Motorola continues to dampen the appeal of the Motorola Edge mid-ranger
The Lenovo unit needs to follow Samsung and Google's lead if it wants the Edge to be more competitive.
Motorola makes its mid-range Edge model less attractive | Image by Motorola
It's really amazing when you think about it. Some smartphones these days can receive support for up to seven years. Take the just released Pixel 11 series, which launched with Android 17 and will continue to be updated through Android 24 in 2033. That is a major improvement from the early days of Android when phones like the Motorola DROID received two major Android updates.
The Motorola Edge (2026) is a decently spec'd mid-range Android phone
Speaking about Motorola, we will be looking at one of its recently released phones, the mid-range Motorola Edge (2026). Priced at $599, the Edge features a 6.3-inch Extreme AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The peak brightness of the screen, at 5,200 nits, means the screen can be comfortably viewed even in bright sunlight.
Do you consider software updates when choosing a new phone?
A 4nm MediaTek Dimensity 7450 chipset is under the hood, along with 8GB of memory. There is only one storage option, 128GB, and the device does not feature an microSD slot for expandable storage. The triple rear cameras (main, ultrawide, and telephoto) all weigh in at 50MP. A 5,000mAh battery keeps the lights on and charges at 60W wired and at 15W wirelessly.
The phone will receive only two Android OS updates
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These are pretty good specs for a $600 phone. The device was released with Android 16 and will get only two major Android updates according to Motorola. That means it will receive Android 17 and Android 18. The phone will continue receiving security updates until June 2029. Last year's Edge (2025) received the same number of major Android OS updates (two), amd security updates (three).
Information about software updates scheduled for the Motorola Edge 2026. | Image by Motorola
It's hard to believe that a potential Motorola Edge buyer wouldn't look at the update schedule and be dissuaded from buying the device. Let's look at the Pixel 10a, another mid-range Android model that was released on March 5, 2026. Priced at $499 when released ($100 cheaper than the Motorola Edge 2026), the Pixel 10a gets seven years of Android OS updates, more than three times the number that the Motorola Edge (2026) receives.
Motorola has other models with underwhelming updating guarantees
Motorola has not been known to have the most generous update schedule. For example, the Motorola Razr Ultra (2026) promises three major Android OS updates and four years of security updates (bi-monthly, eventually moving to quarterly). It was released with Android 16 and will be updated up to Android 19 and will lose support sometime in 2030.
Compare this to Samsung's 2026 clamshell, the Galaxy Z Flip 8, which is scheduled to get seven years of Android OS updates to Android 24, and seven years of guaranteed security updates, losing support in the middle of 2033.
When you are deciding which new phone to buy, do you take future software and security updates into consideration? Would the limited update schedule of the Motorola Edge (2026), two years of Android OS updates and three years of security updates, lead you away from buying the device and toward the purchase of another phone?
Phone buyers used to buy a new phone every two years
Remember when upgrading to a new phone every two years was the norm? Some of that was due to the way consumers bought subsidized phones at the time, paying $99 to $199 for a new phone with a two-year contract. When the two-years were over, the consumer would get rid of the old phone and buy a new one.
These days, consumers don't buy subsidized phones. Instead, they finance the purchase of their new device over 36-months. If someone broke the two year subsidized contract in the old days, they would be forced to pay an early-termination fee.
These days, if a customer financing a phone decides to break the contract before the 36-month term is over, the balance due on the phone must be paid immediately in one lump-sum. Despite all the complaints about getting stuck with a wireless provider for two-years in the old days, I suspect that many would prefer to pay $199 for a brand-new phone and get locked in for 24-months as opposed to the 36-months they are essentially locked in to these days.
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