The Moto G85 5G: A Mid-Range Smartphone With A Curved AMOLED Display and Reliable Battery Life, But Bloatware Holds It Back
Motorola has unveiled the Moto G85 5G, their latest mid-range smartphone boasting a Snapdragon 695 Gen 3 chipset, 12GB of RAM, a 50-megapixel rear camera, and a 5,000mAh battery with 33W fast charging. This phone finds itself in a crowded arena of budget-friendly smartphones, competing directly with the OnePlus Nord CE 4 Lite 5G, CMF Phone 1, Infinix Note 40 5G, iQoo Z9, and the Samsung Galaxy M35 5G. But does the Moto G85 stand out from the pack? Let’s delve into the details and find out.
Design: A Curved AMOLED Screen and Vegan Leather Finish
The Moto G85 5G differentiates itself from its predecessor with a curved display, a welcome addition for handsets under the Rs. 20,000 mark in India. The rear panel features a vegan leather finish, providing a comfortable and grippy feel. While the signature Motorola batwing logo adorns the back, there’s no other branding to clutter the aesthetic.
The Olive Green color option, while appearing darker than Motorola’s website images, is prone to attracting dirt and marks. Consider opting for the Urban Grey, which boasts a matte finish. The phone’s sides are crafted from plastic, giving it a more budget-friendly feel, but the overall design remains sleek and contemporary.
At the bottom, you’ll find a speaker grille and a USB Type-C port, however, the 3.5mm audio port has been omitted, a departure from the Moto G84. The top edge houses a microphone and the faintly visible Dolby Atmos logo. Motorola pairs the G85 with a charging brick, a USB Type-A to USB Type-C cable, and a slim transparent TPU case.
Software: Hello Bloatware, Goodbye Clean Interface
The Moto G85 runs Android 14 under Motorola’s new Hello UI. While this skin replaces My UX and aims to resemble the Google Pixel experience, it comes pre-loaded with an unwelcome surprise: bloatware in the form of pre-installed games (Block Blast, Carrom Disc Pool, Doll Dress Up: Sweet Girl).
Further adding to the frustration is the MotoHub app, which bombard users with notification spam, including clickbait news stories and app suggestions.
Despite these distractions, Hello UI offers some useful features. Family Space, for instance, provides parental controls, while Moto Unplugged focuses on digital wellbeing features, and Moto Secure includes Secure Folder and phishing protection.
The software also boasts better customization options compared to stock Android, and Smart Connect enables users to control various tasks on other devices using their phone.
Motorola promises two major Android updates and four years of security updates for the G85, which is par for the course in this price segment. The exception is the Samsung Galaxy M35, which offers four Android OS updates and five years of security updates.
Performance: Above Average, But Holding Back With An Aging Chipset
The Moto G85 packs a Snapdragon 695 Gen 3 processor, a repackaged version of the three-year-old Snapdragon 695. While the Gen 3 features a slight bump in CPU speed, it lags behind newer chipsets found in competitors such as the iQoo Z9 and CMF Phone 1, which utilize the MediaTek Dimensity 7200 and Dimensity 7300 chips, respectively.
Despite the aging chip, the G85 handles day-to-day tasks like browsing, social media, and light texting with no noticeable issues. However, some lag was observed while using Snapchat, a common occurrence in this price segment.
Benchmark scores, while synthetic, highlight the similarity with the OnePlus Nord CE 4 Lite‘s performance, further underlining the performance limitations of the Snapdragon 695 Gen 3.
Benchmarks: Moto G85 vs. Competitors
| Benchmark | Moto G85 | CMF Phone 1 | OnePlus Nord CE 4 Lite | iQoo Z9 | Realme 12 Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geekbench 6 Single Core | 935 | 1,037 | 904 | 1,151 | 956 |
| Geekbench 6 Multi Core | 2,102 | 2,932 | 2,015 | 2,669 | 2,369 |
| AnTuTu v10 | 450,865 | 639,355 | 448,127 | 687,545 | 570,926 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 | 11,757 | 12,398 | 9,850 | 13,319 | 13,319 |
| 3DMark Wild Life | 1,569 | 3,122 | 1,508 | 4,126 | 4,126 |
| 3DMark Wild Life Unlimited | 1,578 | 3,131 | 1,507 | 4,205 | 4,205 |
| 3DMark Sling Shot | 4,406 | 6,690 | 4,226 | 6,654 | 6,654 |
| 3DMark Sling Shot Extreme | 3,259 | 5,177 | 3,121 | 5,766 | 5,766 |
| GFXBench Car Chase | 60 | 29 | 17 | 33 | 21 |
| GFXBench Manhattan 3.1 | 50 | 50 | 30 | 60 | 39 |
| GFXBench T-Rex | 89 | 60 | 60 | 108 | 60 |
Gaming Performance: While the G85 manages to run games like Asphalt 9: Legends (now called Asphalt Legends Unite) and BGMI without significant issues, it struggles with Genshin Impact, exhibiting lag when there are numerous in-game enemies. The rear panel remained cool after a 30-minute gaming session, indicating efficient heat dissipation.
