Is the Motorola G85 5G the best phone under 20K? Here is the Moto G85 5G Review with Its Pros and Cons. Must see it before buying.
Friends, I think Motorola has added one word “Unstoppable” into their Vision. Because If you see, taking from 2023 they are continuously Launching smartphones in each price segment. For Budget users they have their G and E Series phones, For The Midrange and Premium Midrange users they have Edge Series phones, and for the high-end users, they have their flagship Razr Series phones.
Recently, they have launched three smartphones, the Edge 50 Pro, Edge 50 Ultra, and Edge 50 Fusion for midrange and Premium midrange consumers. All three are the most awaited and highly value-for-money phones. Now Motorola has just introduced a budget smartphone, the Moto G85 5G in India.
This G85 is getting famous among the normal consumers as well as tech enthusiasts. The reason might be the reputation Motorola has made in the past 1 year. But today in this article I have decided to give you an in-depth review of the Moto G85 5G smartphone. I will talk about my experience with this new Motorola device. I have realised some good and bad as well. Each and everything I will discuss in this comprehensive review of Motorola G85. So without wasting any time let’s get started.
Moto G85 5G Key Specifications
If anyone doesn’t have much idea about what this G85 brings, then take a look at its on-paper key specifications given below:
- A 6.67-inches Full HD+ 120Hz pOLED Display
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 Processor
- Up to 8/12GB RAM and 128/256GB Storage
- 5000mAh Battery and 33W Charging
- 50MP + 8MP Dual Rear Camera With OIS Sony Sensor
- Bigger 32MP Front Selfie Camera
- Dolby Atmos Supported Dual Stereo Speakers
- Latest and Clean UI with Android 14 OS
- Extremely Premium Vegan Leather Design
Moto G85 5G Price In India
The company have launched this phone in two different variants. The base variant comes with 8GB RAM and the higher variant contains 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. In the Online mode, the phone is exclusively available on Flipkart and Motorola’s Online store, while for offline purchases, you can visit your nearest company-authorised store. Here are the prices of both variants:
| Variants | Price |
|---|---|
| 8GB RAM + 128GB Storage | ₹17,999 |
| 12GB RAM + 256GB Storage | ₹19,999 |
In India, the first sale is starting on the 16 July at 12PM Noon. As a part of the first sale offer, Motorola has announced an extra 1000 discount on the Axis Bank Debit/Credit Cards payments. This makes the phone’s effective price Rs 16,999 and ₹18,999 for the base and higher variants. According to me, it is a well-priced phone. Why? Let’s understand it in the full review of this Motorola G85 5G.
Also Read: Best 5G Phone Under 20000 In India
Moto G85 5G Review
This review is going to be in very detailed as I will cover each aspect of this phone, so make sure you sit with your coldrinks and Popcorn. Ha Ha Ha… Just Kidding Guys? Now Let’s start with the phone’s Design and Build.
Build
Motorola sticks to its signature design style for its phones. Last year, models had a squarish camera module and flat edges. In 2024, they’ve moved to a seamless design with a body-infused camera module and curved edges. The Moto G85 5G follows this new design, featuring two camera rings in the top left corner and a Motorola logo in the center. The front has a center punch-hole display with curved edges. The right side houses the power button and volume rocker, while the left side is bare. The bottom includes a SIM card slot, primary microphone, speaker grill, and USB Type-C port, with only a secondary microphone on the top.
If I talk about the in-hand feel then Moto G85 5G feels Oh My God! It is very thin and light. Its back panel has a leather texture and the edges are also curved, This overall combination makes the phone feel really very comfortable and premium in my hand. I think each and every company should work to enhance the in-hand feel of the phone just like Motorola. The phone only weighs around 173 grams which is very light. It also has an IP52 rating and Gorilla Glass 5 protection on the front.
Moto G85 5G is available in three beautiful colours: Cobalt Blue, Urban Grey, and Olive Green. Where Urban Grey is available in PMMA material and the rest of two are available in Leather texture material. I would prefer the leather texture as it feels more premium in hand. Besides, overall the Moto G85 5G is well build and well-designed smartphone.
Display
Moto G85 5G has been equipped with a 6.67-inches 120Hz pOLED 3D Curved Display. The display design is very good with the center-punch hole and nominal bezels. The display has the 1600nits peak brightness and the 1200nits HBM brightness. Motorola claims this is the brightest display in the under 20K smartphone. You will say How? Recently launched CMF Phone 1 has 2000nits peak brightness and the Moto G85 has only 1600nits peak brightness. Then how did it become the brightest?
So let me clear you. When you buy a phone, always check the HBM (High Brightness Mode) brightness level. This is the actual highest brightness level which you control through the phone, the peak brightness only works in HDR content. So if we compare, the CMF Phone 1’s HBM is only 700nits while the Moto G85’s HBM is 1200nits. On this note, the G85 becomes brighter in real-life scenarios and when I tested it in harsh sunlight, I got that the Moto G85’s display is actually more bright and visible than the CMF Phone 1.
