Following up on our editorial regarding its incredibly confusing software support policy for the recently announced Edge 70 Max, Motorola reached out to us to clarify the matter.
The company rep, who contacted us following our story, had this to say:
We can confirm that Edge 70 Max arrives with up to 3 OS upgrades and up to 5 years of SMR.
Lenovo and Motorola Mobility are committed to meeting the principles set out in the Lot X regulation and will continue to provide security, corrective and functionality updates to our phones and tablets, to help ensure the longevity and operation of our products. We are working to further enhance the longevity of our products through enhanced repair and OS update policies (governing security, corrective, and functionality updates).
As a reminder, the controversy came about after our readers directed our attention to the fact that the Edge 70 Max product pages on at least several Motorola regional websites stated “up to 3 Android OS upgrades and 5 years of security updates”, while in the footnotes, the same product pages claimed the product includes only “2 OS upgrades and 3 years of security updates”.
Since the statement quoted above does not explain the reason for the discrepancy, we can only assume the footnotes were just carried over from the product pages of other devices without being changed as they should have been.
Motorola Edge 70 Max
Given how the software update promises from various Android device makers are becoming increasingly important for people’s purchasing decisions, we’re hoping Motorola can do a better job of communicating its policies in the future, leaving no room for confusion.
For example, that “up to” wording means it can decide to issue only one or two OS upgrades for the Edge 70 Max without technically breaking its promise. A very clear minimum number would be much more reassuring to people looking to purchase this device, or any other.