Listen to Story Slow charging speed Camera shutter speed Motorola launched the Moto G85 in India this month, and we received the phone for review. We expected what you would from a sub-Rs 20,000 phone. However, at the first look, the Moto G85 screams premium.
Neither its design nor its features say budget. It sports a curved display, a sleek and light design and an impressive performance. It is also the first in the G-series to come with a Sony Lytia 600 camera sensor.
Barring the OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite, you would usually see this camera sensor only on more expensive sub-Rs 30,000 phones. With the Moto G85, the company has undoubtedly outdone itself, especially when it comes to display and design. Let’s dive deep into the specs and features of the Moto G85 5G.
The moment I opened the Moto G85 5G retail box, I was amazed by the light-weight and the slim design of the device. From my colleagues to my parents and even my grandfather, everyone was thoroughly impressed by how surprisingly light and easy to handle the phone is. The Moto G85 weighs 172g and is 7.
5mm thick. If you see other smartphones in this price range, for instance the Nothing CMF Phone 1, which is a strong competitor, it weighs 197g and is 8.2mm thick.
In my opinion, Moto G85’s design is 10/10. The Moto G85 5G has a vegan leather back panel. It comes in three-colour options: Olive Green, Urban Grey and Cobalt Blue.
I received the Olive Green variant and it is stunning. Instead of the usual gradients and textures, the device sports a solid colour and still looks great. And thanks to the leather finish, it is also premium to touch, and offers a good grip.
The rear panel is absolutely clean with just the Motorola logo in the centre. The rear panel also features a dual-camera setup with a small flashlight alongside. The cameras are housed on a slightly elevated rectangular island, which also sports the same leather finish.
The only downside about the design I noticed is that the leather back –– at least the variant I have –– quickly gets dirty, especially around the edges. But that can also be avoided by using the transparent case that comes bundled in the retail box. A very nice touch to the design is coloured rings around the cameras that are different for each colour variant The Moto G85 5G features a 6.
7-inch pOLED curved-display with 120Hz refresh rate. The display, in my opinion, is a great choice because pOLEDs not only look great but also reduce battery drain to some extent. It also boasts a peak brightness of 1600nits and is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5.
The Moto G85 features a punch-hole display, which prompts with a glow animation when it detects a registered face to unlock the device. The device's show-stopping feature is its curved display, similar to the high-end Moto Edge series. This is one of the few devices that feature a curved-display under Rs 20,000.
Realme P1 Pro, which was launched in April this year, is the only other smartphone competing in the same price segment with the curved-display. The curved display makes the phone’s already-thin bezels almost unnoticeable. The display is also vibrant and bright enough to use under direct sunlight.
The touch of the Moto G85 is also very smooth. I faced no problem while gliding through the phone. This marriage of smooth touch and vibrant display plays a huge role when it comes to user experience.
These features improve the overall user experience, be it Netflix sessions or playing a high-graphic game. The bottom of Moto G85 features Dolby Atmos stereo sound speakers. The Moto G85 is equipped with a Snapdragon 6 Gen3 chipset, coupled with up to 12GB RAM and 256GB storage.
It runs on Android 14 and comes with 2 years of OS upgrade. While the processor is a little old, I faced no issues while testing the device. I have been testing it for over a week and I faced no lags.
To further test the performance of the Moto G85, I also ran some benchmark tests on the device. The device clocked 940 for single-core score and 2102 for multi-core score on Geekbench. During the 3D Mark Wildlife Extreme stress Test, an extreme gaming test, Moto G85 achieved a stability score of 99 per cent, with a best loop score at 415.
While benchmark scores aren’t everything, the numbers do give us an idea about how they compare to other smartphones in the same segment. On paper, the Moto G85 may not have the best score, but in the real-world testing, it offered a stable all-round performance. I also occasionally played Call of Duty on the device, and as far as the gaming experience is concerned, the Moto G85 was flawless.
The only problem was that it started warming up really early into the gaming session, but the good thing is, it also cools down just as quickly. The Moto G85 also has a gaming mode that pops up when you switch on any game on the device. It offers floating shortcuts for quick access to some apps like WhatsApp, YouTube, and Chrome –– which is customisable –– along with a Toolkit that lets you manage the performance mode; Turbo, Balanced and Battery saving.
The device also borrows some features from the premium Moto Edge series, including Smart Connect that helps you mirror your phone to any other device like laptop or desktop. The Moto G85 also offers some utility features like Family Space and Moto Unplugged. No matter how many games I played on the device or how much content I viewed on it, the Moto G85 never required a second charge in a day.
Once the device is charged fully, it is capable of functioning at least 12-13 hours even with heavy usage. The smartphone packs a 5,000mAh battery with 33W fast charging support. While the battery capacity is excellent, better charging speeds would have been nice.
It took me 80 minutes to charge the phone from 0 per cent to 100 per cent. I also noted the battery drain while watching a YouTube video. In 30 minutes, the battery dropped only 4 per cent.
Essentially, while the charging speed could be better, the battery life is impressive and makes up for it. Moto G85 supports a Type-C charger. The Moto G85 5G features a rear dual-camera system with a 50-megapixel Sony LYT-600 sensor with Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS), which results in clear and crisp photos.
Accompanying this is an 8-megapixel ultra-wide lens, perfect for capturing expansive landscapes or group shots. Both the daylight and nightlight images are bright and vivid. Though the camera produces slightly over-saturated images, which means the red, greens and blues are brighter than what you see in real life, overall the images look good and in most cases, are also Instagram-ready.
I found myself playing a lot with the phone’s Pro mode that clicked great images. Here is a comparison shot taken from the Normal vs Pro mode. The Moto G85 offers up to 10x zoom.
The camera remains pretty stable and produces clear images even at 10x. However, you might get the best results at 3x. From right to left: Moto G85 clicked these images in 0.
5x, 1x, 3x, and 10x, respectively. Having said that, there is one issue I faced while using the Moto G85: It has a slow shutter speed. To get the best shot from the smartphone, both you and your subject should be still.
Basically, the phone will do a great job of clicking fake candids but here is a chance your real candids are a bit blurry. The front camera is a 32-megapixel shooter, promising high-quality self-portraits and video calls. I clicked selfies with the beauty mode off and they turned out to be well.
Overall, the Moto G85 camera is quite good. It delivers beautiful Instagram-ready images. Here are some camera samples clicked from the Moto G85 5G.
The Moto G85 launched in India at a price of Rs 17,999. The company is also offering a bank discount of Rs 1,000 with Axis Bank. At this price, the smartphone offers a plethora of impressive features.
The Moto G85 is an outstanding device with very little to complain about. At this price, the smartphone features a beautiful curved display, which is extremely rare in this price segment. If you are looking for a budget-friendly device, the Moto G85 deserves your consideration.
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