - has been its fastest rollout so far, Oppo has committed to supporting future flagship phones for an even longer time. 

The Android phone maker has announced that from 2023 it will guarantee four major Android updates for "selected flagships". This update policy also includes up to five years of security patches, hopefully ensuring your expensive Oppo phone is useful for much longer than the typical 2-3 year upgrade cycle. 

The language in the release is interesting, if only because it specifies "four major Android upgrades" rather than just saying "four years" which could mean just three updates in some instances depending on the timing of launch. 

We've seen manufacturers promise 'years' in the past, only for their phones to launch with an out-of-date version of Android, and so therefore including that current (or even previous) year's update among those promised. 

With the next Oppo flagships launching running Android 13, that would mean software updates all the way up to Android 17, which isn't due to land until 2026. 

We're unsure which of 2023's flagships will be included in the "selected" few, but we'd very much expect the top-of-the-line Find X6 Pro to be among them when that launches. 

OnePlus - the Oppo sub-brand - has also committed to the same number of updates for its own devices. And, given the two companies share the same software codebase in their respective Android skins, it was to be expected that the updated guarantees would align. 

It's a positive move from the brand and one that sees it align with the likes of Google and Samsung, and will help customers keep hold of their phones for longer.