Motorola

Motorola promises zero Android OS upgrades for its latest budget phones, ships with Android 15

Ben Schoon | Jan 31 2026 - 9:30 am PT

Motorola is not exactly known for timely Android updates, but its latest releases in Europe don’t even promise OS upgrades at all – with Android 15 out of the box being a cherry on top.

Earlier this week, Motorola announced the Moto G17 for international markets, including Europe. The modest handset costs £149.99 in the UK and looks pretty okay for that price tag. It has a 6.72-inch FHD+ display, a 5,200 mAh battery, a MediaTek Helio G81 chip, 4GB of RAM, a 50MP Sony Lytia camera on the back (with a 5MP ultrawide), has a headphone jack, and comes in some fun colors too. The Moto G17 Power has the same core package, but with a bigger 6,000 mAh battery.

But the software situation is an absolute mess.

Motorola is shipping the Moto G17 duo with Android 15 out of the box, which at this point is very out of date. Android 16 was released in June 2025 – seven months ago – and is already on 7.5% of active Android devices. Shipping a brand new smartphone with Android 15 in 2026 is just wild.

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Beyond that, Motorola promises just two years of security updates through early 2028, at least in the UK. But in Europe, it seems that’s pushed out to five years per regulatory demands. As Android Authority points out, though, Motorola is not promising any OS upgrades, just security updates. Finnish publication After Dawn, speaking to authorities in Finland, obtained a quote in which it seems the EU’s regulatory wording leaves a loophole that would allow this, with only security, “corrective,” and basic functionality updates required.

In response to your question about whether operators (smartphone manufacturers) are required to produce new updates, our interpretation of the Ecodesign requirements is that they are not.

However, operators are obligated to provide existing operating system security, corrective, and functionality updates for five years from the date the final physical unit of the model was placed on the market.

Motorola’s announcement of the Moto G17 series lacks any mention of software updates and buries the fact that these phones ship with Android 15. And, on listings for the G17 in France, Germany, and Finland, there’s not even a mention of how long security updates will continue. Motorola was also fairly quiet regarding OS updates for its new Moto G (2026) releases in the US, but they do get two years of OS updates. At the very least, they ship with Android 16 out of the box.

Google does have some requirements around security updates on Android devices, but there’s nothing really stopping Motorola from putting out a release like this with an outdated Android version and no promises of the future – at least outside of customer reactions. Notably, this comes just a few weeks after Motorola announced its new “Signature” phone which is also its first with the promise of 7 years of updates. It’s crazy to see how two sides of the same company can differ so greatly.

We’ll update this post if Motorola offers any further clarity on Moto G17 updates.