Motorola Moto G85 5G review: Looks can be deceiving

Best Prices Today: Motorola Moto G85 5G

The Moto G85 5G is one Motorola’s latest (at the time of writing) range of mid-range phones. It offers an elegant design, including a curved-edge pOLED display that feels more premium than the price tag suggests.

It delivers solid battery life, smooth everyday performance, and a clean software experience. However, camera quality is mediocre, performance lags behind key competitors, and Motorola’s disappointing software update policy is hard to ignore in 2024.

If you value design and display quality over raw power, this phone is worth a look – but there are better all-rounders for a similar price. Here’s my full review.

Design & Build

• Premium design with curved-edge display
• Vegan leather or matte plastic finishes
• Slim and lightweight, but only IP52 water resistance

Motorola has always delivered attractive, affordable handsets, but the Moto G85 5G steps things up a notch.

It borrows design cues from the flagship Edge series, offering an ultra-slim profile at 7.6mm and curved-edge front glass that feels premium in the hand. To be honest, when holding this handset, it feels slimmer than its 7.6mm – it’s impressive. At 172g, it’s also remarkably lightweight considering the size of the display and battery.

The vegan leather options (Cobalt Blue and Olive Green) add a textured, grippy surface that sets it apart from the usual glossy plastic slabs in this segment. You can, however, notice that this isn’t leather – it feels much more like suede. If you prefer a more conventional finish, the Urban Grey model features a smooth matt plastic back that hides fingerprints and smudges well.

Ergonomically, the phone is easy to hold, and the gentle curves make one-handed use less awkward than flatter devices such as the Poco X7. The buttons are well-placed, with the power button doubling as a speedy and reliable fingerprint scanner. There’s no in-display option here, but at this price point, I wouldn’t expect to find one.

Motorola has always delivered attractive affordable handsets, but the Moto G85 5G steps things up a notch

Durability is where the Moto G85 5G shows its limitations. The IP52 rating offers protection against light splashes and dust, but not submersion. It’s better than nothing, but competitors like the Samsung Galaxy A36 5G offer IP67 certification, which is far more reassuring.

One thing I noticed was the name of regulatory markings on the bottom of this handset, near the charging port (there’s a picture in the battery section of this review). It’s not a big deal, but there are more logos than I’ve seen before, and they seem particularly noticeable on this device.

Display & Sound

• Stunning curved 6.67-inch pOLED panel
• Smooth 120Hz refresh rate and decent brightness
• Loud stereo speakers, but lacking bass

The Moto G85’s 6.67-inch pOLED screen is its biggest selling point.

Curved displays at this price are virtually unheard of these days, and I’m not usually a fan, but Motorola’s execution is done rather well. The curves here are subtle, minimising accidental touches – a common issue with earlier curved screens. The result is a panel that looks far more premium than its price tag.

With a resolution of 2400 x 1080 and support for a 120Hz refresh rate, scrolling feels buttery smooth and visuals are sharp. Colours are vibrant out of the box, and the display offers decent calibration, although some may find it a bit punchy. There’s a manual colour balance mode in the settings if you prefer a more natural tone.

Brightness peaks at 1600 nits under direct sunlight. It’s adequate for most outdoor conditions but doesn’t quite match the panel brightness of competitors like the Poco X7, which exceeds 1800 nits. Viewing angles are excellent, thanks to the pOLED tech, and there’s minimal colour shift at off-angles.

The Moto G85’s 6.67-inch pOLED screen is its biggest selling point

The stereo speakers are loud and provide clear audio for podcasts and casual video watching. They’re Dolby Atmos certified, which adds some virtual surround depth, but they lack warmth and bass, especially at higher volumes. There’s no headphone jack, which is disappointing given this is still common on budget phones.

Specs & Performance

• Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 delivers smooth everyday performance
• Lags behind competitors like Poco X6 and Galaxy A35 in raw power
• UFS 2.2 storage limits speed

Performance is an area where the Moto G85 5G definitely shows its mid-range roots. It’s powered by the Snapdragon 6s Gen 3, a relatively new but modest 6nm chipset with eight cores (two Cortex-A78 and six Cortex-A55). Graphics duties are handled by the Adreno 619 GPU.

During regular use, such as social media scrolling, web browsing, and light multitasking, the Moto G85 5G holds its own. Motorola’s lightweight ‘My UX’ skin helps keep things zippy, and animations are fluid. Apps open quickly, and the phone easily keeps up with most daily tasks.

Performance is an area where the Moto G85 5G definitely shows its mid-range roots

However, push it harder and the limitations emerge. Light games can run fine, but if you start to play 3D games, they begin to struggle at higher detail.

Big titles are best avoided unless you drop the settings to their lowest. Thermal management is decent, with the phone only warming up after prolonged gaming sessions. Although I did notice the phone would get particularly warm if you used it while charging.

Moto G85 5G benchmarks

Compared to similarly priced rivals, the Moto G85 5G falls short, as you can see from the benchmarks below:

Cameras

• 50Mp main rear sensor
• 8Mp ultrawide
• 32Mp selfie lens

Motorola has equipped the Moto G85 5G with a dual rear camera setup: a 50Mp main sensor (f/1.8) and an 8Mp ultrawide lens (f/2.2). There’s also a 32Mp selfie shooter on the front.

In good lighting, the 50Mp main lens takes solid photos. Colours are vibrant without looking oversaturated, while detail is decent for this price range. Dynamic range is somewhat limited, though, and highlights can easily blow out on bright days.

