We have been having a debate about whether Android manufacturers are upgrading their kernels when they upgrade to new versions of Android. Since the Android phone manufacturers don’t publish this information, the only reliable way to determine if the phone manufacturers are upgrading their kernels is to manually check it on a large number of different phones. I am also curious about whether the AOSP derivatives (LineageOS, GrapheneOS, CalyxOS, etc.) are upgrading their kernels.
For this reason, I am asking everyone who has an Android or AOSP device to post the: 1) manufacturer, 2) model number, 3) chipset, 4) OS version, 5) kernel version
To get this information, execute the following commands in a terminal on your phone:
If, hypothetically, I had an Android phone, then I would be too ashamed of it and would not want to admit having one, so I would not be able to help here
Manufacturer: not listed (Samsung)
Model number: not listed (SM-G900F, LineageOS calles it “klte”)
Board: MSM8974
OS Version: 7.1.2
Kernel: 3.4.113-lineageos-g450ae2e
It’s a Samsung Galaxy S5, old enough that it doesn’t have VoLTE and will stop working - or at least get forced back to GSM - when they retire 3G networks here. As for why there’s no manufacturer or model number, those properties probably weren’t implemented until a later version of the OS.
It runs LineageOS version 14.1, a build dating from 2018-06-01. Why haven’t I updated it? Why would I? If it works, I’m not going to mess with it. There’s no Google anything of any kind on here and the only software I have on it comes from F-Droid. In fact, the only thing I ever use it for is playing a Sudoku derivative when I’m lying in bed to help get me to sleep.
So my data probably isn’t going to be very useful. But there it is all the same.
I’ve got two Android phones though neither is my current daily driver.
OnePlus One running LineageOS:
OnePlus
A0001
MSM8974
11
3.4.113-lineageos-g6fa9303d423
Sony Xperia Z5 Compact running /e/:
Sony
E5823
MSM8994
11
3.10.108-g5a9f749270c
I actually installed /e/ on the Sony relatively recently. Prior to that is was still running stock Android (but hadn’t been used in years). It would have been interesting to see what kernel it was using then.
I have a low end tablet that I use for non-essential tasks, like listening to podcasts, while everything else is charging. It is badged as an Alcatel 3T and as part of their “Joy” range.
It’s actually made by TCL. When I ran the terminal, it gave a nul return on the first two but I ran a “CPU check” app, also from F-Droid, and got the information from that which I have put in square brackets:
[TCL]
[9027X_EEA]
a3a84g_go
8.1.0
4.4.95
I think the CPU, from memory, is an MT8765. It scores so low in bench testing but, it only cost $47.50 on eBay, three years ago. It struggles, even running the Go version of Android 8 though.
I realize my barely functional tablet, in my previous post, isn’t a particularly good example but then I remembered my Samsung S10e work phone that my employer requires me to use. It has gone through three Android version updates so that might be more useful?
@amosbatto, I need this information, too (albeit for CalyxOS, which isn’t present). However, you can more easily acquire this yourself by installing emulator images in Android Studio (since it exposes the correct device trees for ARM OS images). [1]
Since I started this thread, I should post my own stats. I’m using LineageOS 22.2: Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 sdm660 15 4.19.325-st-San-Kernel-Kurotsuki-R1.1.107
Looking through this thread, none of the Android/AOSP phones posted so far had a major number kernel upgrade (judging from the release date of the device). The best that I can find are minor number kernel upgrades. For example, my phone was released in Jan 2019 with the 4.19.0 kernel and its LineageOS build got upgraded to 4.19.325, which was the last LTS release in Dec. 2024, but it got no major number kernel upgrades. However, most Android OEMs don’t even bother providing minor number kernel upgrades for their phones. You usually have to install an AOSP derivative to get a minor number kernel upgrade.
The only Android phone manufacturer that I can find that provided major number kernel upgrades was Sony, and it only provided one major number upgrade per device and stopped that practice years ago. However, Qualcomm announced in Feb 2025 that that its Snapdragon 7 / 8 / 8 Elite Gen 3 processors that were released with Android 15 will get 8 years of software upgrades and 2 kernel upgrades, so this is going to be a big change in the industry. Google is promising 7 years of software upgrades for its Pixel 8 and MediaTek is promising 8 years of software upgrades for its Dimensity 8400 / 9400, however, neither company has clarified whether they will provide kernel upgrades or they will keep running Android upgrades on older kernels. Google keeps extending the number of years of kernels that each new version of Android will support, so it is unclear which will happen.
