I’ve been a Motorola fan for years, but an Android phone with no updates is my breaking point

For years, Motorola has been terrible at software updates — both in the length of its update policies and the speed at which it releases them. If you buy a Motorola phone, poor update support is an expected consequence you have to deal with.

As much as this practice annoys me, Motorola’s hardware is so good that I’ve (begrudgingly) overlooked it. Some of the company’s budget Moto G handsets offer incredible value; the Razr lineup is one of the strongest on the market for flip-phone foldables; the upcoming Motorola Signature looks incredibly promising.

However, Motorola has just crossed a line that has me rethinking everything. I’m a self-proclaimed Motorola fan, but after what the company has just done, I think I’m done recommending Moto phones.

Motorola typically offers just two Android OS upgrades for this caliber of Android phone, as we see with the $200 Moto G Play (2026) in the US. But the Moto G17 is different.

The Moto G17 isn’t getting two OS upgrades. It’s not even getting one. Instead, the Moto G17 is promised zero Android updates. That’s right: zero. Besides two years of security updates (which is embarrassing in its own right), the Moto G17 will never see a major Android OS update.

And as if that wasn’t bad enough, the Moto G17 ships with Android 15. Mind you, Android 16 has been available since June 2025, and the Moto G17 was released on January 29, 2026. There’s absolutely no excuse to ship a phone at this point in time with a version of Android that’s been out since October 2024 — and have zero plans to ever update it — but that’s where we find ourselves with the Moto G17.

Simply put, there’s no excuse for what Motorola is doing here. Not committing to any updates is damning enough on its own, but saddling the G17 with an outdated version of Android is the icing on an already disgusting cake.

The more I sit on and think about what Motorola is doing with the Moto G17, the angrier I get.

But at the same time, Motorola has had glimpses of meaningful change. In September 2024, Motorola launched its first phone with five years of Android updates. The Motorola Signature, launching later this year, is Motorola’s first phone with seven years of updates. Whenever I start to lose hope that Motorola will change its ways, the company teases me with the promise of good things on the horizon.

And then we get something like the Moto G17 that makes me feel like an idiot for ever getting my hopes up.

Time and again, I’ve given Motorola a pass for its update policies. Don’t get me wrong — I’ve criticized Motorola numerous times, but I’ve simultaneously continued to recommend its phones, both professionally here on  and in my personal life. But I’ve reached my breaking point. Even if the Moto G17 is a one-off and this zero-update policy doesn’t extend to future Motorola phones, I’m still not sure I want to support a company that deems a phone like the G17 acceptable.

Android updates may not be as exciting as they were a few years ago, but they’re still an important part of your smartphone. For Motorola to ask you to buy a phone with software that’s almost two generations behind and with no plans to update it further is about as anti-consumer as it gets.

More than anything, the Moto G17 proves that Motorola truly doesn’t care about fixing Android updates. And if Motorola doesn’t, then fine. But actions have consequences, and releasing the Moto G17 is pushing me to avoid buying or recommending another Motorola phone anytime soon. And I’d encourage you to do the same.