My only reservation is the longevity. Even if Samsung promises 3 years of updates, that's not good enough for a "laptop replacement" for me, as I don't buy laptops that often. I'm using a laptop from 2013, and it's running the latest Windows 10 with all the latest patches.
Part of me likes the Apple way of 5 years of updates and part of me prefers the Android, more specifically the Samsung, way.
Yes its great to get updates for 5 years but when I really really look at those updates, for the most part the real changes are only for the new phones. A new look and a few teaks here and there don't change how I overall use my phone. Like Apple hasn't turned around and given me better photos at night on my iPhone XS when the changes for that are predominantly software. And one can't make the argument of the performance of the A12 processor when Google can do it really well on a Pixel 3a. So yeah, those updates only mean so much to me. By years 4 and onwards I don't feel I'm getting much of anything but a slower device. You can argue the home screen improvements with iOS 14 but this far from a regular thing.
On the flip side, what I get with those 5 years of updates is a phone that is further and further away from what I bought especially when it comes to have well it does what it from the beginning. There's no value for me in getting things that never originally came with the phone if all those things I do with my phone, all those things I needed when I bought it, do it slower.
If there was the ability to downgrade software, and no-one really seems to give that, then that would be different but there isn't.
Samsung and their typical 2 years of support does mean that my device will continue to perform reasonably closely to how I originally bought it. For me that's a big plus given I always want to maintain performance for what it does today rather than what it may or may not do for me tomorrow. I didn't buy it for what I might get, but rather, what I do get today. And the significantly less "you have an update" BS for me is fabulous!
Although this has its flip side too. For instance, Samsung has tweaked a few things with that tablet software since Android 9 on my S5e such that its a significantly better tablet for me today in 2020 than when I bought it. Simple little things like better rotation lock support that came with an Android 9 update or being able to have multiple instances of the same widget that came with Android 10 do matter. Without having bought my device at the right time there is a greater chance I would miss out on that.
So I guess my point is that if I feel Im getting real value from updates past 3 years I'm glad to have them. If on the other hand I feel the only thing I'm essentially getting is a slower device past 3 years I'm really not interested. Having to change a device due to performance issues simply because of the updates applied to it definitely rubs me up the wrong way especially when I think that had it been left alone it would be performing fine. So for everyone the milage varies depending on what they're looking for in those updates.