Display: A Vibrant AMOLED Panel with a Refreshing 144Hz Refresh Rate
The 6.67-inch Full-HD+ (1,080×2,400 pixels) AMOLED screen on the Moto G85 delivers a bright and vibrant viewing experience, making it easy to use the phone outdoors. With a 144Hz refresh rate, scrolling through apps and websites feels exceptionally smooth and responsive. Motorola claims that the 240Hz touch sampling rate is boosted to 360Hz while gaming.
The curved edges of the display didn’t register any accidental touches, making it user-friendly. The screen’s performance is further enhanced by the excellent battery life, making it ideal for watching content on the go. Various screen color modes allow for personalization, and the Natural setting appears more appealing than the default Vivid option.
Cameras: AI-Powered Images and a Versatile Setup
The Moto G85’s 50-megapixel primary camera delivers reliable results in daylight, utilizing post-processing to enhance brightness, contrast, and color accuracy while maintaining natural exposure levels. Images require a couple of seconds to process after capture, but this occurs in the background, allowing for continuous shooting.
The 8-megapixel ultra-wide angle camera produces slightly less vibrant images compared to the primary camera and tends to overexpose sections of the pictures. While color accuracy isn’t as strong as the main camera, minimal distortion is observed around the edges of captured images.
Daylight Camera Samples
- Primary: Captures sharp details and accurate colours.
- Ultra-Wide: Less vibrant and prone to overexposure.
- 2x Primary: Provides decent zoom capabilities.
Portrait mode on the primary camera also leverages post-processing, resulting in a soft bokeh effect and detailed images with sufficient natural light.
The Night Vision mode is limited to the primary camera and requires users to step back from subjects for optimal results. However, the mode enhances low-light images, producing brighter and more detailed pictures.
Low-Light Camera Samples
- 1x Night: Brighter and more detailed than standard night mode.
- 1x Night: Still usable in low light conditions, but less detail than 1x Night.
- Macro: Sharp and detailed close-up shots.
The ultra-wide angle camera offers a macro mode capable of capturing sharp and detailed images of small objects during daylight.
The 16-megapixel front-facing camera produces detailed selfies in daylight but delivers slightly blurry images in low light. Notably, the camera app includes a Pro mode, allowing manual controls for all three cameras, including the front camera.
Video recording is supported at 1080p/30fps for the primary, ultra-wide, and front cameras. Video stabilization is available, and the primary camera consistently offers the best video quality.
Battery: Long-Lasting Power and Fast Charging
The Moto G85 packs a 5,000mAh battery, delivering over a day of battery life with moderate usage, including casual gaming, messaging, and web browsing. The phone achieved about six hours of screen-on time and 20 hours of standby time before requiring charging.
Motorola’s HD video loop test revealed an impressive 21 hours and 14 minutes of battery life until depletion. The included 33W TurboPower charger fully charges the battery in just 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Verdict: A Decent Smartphone With Drawbacks
The Moto G85 5G offers a captivating combination of a curved AMOLED display, reliable camera performance, and impressive battery life, all at a compelling price point. Furthermore, the phone boasts useful software features like Family Space, Moto Unplugged, and Moto Secure, making it a versatile choice for various users.
However, the bloatware and notification spam from MotoHub mar the phone’s otherwise decent user experience.
Competition:
The Moto G85 faces stiff competition from several other budget-friendly smartphones:
- iQoo Z9: Offers superior performance with the MediaTek Dimensity 7200 chipset.
- CMF Phone 1: Features the potent MediaTek Dimensity 7300 chip for enhanced processing power.
- Realme 12 Pro: Features a telephoto camera but is slightly more expensive.
- OnePlus Nord CE 4 Lite 5G: Delivers similar performance to the Moto G85 but lacks the curved display.
- Infinix Note 40 5G: Offers similar performance and battery life.
- Samsung Galaxy M35 5G: Provides competitive performance and an impressive five years of security updates.
Ultimately, the Moto G85 presents a compelling option for users looking for a mid-range smartphone with a curved OLED display, a reliable camera, and good battery life. However, the inclusion of bloatware and notification spam may be a deal-breaker for some, pushing them towards competitors that prioritize a clean software experience.
