Moto G85 review: deserves a second look
In this Moto G85 review, we take a look at the smartphone's real-world performance, camera capabilities, battery life, and more.
Review Summary
Expert Rating
Motorola has recently released a diverse range of smartphones, from a foldable to mid-range and flagship models, each of them capturing attention in its own way. Can the latest Moto G85 make a similar impact? Priced under Rs 20,000, this smartphone boasts an impressive list of features on paper: a segment-first 3D curved pOLED 120Hz display, 50MP OIS Sony LYTIA 600 camera, an ultra-premium design, and a sophisticated software experience. But how do these features translate into real-world performance? We’ll explore this in our Moto G85 review. Read on to discover more.
Table of Contents
Verdict
The Moto G85 is arguably the most premium-looking smartphone in its segment. Its near-bezel-less pOLED curved screen and Dolby Atmos speakers deliver an impressive viewing experience. The battery life is commendable, and the camera capabilities produce social media-ready images with ease. However, the Moto G85 falls a bit short in performance compared to its competitors, which makes it difficult to recommend despite its other strengths.
Design and display
The Moto G85 is the first smartphone in its class to feature a curved screen design, making it look more in line with the company’s more expensive Edge series smartphone. The phone boasts a plastic frame with a vegan leather back but it doesn’t feel like one. It has a rubberised feel with a fabric-like pattern atop that rubs off well against the palms – better than the vegan leather of the Edge series I would say. The handset is also extremely lightweight, measuring 172 grams despite its 5,000mAh battery. Additionally, the G85 is just 7.5mm in thickness, making it comfortable to wield.
| Moto G85 | CMF Phone 1 | Realme P1 | |
| Thickness | 7.5mm | 8.2mm | 7.97mm |
| Weight | 172 grams | 202 grams | 188 grams |
| IP rating | IP52 | IP52 | IP5 |
The Moto G85 comes in three colour variants: Olive Green, Urban Grey, and Cobalt Blue. I received the Olive Green variant for review, which received mixed feedback from my colleagues. I admire this colour variant for its ability to stand out in a crowd, but I also fear it may pick up stains easily. To address this, Motorola includes a transparent case bundled in the retail box. The handset is IP53-certified against dust and minor splashes of water.
Talking about the viewing experience, the Moto G85 features a 6.7-inch panel, which is said to be the segment’s best 120Hz refresh rate pOLED display with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection, DCI-P3 Colour Gamut, and 1,600 nits peak brightness. The display looks good both indoors and outdoors, with easy text legibility under direct sunlight. The colours appear punchy and vibrant even from an angle. Additionally, the handset is Widevine L1 certified for streaming in FHD resolution from OTT platforms. Moreover, the display comes with SGS Eye protection and a customisable colour profile. The 120Hz refresh rate works well across UI and supported apps, and as for the in-display fingerprint scanner, it is quite accurate and unlocks the device in no time.
Cameras
Performance and software
At the core of the Moto G85 is the Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 SoC, paired with either 8GB or 12GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB of onboard storage. For this review, we received the 12GB + 256GB configuration. This latest mid-range chipset from Qualcomm doesn’t help the smartphone stand out from the crowd, at least in the synthetic benchmark tests. The handset achieved a score of 4,71,687 on AnTuTu. On Geekbench, it scored 926 in the single-core test and 2,145 in the multi-core test. In the Burnout CPU throttle test, the handset maintained 53.20 percent of its peak performance.
As for real-world performance, the handset provides smooth operation while browsing and multitasking with limited apps running in the background. Even during gaming, the handset did not freeze or stutter. The device’s thermal management is commendable as well. After playing graphics-intensive games such as BGMI, Call of Duty, and Real Racing 3, the handset’s temperature increased by only 4 degrees. However, the average frames per second fluctuated to almost half for games like BGMI and Call of Duty.
The Moto G85 covers its performance shortage in the software department. The handset runs on Android 14-based Hello UI out of the box. While the CMF Phone 1 surpasses the Motorola offering in terms of the fewest pre-installed apps, the Moto G85 still delivers one of the cleanest software experiences. It comes with 34 pre-installed apps, including just three third-party ones (Netflix, Instagram, and Block Blast).
| Pre-loaded apps | OS updates | |
| Moto G85 | 34 | 2 years major, 4 years security |
| CMF Phone 1 | 29 | 2 years major, 3 years security |
| Realme P1 | 53 | 2 years major, 3 years security |
The phone offers a bunch of customisation options, along with features such as Smart Connect which lets you connect to bigger screens such as laptops for seamless file transfer and more wirelessly. While the AI features introduced with the Edge and Razr series have not yet reached the G85, the handset still includes Google AI tools such as Magic Editor, Magic Eraser, Photo Blur, and more. Moreover, it supports Moto gestures for quick actions, and the phone is compatible with Android 16 OS and will receive security updates until 2028.
Battery and charging
The Moto G85 features a 5,000mAh battery, capable of lasting at least a day depending on usage. In the PCMark battery test, which simulates various activities until the battery drops to 20 percent from a full charge, the handset lasted 11 hours and 33 minutes. During our 30-minute YouTube video test, the smartphone used up 4 percent of its battery, indicating approximately 12 hours of screen time.
When it comes to gaming, the Moto G85’s battery decreased by 22 percent after half an hour each of BGMI, Call of Duty, and Real Racing 3. This performance is comparable to other smartphones in its segment. However, its charging speed is somewhat slower. The smartphone supports 33W fast charging, which can take roughly an hour to fully charge the battery from nearly empty.
| Phone | Charging time (20-100 percent) |
| Moto G85 (33W) | 62 minutes |
| CMF Phone 1 (33W) | 63 minutes |
| Realme P1 (45W) | 48 minutes |
Final verdict
The Moto G85 is currently available in India for an asking price of Rs 17,999, making it slightly difficult to stand up against the recently-launched CMF Phone 1 (review) and camera-focused Realme P1 (review). Both its competitors are more affordable and offer superior performance. The CMF Phone 1 even has a customisable design, whereas the Realme P1’s cameras deliver better daylight performance.
The Moto G85 excels in design and display. It is sleeker than many of its competitors and features a pOLED panel that enhances multimedia consumption. The software is relatively clean, offering a near-stock Android experience. Although the cameras may not be exceptional, they offer respectable performance for their price range. Overall, the Moto G85 is a compelling option under Rs 20k.
Editor’s rating: 7.5 / 10
Reasons to buy
- The handset boasts an excellent design, which is lighter and sleeker than the competitors.
- The curved screen design provides an excellent viewing experience.
- The cameras deliver social media-ready images with ease.
Reasons not to buy
- IP rating is not on par with its competitors.
- The performance might leave you wanting more.
