Stuff Verdict

Comfortable in-ears with effective ANC at a sensible price – but the Motorola Buds+ aren’t the last word in sound quality in a very competitive class.

Pros

Buds are comfy, case is compact

Respectable ANC-on battery life

Effective noise cancellation

Cons

Tuning and volume could be more impactful

Rivals have more comprehensive companion apps

Introduction

There’ve been true wireless earbuds wearing Motorola logos for almost as long as the tech has existed – even if not all of ’em were made by Motorola. That included the Verve Ones+, the first pair of true wireless in-ears I ever tested back in 2016, which were actually built by Binatone. Things have changed a little since then, with Motorola proper back in charge for the new Buds+.

These Bluetooth earphones aim to bring high-end features down to a much more affordable price point, a bit like the Edge 50 smartphone series they launched alongside. That includes Hi-Res playback, Dolby Atmos spatial sound with head tracking, and adaptive ANC. Motorola has even teamed up with Bose on the noise cancelling algorithms (yay!) and sound tuning (yay?) to gain an edge over the sub-£150 segment.