Motorola in the last year has been late to the Android update party very disappointingly. So when many are expecting Android 9 Pie and beyond the Moto G5 Plus (once the Midrange King) got it’s dose of Android 8.1 Oreo. And I’ve been running it for the last 6 months or so and here are some observations about it.
First and foremost the stock launcher of the Moto G5 plus is almost same as before with not many changes but the notification area is better now and it can change color according to the wallpaper color with dark wallpaper making it a black notification area and lighter color wallpapers get a white notification area. The icons in the homescreen and inside the launcher are more even with circular icons by default. This icon shape can be changed like Squircle, Tear drop etc. but I was able to get to this only after enabling the “Developer Options”.
The usage in the last 6 months after the update has been smooth and fast with no noticeable bugs. The camera performance is better than before but the battery life is same as before with no significant improvements.
So even though the Oreo goodness was very late to arrive for Moto G5 Plus it’s a worthwhile effort to update it…