Motorola soak test brings Lollipop to Moto E and Moto Maxx

The Moto Maxx is getting Lollipop. Photo: Motorola

The Moto Maxx is getting Lollipop. Photo: Motorola

Motorola has begun its Android 5.0 Lollipop rollout for the original Moto E and the Moto Maxx, following its upgrades for the first- and second-generation Moto Gs. The company is soak testing the software for now, but it’s going to be with you very soon.

Right now, the software can be downloaded on Moto E handsets in Brazil and India, and Moto Maxx handsets in Brazil and Mexico. And as usual, handsets purchased at retail — not through a carrier — will be first in line for it.

If the soak test goes well and Motorola doesn’t discover any issues, the company will quickly bring it to more devices in more markets. To ensure your Moto E is ready, download the latest version of the Motorola Update Services app from Google Play.

“We’re working hard to continually make your phone better and better with the latest Android, and we will keep pushing out new software to you,” Motorola says on its blog. The company’s Lollipop updates include everything you would expect from Google’s latest software on a Nexus device.

Lollipop is particularly beneficial to more affordable handsets like the Moto E, which don’t have the superfast specifications you get with a flagship. The ART runtime, which is now standard with Android 5.0 and up, makes significant improvements to both performance and battery life.

I’ve been running Lollipop on my second-generation Moto G for a few months now, and it has vastly improved the user experience. It’s much snappier than before, there are fewer crashes, and my battery easily lasts a full day — if not more.