My decision was based on "Google owns Motorola, therefore something considered a flagship phone at the time of buying it should be supported for longer than a year". In my opinion, that's some excellent criteria for buying a phone, just a shame that Google treats everything they do, even owning large companies like a beta test, and shuts things down on a whim whenever they feel like it. Honestly my best android phone was a Xiaomi Note 3, cost less than 300 bucks and performed great up until the day I replaced it. Not sure if they still make phones as well as they used to, but I'd give them another try if I ever went back to Android
My moto was a stop gap when I thought I lost my phone and had to replace it. Moto was already known to be a poor brand at the time. The only thing I missed from it was shake to turn on flashlight. For me, getting flagship phones after 1-2 years it's been out has been a great value. They last for 5+ years if you don't drop it.