Talking about the display quality, then it is very bright and colourful. As I told you, Whether you are in indoor condition or outdoor conditions where there is very harsh sunlight, The display is completely visible without any issue. The panel is also certified by the SGS Low Motion Blur and SGS Low Blue Light certifications, which ensures your eye safety.
Besides, the panel has WideWine L1 support to stream OTT content with Full HD resolution but the bad thing about this display is, that it does not have HDR support for Netflix or even on YouTube. That is not the limitation of the display, it is because the Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 does not support HDR content. This problem can be ignored as many phones don’t have HDR support at this price. Overall the display department of Moto G85 5G is excellent.
Performance
The phone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 processor, a slight upgrade from the Snapdragon 695. It offers 8GB or 12GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 128GB or 256GB of UFS 2.2 storage. I appreciate that Motorola provides a 12GB RAM and 256GB storage option, especially since there’s no expandable storage. If you need more space, this higher storage option is a great choice.
The Moto G85 5G delivers solid on-paper performance, with an AnTuTu score of around 475,000, which is decent but not exceptional. In Geekbench tests, it scored 941 points in the single-core test and 2112 in the multi-core test, showing decent performance. During the CPU throttle test, the chip maintained 90% of its maximum performance. Impressively, the 3D Mark Wild Life Stress Test showed 99.2% stability. In simpler terms, these scores mean the phone will handle everyday tasks and multitasking smoothly without any issues.
When it comes to gaming, this phone falls a bit short. In BGMI, you can play at 40fps on Smooth, Ultra settings, and at 60fps on HD, High settings. COD Mobile runs at 60fps with Low, Max settings. Overall, the gameplay is smooth at 40fps with no noticeable lag or stutter. However, at 60fps with the highest settings, the phone occasionally lags and frame drops can be noticed.
If I sum up the performance area then the Moto G85 5G is best suitable for day-to-day tasks but not for heavy gaming. isn’t ideal for high-end gaming. If your priority is normal usage, multitasking, and casual gaming, it’s an excellent choice.
Battery & Charging
The Motorola have backed a 5000mAh Battery in this phone with 33W fast charging support. The phone takes around 1 hour to get a full charge but after it will run for a full 1 day for sure. One thing that I don’t like is the charging speeds. 33W is decent but could be improved up to 44W or 67W as it is available in its competitor phones iQOO Z9 5G and POCO X6 5G. Besides that everything is good.
Camera
One of the major highlights of the Moto G85 5G is its Camera department. The phone comes with a functional dual rear camera setup including a 50MP Sony LYT-600 main sensor with OIS and an 8MP ultrawide sensor with Autofocus which also doubles up as the macro sensor. For the selfies and the video call the phone brings a bigger 32MP sensor on the front. Sounds great, right?
Not only does it sound great, but it also performs exceptionally well. The 50MP main Sony LYT-600 camera captures detailed and vibrant photos with punchy, high-contrast colors. Skin tones are reproduced accurately, and portrait shots feature beautifully maintained edge cutouts and blur effects. The camera excels in both normal daylight and low-light conditions, producing excellent photos even in very dark areas with minimal noise.
The 8MP ultrawide sensor, despite its lower resolution, captures impressive photos with consistent color quality matching the main camera. Thanks to autofocus, the 8MP sensor also functions well as a macro lens, delivering excellent close-up shots. The selfie camera is particularly noteworthy. It also produces outstanding skin tones and background details.
Talking about videography, the phone captures amazing videos just like photos. But one thing that you might not like is that the phone is able to shoot only on 1080p resolution at 60fps from the back and on 1080p resolution at 30fps from the front camera. Motorola has not removed it, Actually, the processor doesn’t support 4K recording that’s why it is not there.
But the good thing is that the camera app is filled with a lot of features like Dual Capture, Spot Color, Night Vision, Macro Vision, Portrait, Live Filter, Panorama, AR Stickers, Pro Mode, Smart Composition, HDR, Slow Motion, Timelapse, and many more. Overall the camera is outstanding. I can say this type of camera can be seen in under 25 phones but you are getting it under 20K. So if you want a camera phone, go with the Moto G85.
Multimedia
This department is also a very strong point of the Moto G85 5G. The display is Full HD+ resolution and has 1200nits HBM which makes visuals very crisp and bright. The panel is pOLED so the colours are accurate with very deep blacks. Moreover, the phone also has Widewine L1 certification for Full HD video streaming but the drawback is the absence of HDR mode. You will not be able to see HDR videos on Netflix or on YouTube.
