The Motorola MOTO Buds 085 is a great TWS headset with great charisma, good sound, microphones, and moisture protection. However, there is a certain limit beyond which branded quality can no longer justify the lack of what you expect. And I always expect more from Motorola. After all, this is “Hello Moto!”, not just anything.
Market positioning
Let’s start with the price. It’s a little less than $50. So yes, Moto Buds 085 is not a flagship, but it’s not a budget either.
Package contents
The box, in addition to the headset itself, contains a warranty, an instruction manual, sealed extra-large silicone ear cushions, and a USB Type-A to Type-C cable.
I must say that MOTO Buds 085 was the first headset in a long time where I had to take the largest ear cushions for a better fit.
MOTO Buds 085 case
Let’s start with the case study. It’s not very distinctive, but it’s made with high quality. Matte black plastic, pleasant to the touch, quite durable. My sample, however, came out of the box with a slight scuff near the logo, but it’s a review sample, so don’t worry. But you can see what the plastic will look like after a long time of use.
There is a logo on the top and a label with additional data on the bottom.
On the front are two indicators, charging and connection, blue and red, respectively. There is a Type-C connector on the back.
The fingernail groove to facilitate opening the case is large enough to open and take out the headphones, although difficult, but not impossible. The lid opens 90 degrees and does not crack or rattle at all.
Headphones
The headphones themselves are held firmly in the case by magnets and do not fall out. Their shape is… Strange as it sounds, but very much in the style of Motorola.
A long leg, a pleasantly shaped cup, matte plastic, and standard charging contacts covered with tape. This, however, does not prevent the headphones from entering the pairing mode.
Specifications
The headset is stereo, operating frequency is from 20 to 20,000 Hz, sensitivity is 96 dB per 1 mW, moisture protection is IPX5, driver size is 6 mm, impedance is 16 ohms.
Each of the headphones weighs 5.7 g, the total weight with the case is 35 g, there are two microphones, there is support for Bluetooth protocols HSF, AVRCP, A2DP, there is support for at least AAC in addition to SBC, and the warranty is 2 years.
Control scheme
Controls are standard, via the touch area on the back. One tap pauses the media player, plus lifts the handset during a call and ends the call. Two taps – fast forward, three – rewind.
Hold the sensor for two seconds to turn on the headphones, turn on the assistant, or reject a call. Four seconds to turn off. Unfortunately, I did not find out if it is possible to reset the Motorola MOTO Buds 085 to the default settings.
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Connecting a TWS headset to the device is easy. Take the headphones out of the case, search for the “Motorola MOTO Buds 085” model in the Bluetooth menu, and connect.
At the same time, when connected, the headset will play the branded sound and say the branded phrase “Hello Moto!” in a branded voice. This is a very charismatic feature, and the company’s fans will like it VERY much.
Operating experience
As for the sound quality. The box says that the sound is balanced in terms of frequencies – and it is NOT. I expected less loud voice transmission and more elastic bass. But I expected such a high-quality voice transmission during a conversation. Still, there are two microphones on the headphones for a reason.
I expected a different three-dimensional scene when listening to music. There is three-dimensionality, but it is very blurred, as if in a fog. The sound sources change positions, and you can feel it, but there is no specificity, no contrast, I’ve never seen this before and I can’t say whether it’s good or bad. There is an opinion that this can be corrected by changing the nozzles.
In general, this is definitely not a model for music lovers, but the average user will be satisfied. It’s not at the level of Chinese AirPods fakes, I can tell you that.
Disadvantages
Does the headset have any drawbacks? Yes. As of 2022, this particular model is very outdated. Even compared to, say, Motorola MOTO Buds 105, which will be reviewed soon.
But. The 085 has Bluetooth version 5.0, only 5 hours of battery life, and no support for noise cancellation or transparency mode. And the headphones take a long time to charge – in an hour, the case reached 70%.
And on the one hand, I don’t want to compare it to the Chinese, who dump the price with features, but there is a limit to everything. The same Motorola MOTO Buds 105 model has 8 hours of battery life and Bluetooth 5.2. Despite the fact that the 105th model is smaller in size, and its price is about the same!
Summary of Motorola MOTO Buds 085
I can only recommend Motorola MOTO Buds 085 to a Motorola fan who will be happy with the basic battery life and also has a preference for the TWS form factor of long-stemmed headsets. I can recommend this model to such a person. In any other case, the MOTO Buds 105 is at your service.
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