I want to believe Motorola's extended support promise, but I've been burned too many times

Fool me once; shame on you. Fool me twice; shame on me. Unfortunately, Motorola has fooled me a half dozen times, but I keep coming back for more. The company's latest attempt to gain my affection promises more years of software support for its phones. Motorola’s new G75 will feature five generations of OS upgrades.

I’d usually be excited by that announcement, as I wrote a few months ago about Motorola’s pathetic support for devices like the Moto G Stylus (2024). However, circumstances have changed, and it’s hard to believe any of Motorola's commitments. A company can promise ten years of updates, but if the updates are painfully slow or never arrive, what good is the promise? If Motorola wants to convince buyers it's serious about supporting phones, it should start by releasing timely updates for the phones we’ve already bought.

It was going to be so beautiful

Motorola was off to a strong restart

I had high hopes when Motorola returned from the wilderness two years ago. The company had fresh new hardware, an aggressive pricing strategy, and what appeared to be solid software support. My Motorola Razr+ (2023) received bi-monthly updates on time, as did my Motorola ThinkPhone — things were looking up. I had almost forgotten it took nearly a year for Motorola to deliver an Android 11 upgrade to my original G Stylus. I still heard stories from people who owned older Motorola devices that weren’t getting updates, but I figured Motorola was focusing on the new phones first.

However, it was mentioned that the brand-new Motorola Razr+ (2024) was still running a June security patch. I fired mine up and discovered that my fancy $1,000 flip phone had yet to receive an update. Unfortunately, it signals a potential return to the mean for Motorola, offering spotty support at uncertain intervals even on its most expensive devices.

Read our review

Motorola's new Razr+ is everything I want from a flip phone

Proper software updates would be nice, though

3

I don’t see things improving anytime soon

One step forward, two steps back

I was shocked when Motorola replaced its Android UI, MyUX, with the more heavily skinned Hello UI for Android 14. Motorola undoubtedly needed a fresh coat of paint on its software, but skins like Hello UI typically result in slower updates, and Moto didn’t previously have a reputation for speed. The company took nearly eight months to release Android 14 on the Moto Razr+ (2023), leaving users without significant upgrades. I had been waiting for a proper always-on display for last year’s Razr+ since it first shipped, so a long wait for Android 14 was disappointing.

I advocate companies waiting to release major Android version upgrades until the software is airtight, but there’s a limit. Samsung (and Google, to an extent) have the benefit of the doubt, as even though we have to wait sometimes, most updates are released in a timely fashion — Motorola doesn’t get to enjoy that same leeway.

Android 15 promises to be more of the same

Motorola’s supported device list looks thin

Motorola needs a consistent update policy across the board to be trusted and taken seriously. When I look at a list of phones the company plans to release an Android 15 update for, devices like the Moto G Stylus 5G (2023), which cost $500 a year ago, should be included. For comparison, the $200 Samsung Galaxy A15 5G will receive four major Android upgrades. It’s embarrassing, and even though Motorola didn’t promise more than one Android upgrade, it should do the right thing and extend support to older devices.

Motorola needs a consistent update policy across the board to be trusted and taken seriously.

Even if it's only bi-monthly support, Motorola should be able to release promised updates on time. Updates will become more crucial as manufacturers use support as a selling point. Motorola also wants to sell us on its AI software package, but without frequent updates and a clear roadmap of which devices will receive what features, it’s useless to pay for uncertainty when other OEMs offer more.

Motorola isn’t a start-up company

I can expect and forgive spotty software support from companies barely scraping by, as niche manufacturers that rely on Kickstarter funding to get phones off the ground — not Motorola. I don’t come from the position of hating Moto. We’re starved for legitimate smartphone competition at all price ranges in the United States. Motorola has the hardware and the pricing to be a player; Moto just has to decide how much it wants in the game.