Google’s new Pixel phones look nice and all, but you could hear the entire tech community collectively groaning when the company announced that – other than the unlocked versions – it would be available exclusively from Verizon. Thankfully, Verizon has addressed one of our biggest biggest worries.
See, when the phones were announced, Google had told 9to5Google that though security updates for Verizon models, would come from Google, system updates would be managed by Verizon. Given the carrier’s poor track history with Android updates, that did not bode well.
But today the carrier reached out to ArsTechnica to clear things up, providing the following statement:
Google itself then corroborated the statements.
So while the Verizon version will still probably come with a locked bootloader, your experience should be largely the same – unless you plan on rooting your phone.
Still, we can’t see why you wouldn’t just buy the unlocked version. With financing, it basically costs the same, and you don’t the risk of Verizon ever changing its mind about what constitutes a ‘major update.’
That’s not to say having a carrier model isn’t a good option for the everyday user who doesn’t frequent tech blogs, but given the option and reasonable pricing, buying unlocked is almost always your best bet.