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Under Google, Motorola was one of our favorite OEMs. The company delivered bang-for-your-buck hardware, stock Android with some actually good additions, and speedy updates. Motorola couldn't hold Google's interest for very long, though, and in 2014, Google sold Motorola to Lenovo.
When Google took over Motorola, the company mentioned it would have to clear "12 to 18 months of product pipeline" before Google's changes would take effect. Assuming the Lenovo had the same 12 to 18 months of pipeline after the October 2014 takeover, the Moto Z and Moto Z Force mark the first "Lenovorola" flagship.
And boy, are things different. Along with the new name (RIP, Moto X) comes a huge jump in price: Motorola's flagship has gone from $400 in 2015 to $720 (for the Z Force) in 2016. That's an 80-percent increase. Moto Maker—Motorola's design service that let you customize the outside of the device—is dead, at least for the flagship. Motorola's love of software updates seems to have gone out the window, too. Major updates now take several months instead of several weeks, and a Motorola rep told us the company won't be providing security updates for the Moto Z.