Yesterday, June 26, the Google Play editions of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One touched down at Google Play – in the US, at least.
One of the upsides is - or was - supposed to be quick Nexus-style Android software updates (front of the queue, essentially), but various sources say that won’t actually be the case. Huh?
AnandTech, for one, describes the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One Google Play editions as “nearly Nexus” phones.
Bri writes: “The GPe [Google Play edition] phones run kernels supplied by the respective OEMs, Google supplies the build of Android that runs atop it.
"The result is that ultimately the OEMs are in fact responsible for updating these Google Play experience phones through successive Android releases.”
Inevitably, that means the Google Play edition phones will be behind their Nexus counterparts when it comes to Android updates, but only slightly, perhaps by a matter of weeks or even just days.
However, if you absolutely must have the latest version of Android before everyone else, it looks like Nexus is your best bet.
If that’s the case, it calls the lofty Google Play edition prices into question somewhat. The HTC One Google Edition sells for $599, while the Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Edition goes for $649 - twice the price of the wallet-friendly Google Nexus 4.
Still no word on a UK release for these Google Play edition phones, but we can’t say we’re too bothered. You?
