EU messed up: Android manufacturers don't need to release any updates

Petteri Pyyny
29 Jan 2026 16:00

The European Union's Ecodesign regulation, formally known as Ecodesign, has been phased in over the past couple of years.
The directive is known, among other things, for enabling smartphones to be sold without bundled chargers, provided they can be charged with a standard charger (and in most cases, with any manufacturer's fast charger).

The Ecodesign regulation came into force with considerable impact in the summer of 2025.
At the time, one encouraging detail drew attention: the new regulation would force smartphone manufacturers to provide software updates for new phones for at least five years.

That is what everyone thought. We thought so, and many other media outlets thought so too.

And somewhat surprisingly, device manufacturers seemed to fall into line. OnePlus extended update support for its new phones - including budget models such as the OnePlus Nord CE5, which is promised four major Android updates and six years of security patches. Honor likewise clearly lengthened update support for models sold in Europe.

But one manufacturer pushe back. Motorola (a subsdiary of Chinese Lenovo) had read the Ecodesign regulation - together with its lawyers - more carefully than others.

And there, in the official text of the regulation, Annex 2, subsection 1.2, point 6, paragraph a, the precise wording can be found:

Operating system updates: From the date of end of placement on the market to at least 5 years after that date, manufacturers, importers or authorised representatives shall, if they provide security updates, corrective updates or functionality updates to an operating system, make such updates available at no cost for all units of a product model with the same operating system.

Here, the key word is 'if'. In other words, the regulation does not actually force manufacturers to release any updates for their products - ever. But if they release even a single update, those updates must remain available for download and installation for five years from the moment the phone is no longer sold on the EU market.

So if a company launches a phone today and issues one minor security update in the summer of 2026 - but never releases anything else - the regulation's requirements are still met, as long as that single update remains available perhaps until 2032 (by which time the phone likely has not been sold for five years).

We called the authorities

Our readers tipped us off that in Finland, enforcement of the Ecodesign regulation in national level is overseen by the Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency, better known as Tukes.

We contacted Tukes' communications team, which directed us to the appropriate official. She confirmed the situation.

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.

The Tukes representative added that problems often arise when legislative intent and the final wording do not align. She did not comment on whether that is the case with the Ecodesign regulation, but noted that Tukes cannot change the situation - its role is simply to enforce the law as written.

All of this strongly suggests that while the European Union intended to force device manufacturers to provide updates for their smartphones, the wording of the law fell far short of that goal.

Motorola's interpretation of the legislation therefore appears to be correct. The company yesterday unveiled two new smartphones - Moto G17 and Moto G17 Power that ship with the already outdated Android 15, released in 2024, and are not promised a single major Android update - with security updates guaranteed for only two years.

Fortunately, buyers themselves are beginning to realize that phones left without updates pose a genuine security risk. For some purchasing help, there's a list of Android smartphones with the longest update commitments.