Motorola is bad at Android updates, latest release confirms

Motorola is pretty bad at software updates, with new Android versions delayed by months and devices often getting the bare minimum of support. And it’s not getting much better, as a new release shows just how confusing it is to understand what Motorola is and is not promising.

The Motorola Edge 70 Max, a rare Android phone with built-in Qi2 magnets, debuted yesterday as a mostly unexciting new release. It’s really just those magnets that make the £700 phone appealing.

It’s certainly not the software promises.

As we pointed out, Motorola’s website in the UK says that the Edge 70 Max is promised security updates through 2031, with “up to 3 years” of OS updates. Relatively standard, if a little below what devices from Google and Samsung are offering at the same price points.

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But there’s a footnote there.

It explains that this includes “2 OS upgrades and up to 3 years of security updates starting from the global launch date,” which somewhat contradicts the earlier description. The majority of Android brands take “3 years of OS updates” to mean 3 OS upgrades, where Motorola seemingly disagrees. Meanwhile, the “3 years of security updates starting from the global launch date” directly contradicts the July 2031 date provided earlier.

Offering the benefit of the doubt, Motorola may have just left this in place from other regions. The footnote does say that this policy varies by region (which is another thing entirely to take issue with) and, sure enough, Motorola’s other regional listings for Edge 70 Max lack the same 2031 date. One of our commenters noticed that, in Sweden, Motorola only promises OS and security updates for 3 years. It’s also possible this is just poorly worded, but the confusion doesn’t end here.

GSMArena further points out other places where Motorola is wildly inconsistent just on this single device. The EU EPREL label, for example, says updates are provided for 7 years.

You just can’t make this stuff up.

Similar issues can be found even on Motorola’s flagship-tier devices, such as the Razr 70 series.

Outside of the Motorola Signature and Razr Fold, both promised 7 years of OS and security updates, nothing in Motorola’s lineup seems to get a firm answer anymore, at least not a public one. We’ve gotten confirmation of Motorola’s update policies on specific devices as they launch, but with those varying by region, it’s really hard to know what applies to the end user.

Motorola is just bad at updates.

It’s been this way for a while, the Edge 70 Max is seemingly the one that pushed this over the edge – pun mostly intended. It’s a reminder that, when buying from Motorola, you’re buying the device in an as-is state. Updates are the cherry on top (while every other Android brand is giving their users unlimited toppings by comparison).

It’d be one thing if Motorola were just bad at communicating its software updates, but the company has proven time and time again that it’s also bad at rolling out updates. Last year’s Razr foldables, for example, only got Android 16 in February, and that was a huge improvement over the past two generations, both of which didn’t get updated until after sequels had been revealed.

We’ll update this article is Motorola provides any clarification on the update situation for Edge 70 Max or, really anything else.