Motorola Milestone 2 Android smartphone

Motorola extremely poor at software updates

I own the first Milestone. Motorola are by far the worst of the handset makers when it comes to software updates. Android 2.1 arrived horribly late. Android 2.2 isn't there yet. (We're promised it "from the end of the year", but I'll believe it when I see it.) I sincerely doubt we'll ever see 2.3 or newer.

But manufacturers don't have to support a handset with updates forever and most don't, right? For almost all other Android handsets, if you want to get the latest and greatest Android version without the aid of the manufacturer, you have a multitude of alternative sources - you go and grab a third-party firmware, install it and you're done. Motorola have locked the Milestone down so that this isn't possible. Efforts to crack their lockdown have thus far been unsuccessful.

People have complained loudly and repeatedly to Motorola about this. Motorola either can't understand or refuses to try.

I won't be buying Motorola again until this policy changes. I could provide a small list of software and hardware issues with the original Milestone, but the fact that I'm now two (soon three) Android versions behind, on a handset that's just over a year old, is enough to tell me that I don't wish to give Motorola 400+EUR again any time soon.

Same as the Milestone?

Is this as locked down as the originaly Motorola Milestone? I'm sitting here 29th December with that phone and after months of waiting for a promised Q4 2010 initial roll-out of FroYo it got to around 22nd December and Motorola announced that it would now be Q1 2011, at least four or five months after the identical (bar the radio) Motorola Droid. That experience alone has put me off Motorola phones for life. It's a shame because the phone itself is very solid and with a processor clocked at 550MHz that can easily manage 1.33GHz yet due to a locked bootloader the only real software upgrades available will have to rely on Motorola.

Droid2?

That looks, and specs exactly like the Droid 2. Is this just the Euro Version, or has Moto decided to re-badge the phone to hit up early adopters and phone flashers?

No thanks

Anything that adds too much crapware is a "fail" for me.

Unless you can easily remove all those added crap and always keep up-to-date as google's own phone, it is no good.

It's not I trust google, it is all about I trust those phone makers even less.

Charm experience

I used to love Motorola phones because they seemed rock solid and durable. That has changed since acquiring a Moto Charm this fall. I actually like the phone, but it has SERIOUS issues.

Like the Milestone above it can barely last one day on a charge. Worse though is its habit of randomly crashing, shutting down entirely, or losing track of it's SIM card and requiring you to log into Motoblur before it will work again. At least one of these happens every day.

And what, exactly, IS Motoblur? I have yet to find anyone who can tell me what it offers that isn't already well done by Android itself. (Especially with Opera Mini, which rocks!)

Nice phone

i might consider one of these they look pretty good

Yay!

Yay a phone! That doesn't have the latest version of Android! And from a manufacturer with a track record of not giving you the latest version! And....and....Android's UI is so great they replaced it with one of their own! Sorry did someone say "fragmentation"?

The phrase "Lipstick on a pig" comes to mind, like it did for WM6.5.

Defy

when's the Reg going to review the Defy? Has a more than decent spec and T-Mobile is punting it at £25pcm for 18 months. Looks like like the best combo of spec (3.7" screen, 1.5GB storage, semi-rugged) and price on contract. Currently split between getting a Defy on contract or an Orange San Fran. on PAYG

No radio?

Why on earth would I want one?

If I am in the car, the only reason I can think of to turn on the radio is to listen to the news. At home, there is the internet or TV. If I am elsewhere, the phone has a web browser and a very nice app that gets the news straight off the BBC website (probably XML).

I am not aware of anything else I would want with a radio. The BBC provides some nice recordings of programmes on podcast feeds. I imagine other stations might as well but I am happy with what I have.

@software updates: I'd rather eat my own faeces...

Than ever buy a Motorola product again.

The company whose CEO lied when he stated at CES that the Dext would be getting 2.1, the company who confirmed this statement with a Failbook update, and whose "support" forum lied repeatedly about this until Motorola finally went public and admitted that the Dext would be stuck on 1.5.

Blur

if you don't like MotoBlur replace it with LauncherPro or GoLauncher or ADWLauncherEX...or wait until SPB's 5.0 Android front end comes out of private beta in the not too distant (the beta is fantastic btw).

"running the maximum seven functions at once." - is that actually true? It's news to me and I can't find any corroboration for the statement.

Droid2 phones and Exchange

* Submitted at

Unhappy

I am sick of the Droid 2 advertising. I am a Exchange admin version 2003 and the Droids do not sync well with Microsoft Exchange. If they sync at all, it can take hours. The notes fields never sync correctly after the initial sync, so if you put notes in your contacts forget it. Our provider (Verizon) said that these phones would work with Exchange, but after months of trying they don't and refer us to Motorola, which says to use a program called "TouchDown" This program cost $29.00 US but if complain they will give it to you for free.

Took long enough

Hum, this phone has been out since September and 'The Reg' has only just reviewed it, been on holiday guys?

This is certainly a phone I have placed on my list, depends upon which carrier is willing to supply it, £410 is a lot of money for such a device though, so that would rule me out of buying it sim free :(