Moto Buds+ Review: Buds You Can Rely On

We had the chance to get up close and personal with the Moto Buds+, which cost $129/£129 and boast Bose sound. So, how did they fare?

Design

The Moto Buds+ are housed in a svelte rectangular case with rounded corners. It sports a neatly placed Motorola logo on top and Bose branding just beneath it. The case slips into a trouser pocket with no fuss and is slim enough to go unnoticed. Its no sharp edges also mean that the case won’t scratch whatever else is in your pocket or purse.

The case lid is nice and easy to open, and when you are putting the buds away, they slip neatly into the allotted slots thanks to the strong magnets present.

An LED light beneath the lid indicates whether the Buds+ are charging, pairing, or running out of juice. The USB-C port is housed in the rear of the case.

Opening the charging case reveals the two earbuds and a perfectly located pairing button. I view this as the perfect placement for the control, which will never get accidentally pressed while in your pocket, bag, or wherever you store the Moto Buds+.

As for the buds themselves, while they have a stalk, no one is going to ask if you’ve got your electric toothbrush head stuck in your ear. Controls are handled via single/double/triple taps and are responsive without being overly sensitive. You can also disable tap controls altogether, which is not an option often seen. Thanks to their design, the buds fit quite snugly with the pre-installed tips. and unusually in my experience, they were still comfortable at the end of a 6 hour session. Thankfully, they are also IP54 compliant, which means they are good for the gym or if you get caught in a shower.

Hardware

Performance

This is the all-important section of the review, and I’m happy to report that the Moto Buds+ delivers. Open the case, take out one or both buds to place in your ear, and the buds automatically detect they are in use. Pairing with devices is also one of the easiest experiences I’ve had—whether it’s my 2016 LG OLED TV or a 2024 smartphone. It just works.

The Moto Buds+’s trio of microphones helps with sound quality when making or receiving calls, minimizing external sound to maximize the clarity of your voice, with options to turn it off or switch to Transparency, Adaptive, and Noise Cancellation in the app.

Noise cancellation isn’t going to remove every single extraneous sound, but it does a good job of dulling the noise of public transport and fellow travelers to acceptable levels. Adaptive mode is fairly responsive to sudden noises but if you are in an environment where you know noise will be an issue, it’s probably best to skip straight to the Noise Cancellation setting. Transparency Mode allows you to hear people talking while still listening to your favorite song.

As for sound, the Buds+ are okay in terms of volume—sure, they could be a smidge louder, but I’ve not dwelled on this much when using them. Clarity loses some quality when you exceed 80% volume although the default sound profile is somewhat bass-heavy. This is easily fixed in the app’s eQ tool though.

The EQ tool lets you choose from Flat, Bass Boost, Vocal Boost, and Brilliant Treble modes. The Vocal Boost mode was especially handy for podcasts. If you want bass, the Moto Buds+ will deliver it with great effect when playing hip-hop or R&B. For groups like The Offspring; I preferred leaving the Buds+ on default.

Battery

With ANC disabled, you’ll get around 8 hours of playback with the Moto Buds+. This drops to around 6 hours when you enable ANC so it’s a good thing that popping the buds back in the charging case for just a few minutes results in enough charge for a few more hours. Another good thing is that you don’t absolutely need to bring a USB-C cable along for the ride because the charging case can be recharged wirelessly, either by a dedicated wireless charger or using your phone’s reverse wireless charging capability (if it has it).

App

The Moto Buds+ companion app offers additional features, such as setting the noise cancellation mode and customizing the touch controls. There’s no hunting around to see how much battery is left in the buds or charging case, that data is clearly shown on the opening page of the app. Dedicated Game and Hi-Res modes are also present, with the former delivering somewhat lower response times and the latter only really useful if you are streaming via a service that supports the higher-quality format.

Conclusion

It’s fair to say that the truly wireless earbuds market is saturated with offerings at this point in 2024. Despite the Bose expertise, the audio brand didn’t bring all of its tricks of the trade to the Moto Buds+, but then again, Motorola’s offering is much more affordable.

The Moto Buds+ offers a good mix of quality audio, good but not outstanding battery life, a very comfortable fit, and a companion app that brings enough customization options to consumers. If you want a pair of reliable earbuds with good levels of ANC, and enough options to tweak the audio to your satisfaction, the Moto Buds+ could be just what you are looking for.

At $129/£129, the Moto Buds+ are a solid choice in this price range for people not wanting to pay the big bucks for the likes of Sony’s WF-1000XM5 but still wanting good features and quality sound.