Upgrade Motorola Moto E 2nd Generation phone from Android6 to a later Android version.

Belenus

Can I upgrade Motorola Moto E 2nd Generation phone from Android6 to a later Android version?

My wife and I have these now circa 7 year old phones. They do everything we need and we do not want to buy new phones.

I have been warned that my HSBC banking app will stop working under Android6 soon and I need to upgrade to Android7.

Is this possible and how do I do it?

Can I go higher than Android7?

Thanks

PS: Would this be better in the Techie forum?

JJ_Egan

Motorola will have the answer.

If they have not pushed out updates then probably never .

XDA Development forum may have an alternative custom Android 7 firmware install .

Neil_Jones

As general rule if the update to 7 is not pushed by the manufacturer then it's not going to happen, officially anyway.

You may want to check something like https://download.lineageos.org as this is a third party Androids olution based on Android 11, but not every phone can run this.  Plus you have to install it yourself and then "tack" things like Google Play onto it.

flaneurs_lobster

You can install a later (non-official) version of Android on that model of Moto E (I've done it) but a couple of points.

No banking apps will run on anything other than an official Android release of software, to allow this would circumvent some security protocols that are "hard-baked" into the OS.

"Rooting" your phone to install non-standard stuff is quite good fun from a techie hobby perspective but you should be prepared for the phone to die forever if something goes awry. 

SonOfPearl

The Moto E 2nd Gen doesn't look like it's going to get an official update to Android 7 so sadly no, it's not possible. Unless you are tech savvy enough to install an unofficial later version yourself then buying new phones is your only option if you want to keep using the HSBC banking app. 

If you want to update to a similar (ish) phone, Motorola sell newer phones in the Moto E range, the latest being the Moto E7 which costs around £100. 

Belenus

Thanks everyone. I don't want to mess around with unofficial updates.

Time for new phones I suppose as HSBC won't be the only issue we face with an old version of Android.

I will check out the Moto E7.