Please deceive me once. shame on you. Fool me twice. It’s shameful. Unfortunately, Motorola has fooled me six times, but I keep coming back for more. The company’s latest attempt to curry favor is promising even longer software support for its phones. Motorola’s new G75 will come with 5 generations of OS upgrades.
As I wrote a few months ago about Motorola’s pathetic support for devices like the Moto G Stylus (2024), I would normally be excited about that announcement. But things are changing, and it’s hard to believe in Motorola’s commitment. Companies can promise 10 years of updates, but what good is that promise if the updates arrive painfully slow or never? If Motorola wants to convince buyers that it’s serious about supporting their phones, it should start by releasing timely updates for the phones they’ve already purchased.
It was going to be very beautiful
Motorola makes a strong restart
When Motorola came back from the wilderness two years ago, I had high hopes. The company had new hardware, an aggressive pricing strategy, and solid software support. My Motorola Razr+ (2023) received its bi-monthly updates on time, as did my Motorola ThinkPhone. Things are looking up. I almost forgot that it took Motorola nearly a year to provide an Android 11 upgrade to my original G Stylus. I was still hearing stories from people who owned older Motorola devices about not receiving updates, but I assumed Motorola was focusing on new phones first.
However, the latest Motorola Razr+ (2024) is still listed as having the June security patch. When you turn it on, you discover that your $1,000 luxury phone still hasn’t received an update. Unfortunately, this suggests that Motorola may revert to the mean, offering spotty support at uncertain intervals even on its most expensive devices.
Read reviews
Motorola’s new Razr+ is everything you want in a flip phone
Proper software updates are a good thing, but
I don’t think the situation will improve soon
One step forward, two steps back
I was shocked when Motorola replaced its Android UI, MyUX, with Hello UI, a heavier skin for Android 14. Motorola definitely needed a fresh coat of paint on its software, but skins like Hello UI are usually slow to update, and Moto wasn’t like that. Previously, I didn’t have a reputation for speed. The company took nearly eight months to release Android 14 on the Moto Razr+ (2023), leaving users without a significant upgrade. I’ve been waiting for a proper always-on display since last year’s Razr+ first shipped, so the long wait for Android 14 was disappointing.
I recommend that companies wait to release major Android version upgrades until the software is secure, but there are limits. Samsung (and Google to some extent) has the benefit of the doubt as most updates are released in a timely manner, even if you sometimes have to wait. Motorola doesn’t enjoy the same leeway.
Android 15 promises to be about the same
Motorola’s list of supported devices seems thin
For Motorola to be trusted and taken seriously, it needs a consistent update policy across the board. If you look at the list of phones the company is planning to release the Android 15 update on, you’d think it would include devices like the Moto G Stylus 5G (2023), which cost $500 a year ago. For comparison, the $200 Samsung Galaxy A15 5G gets four major Android upgrades. This is embarrassing and Motorola needs to do the right thing and extend support to older devices, even if they didn’t promise multiple Android upgrades.
For Motorola to be trusted and taken seriously, it needs a consistent update policy across the board.
Even if it’s only bi-monthly support, Motorola should be able to release the promised updates on time. Updates will become more important as manufacturers leverage support as a selling point. Motorola also wants to sell us its AI software package, but without frequent updates and a clear roadmap for what features will be on which devices, other OEMs will Paying for uncertainty when offering so many products is wasteful.
Motorola is not a startup
As a niche manufacturer that relies on Kickstarter funding to bring its phones to market rather than Motorola, you can expect and forgive spotty software support from a company that’s barely getting by. I’m not in a position to hate Moto. We are hungry for legitimate smartphone competition at all price points in the US. Motorola has the hardware and pricing to be a player. Moto just decides how much he wants out of the game.