Close-up shots and portraits are reasonably sharp, but edge detection can be hit or miss in portrait mode. When going for more challenging objects in portrait shots, the phone definitely struggles with edge detection.

The 8Mp ultrawide struggles even more. Images are noticeably softer, particularly around the edges, while colour consistency with the main sensor isn’t great. Low-light photos show significant noise, even with night mode turned on.

The 32Mp selfie camera is good in daylight, delivering sharp, detailed images with accurate skin tones. However, in low light, noise creeps in once again. The lack of autofocus means selfies can be hit-or-miss unless you hold the phone steady.

In good lighting, the Moto G85 5G’s 50MP main sensor takes solid photos.

Video recording tops out at 1080p 60fps. Image stabilisation is electronic (EIS) and works fine for casual use, but the lack of 4K recording and optical image stabilisation (OIS) limits the G85’s appeal for video creators.

Battery Life & Charging

• 5000mAh battery
• 30W wired charging (no charger in box)
• No wireless charging
• Competent charging speeds but not class-leading

The Moto G85 5G packs a 5000mAh battery, which is standard fare for mid-range devices.

Battery life is excellent in day-to-day use. With light to moderate usage (social media, calls, occasional streaming), the phone lasts a full day and a half. More demanding use still gets you through a day without stress.

My testing showed around seven hours of screen-on time, with streaming video draining about 6% per hour. Gaming burns through about 15% per hour on demanding titles, though more casual games have far less impact.

Charging is handled via 30W wired charging, but Motorola doesn’t include a charger in the box – just a USB-A to USB-C cable. Using a compatible 30W charger, the phone reaches 50% in about 30 minutes and fully charges in roughly 80 minutes.

The Moto G85 5G packs a 5000mAh battery, which is standard fare for mid-range devices

There’s no wireless charging, which is no longer the norm for a phone at this price. Plus, competitors such as the Poco X7 offer faster wired charging (45W). It definitely seems like Motorola dropped the ball a little here. Regardless, the Moto G85’s charging speed should be more than adequate for most users.

Software & Features

• Clean Android 14 with minimal bloat
• Motorola’s useful Moto Gestures return
• Only one OS update, three years of security patches

Motorola’s ‘My UX’ skin over Android 14 is another highlight of the G85 5G experience.

It’s clean, close to so-called ‘stock’ Android, and free from unnecessary animations and clutter. The Moto Gestures features (twist your hand to open the camera, chop to activate the flashlight) are intuitive, though I’m not sure that they’ll come in all that useful for most.

Annoyingly, this phone has one of my biggest pet peeves – it comes with pre-installed third-party apps such as Booking.com and Facebook. This isn’t as egregious as I’ve seen on other phones, but third-party bloatware will never not be annoying.

Fortunately, these can be easily uninstalled. Motorola’s own apps are minimal and mostly useful, such as Moto Secure and Moto Display.

Unfortunately, the software support commitment is lacklustre. Motorola only promises one OS update (to the current Android 15) and three years of bi-monthly security patches. This is disappointing, especially when Samsung offers six years of both on the Galaxy A26 5G, and even Xiaomi and OnePlus are improving their update policies in this price range.

Motorola’s My UX on Android 14 is another highlight of the G85 5G experience

There’s no Always-On Display and no major AI features. But for casual users, the experience is smooth and straightforward.

Arguably, it’s better that this handset doesn’t try to cram in these features, when it probably wouldn’t run them all too well anyway.

Price & Availability

The Moto G85 5G is available now, but only in selected regions, including the UK, Europe, India, and Australia. The phone was priced as follows at launch, but there are often discounts available.

• UK: £299 (8GB RAM / 256GB storage)
• Europe: €349 (8GB RAM / 256GB storage)

Colour options include Cobalt Blue, Olive Green (both with vegan leather finishes), and Urban Grey with a matte plastic back.

The device is available outright through major retailers such as Amazon and Motorola’s official store. But there’s no availability direct from networks, while the phone isn’t being sold in the US.

At the full £299 price, the Moto G85 is going head-to-head with Samsung’s Galaxy A26 5G (also £299). But there are plenty of other mid-range alternatives, including the Nothing Phone (3a) (from £329).

Should you buy the Motorola Moto G85 5G?

The Motorola Moto G85 5G is an attractive mid-range phone with an excellent display and solid battery life. Its sleek design, curved pOLED panel and lightweight build make it feel more expensive than it is. For casual users who want a clean Android experience and reliable day-to-day performance, it’s a solid choice.

However, the competition is fierce. Phones like the Poco X7 offer better performance, cameras, and charging speeds for less money. Samsung’s Galaxy A26 5G provides a brighter screen, more power, and vastly superior software support. The Moto G85 5G isn’t a bad phone, but it’s hard to recommend unless you’re particularly drawn to its design or have brand loyalty.

Specs

• Screen: 6.67-inch P-OLED, 2400×1080 resolution, 120Hz refresh rate
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 6s Gen 3
• Memory: 8GB / 12GB RAM
• Storage: 128GB / 256GB, expandable via microSD
• Rear Cameras: 50MP (f/1.8) + 8MP ultrawide (f/2.2)
• Front Camera: 32MP (f/2.4)
• Battery: 5000mAh, 30W wired charging
• Software: Android 14 with My UX
• Dimensions: 161.9 x 73.1 x 7.6mm
• Weight: 172g
• Water Resistance: IP52 (splash resistance)
• Connectivity: 5G (sub-6GHz), Dual SIM + eSIM, NFC, Bluetooth 5.1
• Audio: Stereo speakers (Dolby Atmos), no headphone jack

Best Prices Today: Motorola Moto G85 5G