(Thanks to my friends at Motorola for sponsoring this pair of earbuds.)

It's surprising to me that Motorola has finally started making accessories under its own ecosystem. It turns out this could be the best native Android earphone solution outside of Google's hardware.

I have used this pair of earbuds for a short period of time, including a few hours on a plane. I would say overall it's a well-designed product that needs better audio hardware or tuning, but this should be one of the best noise-canceling earphones you can get at this price band.

Design

Unlike the AirPods, with all the protective case options in the world, which feels incomplete without a personalized case, the moto buds' case feels more complete. The case overall is covered in a matte-finished plastic spray, similar to the texture of stone. And on the top is the original and iconic Motorola logo which is easy to identify. It would be even cooler if the M logo could light up in the dark.

The different colors offered by Motorola only reveal themselves after you open the case. The pair I got is one of the most universal dark colors; it's officially referred to as Starlight Blue. In my opinion, Deepsea Blue seems more appropriate given that the blue color is not as obvious as black at first sight.

One interesting observation is that when closed, the M logo would be facing the user. Unlike MacBooks, where the Apple logo is facing outward to accommodate open status.

Feeling

One of the greatest parts of the AirPods design is the case. You can open and close the case lid a million times like it's a fidget spinner. As we learned, Sir Jony Ive loves to add those "fiddle effects" to the products he has designed.

Compared to the clicky feel of an AirPods (3rd gen) case, the moto buds feel softer but more soothing. When you are closing the lid, it feels like there is a vacuum inside softly sucking the top and bottom parts together. It’s like when you are packing an iPhone package box, the cover lid would slowly move down till the end at the same pace. It’s simply satisfying. I can tell Motorola spent some effort defining the hinge that’s on the back of the case to achieve this kind of effect.

The case feels solid, and it’s something you can play around with. The same feeling extends to the earbuds inside too.

The earbuds share a similar shape and design as AirPods and other earphones on the market. They are comfortable to wear and mighty on the inside.

Noise Cancellation

The noise cancellation is amazing for this price band; it even supports an adaptive mode between traditional noise cancellation and transparency mode, making it even more useful than other products at similar prices. When you are using it on a plane, it's as good as a pair of AirPods Pro.

With noise cancellation being touch-controlled and adjustable on the earbuds themselves, other features are not available to iOS. That being said, when using them with iPhones, the connection speed and stability are also quite good.

Features

The moto buds have one of the most finished software for Android phones out of all the Bluetooth earphones I have used before. It’s seamlessly integrated with the Android system. On my Pixel 7, the fast pair feature is able to pop up when the earbuds are around and pair/connect in a second.

Motorola has also developed a specific app to customize features such as noise cancellation, EQ settings, and gaming mode for low latency. The UIs are beautiful with carefully designed renders and icons for different settings. And on each page, the drawings of the products would match the status of the products whether they are inside the case or they are taken out.

(One caveat I'd like to know is if the drawings would be in different colors if I had gotten them in another color.)

There are also features such as Spatial Audio that are available, but it’s hard to find compatible audio content on Android and I guess it doesn’t work with iPhone.

Audio Quality

If you are not trying to make any comparisons, the audio quality is definitely very good. But given I'm doing a side-by-side comparison with my AirPods (3rd gen), which would cost twice as much, the bass part is most obviously weaker. Then the EQ setting would kick in and give it some advantage if you are on a plane and trying to strengthen a certain part of the audio.

Conclusion

At this price, it’s a must-have for any Android phone users. And for iPhone users, it’s a nice replacement for your regular AirPods if you don’t already own a Pro model.