On the other hand, two years of software updates could be interpreted as two years from the point of release. Motorola released the Moto X4 in October 2017, for example, so it should follow that the device will receive software updates until October 2019. While the Moto X4 launched with Android 7.1 Nougat and has received two OS upgrades, Google released Android 10 in September 2019, well within the X4's software update coverage. Correspondingly, this crossover between dates has led people to question whether the X4 will receive a third OS upgrade. While Google Fi support apparently confirmed that Moto X4 handsets "purchased from Google will be upgraded to Android 10 at some point", no devices have been upgraded to Android 10.

The Moto X4 is not an isolated case, either. Strictly speaking, the HTC U11 Life and Xiaomi Mi A1 would qualify for Android 10 if "two years of guaranteed Android updates" means two years from the date of release. However, both devices are being left on Android 9.0 Pie, and seemingly without any official confirmation of that happening.

A third way to interpret "two years of guaranteed Android updates", of course, could be two years from the date of purchase. This would be almost improbable for Google to manage though, so this interpretation seems unlikely.

Not only does two years of software updates not always mean two years of software updates, but also there are questions around whether the Android One program provides "faster access to Android OS updates", either. On the face of it, this statement means that Android One devices receive "faster access to Android OS updates" than if they were running custom Android skins, instead. We doubt that Google means as quick access to updates as Pixel devices, though.