Amazon Prime subscribers get a number of benefits that are simply off-limits to those who choose to not subscribe to the service. This includes access to services like Amazon Music, free 2-day shipping on select items, and more. One such benefit is the ability to get a discount on Amazon Prime Exclusive smartphones. The program offers an assortment of devices from a number of OEMs, including Motorola, LG, Nokia, and others. For the most part, these devices have had locked down bootloaders, but we’re now seeing reports from multiple Motorola Moto G5 Plus owners who are able to get an official unlock code directly from Motorola’s website.
I say “for the most part” because there have been a few instances where these Amazon Prime Exclusive devices were able to have the bootloader unlocked. The devices that slipped through the cracks were far and few between, but since the program’s inception we have seen a few of these reports. This was rare and happened much less than the recent wave of reports that we have seen throughout the Android community this month from Motorola Moto G5 Plus owners. Since Motorola nor Amazon have come out with an official statement on the matter, it is unclear if this change is accidental or intended.
We are, however, seeing multiple reports over the last week so it seems as if the change may be widespread at this time. If it is a mistake, then we could see Motorola issue a fix to their bootloader unlock request backend, but for now it seems to be open-ended. We do want to point out that requesting a bootloader unlock code from Motorola will void the warranty of your Moto G5 Plus and the process of unlocking the bootloader will wipe all of the data from the phone (so backup as much stuff as possible before you proceed).
Source 1: Moto G5 Plus Forum Source 2: Reddit Source 3: Moto G5 Plus Forum