At the same time, there is a big plus point as well in the audio department. Motorola’s melodious Dual Stereo speakers tuned by Dolby Amos are its identity. They produce a very rich, crisp, and loud sound. I would say these are the well-tuned speakers in its segment. Sadly, you don’t get a 3.5mm jack which is a downside if you use for wired earphones most. Besides if you don’t have any issue with that and the absence of HDR support then this phone is a great option for multimedia.
OS & UI
Here as well Motorola has surprised me a lot. The phone runs on Motorola’s latest Hello UI which is based on Android 14. The brand has promised 2 years of major OS updates and 4 years of Security updates. The UI has all the Motorola’s all the customization and gesture features in the UI. Even it also feels very smooth and well-optimised. There are beautiful App opening and closing animations which feel very nice.
The whole UI doesn’t come with any Ads, Yes it asks for some apps to install at the initial setup but at that time if you decline that then you will get a completely clean UI. All the things are good but what makes me so surprised is they have given their premium features “Smart Connect” in a budget phone. Generally this type of features can be seen in above 30K or 40K smartphones.
This Smart Connet feature helps to connect your phone to the Windows PC/Laptop and use it very seamlessly. You can do many things like copying from mobile and directly pasting on PC, dragging and dropping files from PC to mobile, Moving the cursor from PC screen to Mobile screen and using it on mobile, Using mobile’s high-resolution selfie camera as a webcam, and many more.
Even to give this Smart Connect Motorola directly introduced an 8GB RAM variant rather than 6GB. As the Smart Connect needs at least 8GB RAM to work with other apps on the phone. In my opinion, This is the best ever UI you will get under 20K.
Network & Connectivity
Now we tested the network performance of the Moto G85 with Jio and Airtel, and as the phone comes with the wider 13 5G band and 4×4 MIMO support, it gets faster speeds compared to its competitors. Talking about the other connectivity features then the phone has Dual 4G VoLTE, WiFi 5, Bluetooth 5.1, VoNR, and VoNR (Voice over NR) as well which means you can do voice calls over 5G and get better call quality.
Additionally, the Moto G85 5G features a hybrid SIM card slot. This means you can either insert two SIM cards or use one SIM card along with a microSD card for up to 1TB of extra storage. One feature that is missing in Moto G85 5G, is the NFC. As everywhere UPI payments are getting very popular and people want to do tap and pay, it would be handy if the NFC were available. But other than that the Network and Connectivity area is very much sorted.
Service
This is a very important aspect that is often ignored by the people. Even if a phone is extremely value-for-money in every aspect if the after-sales service is poor, it can significantly reduce its value. When you face any issues with a phone, reliable service matters the most. Motorola offers an impressive service policy.
Motorola provides excellent after-sales support, including a 24/7 WhatsApp chatbot and call assistance. They also have service centers in over 371 cities across India. In summary, you can expect seamless after-sales support for your phone.
Moto G85 5G Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Immersive Brightest Display | Not Suitable For Heavy Gaming |
| Outstanding Camera Performance | No HDR Support For Netflix or YouTube |
| Ultrawide camera with Autofocus | Slower 33W Charging Speeds |
| Dual stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos | Only 1080p Video Recording |
| Latest Hello UI with Smart Connect | No 3.5mm Jack |
| Extremely Premium look and feel |
Also read: Moto G64 5G In-Depth Review with Its Pros and Cons
Verdict
If I give my view on who should buy this phone? then, if your priorities are everyday tasks, display, camera, multimedia, battery, and design this phone is the best choice. But if your priority is heavy gaming and 4K video shooting then this phone is not made for you. Overall Moto G85 is a very balanced phone under the 20K price segment which is highly recommended.
FAQs
Is Moto G85 5G Worth Buying?
Yes, If you want a balanced smartphone under the 20k price segment, the Moto G85 5G is an outstanding option.
Is Moto G85 5G Available Offline?
Yes, you can buy this Moto G85 5G in your nearest offline store.
What Is The Moto G85 5G price in India?
Motorola G85 5G comes in two variants, 8GB RAM + 128GB Storage priced at ₹17,999 and 12GB RAM + 256GB Storage priced at ₹19,999 without offers. With bank offers, they are priced at ₹16,999 and ₹18,999 respectively
What Is The Moto G85 5G Antutu Score?
Motorola G85 brings AnTuTu Score nearer to 4,85,000.
What is the Moto G85 5g processor Name?
The Moto G85 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 processor.
Does Moto G85 5G Have Gorilla Glass?
Yes, Moto G85 5G have Corning Gorilla Glass 5 Protection on the Display.
Does Moto G85 5G 5G Have IP Ratings?
Yes, the Motorola Moto G85 comes with an IP52 dust and splash-resistant rating.
Other than that, If you have any queries or feedback then comment below. Stay tuned by joining our Telegram Group or WhatsApp Group and you can also follow us on Google News for more updates about new Smartphone/Tablet Launches, Leaks & First Looks. Thanks for visiting, see you soon.
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