Clear sound and decent noise-canceling, all at a competitive price

Motorola Sound has a budding lineup of true wireless earbuds, largely in the budget end of the spectrum, making the new Buds-S ANC their most expensive set to date. With features like active noise-canceling, an IPX5 rating, wireless charging, and 6 hours of active noise-canceling before you need to pop them back into the case, it’s clear that Motorola Sound wants the Buds-S to compete with the Apples and Samsungs of the world. Is trading blows on paper like this enough, though?

You could argue that at $100 less than the AirPods Pro and $50 under the Galaxy Buds Pro respectively, Motorola Sound is expected to compare favorably, even when it doesn’t come out on top. So while they might want the Buds-S pitted against the AirPods Pro, I’d say they're compelling enough all on their own to the right person.

The Moto Buds-S ANC offer clear audio, active noise-canceling, and an IPX5 rating all at a competitive price.

Like so many other true wireless earbuds, the Moto Buds-S ANC take some cues from AirPods (see above). The buds slide stalk first into their case the same way AirPods do, but the magnets that hold them in are pretty weak, so they’re likely to go flying if you drop the case. Along with the buds and their case, the box also has two alternative pairs of ear-tips and a type-a to type-c charging cable that’s about a foot long.

The control layout is simple: single tap the touchpad on either bud to play/pause or answer/end a call. A long press of either bud will call up your voice assistant. Double and triple tapping the right bud will skip tracks forward and backward respectively. Double-tap the left bud to cycle through the three ANC modes (off, on, and ambient). The touch target (the logo) is relatively small, making it less likely to accidentally hit. The only complaint I have is that the earbuds are picky about tapping speed. Tapping too fast or slow can lead to pausing instead of skipping. The timing isn’t too hard to get used to, though.

The case feels a bit large, though it still manages to fit in the weird tiny pocket in my jeans. While the extra thickness doesn’t make it too cumbersome, it will be easy to spot on anyone who wears skinny jeans. The case also feels hollow when compared to something like the AirPods Pro. Combined with the extra size, it ends up making them feel deceptively light, even though they’re less than 2 grams lighter than the Apple buds.

I don’t particularly like the design of the Moto buds. The speaker grill is close to the end of the tip, which causes it to get gunked up with earwax. The bulbous shape of the buds also makes it difficult to comfortably orient them in your ears.

The audio quality of the Buds-S takes things in a positive direction with enjoyable, clear sound. It doesn’t sound like any part of the sound is covering up anything else, with good clarity between the bass, mids, and high end of the spectrum. As far as high-quality codec support goes, sadly the Buds-s don't do aptX or LDAC, just AAC. Even though they don’t sound particularly spacious, it’s still possible to pick out individual instruments in most tracks for more critical listening, even if only just barely. If you’re looking for thumping bass, maybe skip these.

Unlike some other ANC buds I’ve tried, the Buds-S don’t feel like they’re projecting silence into your ears in ANC mode, but they still managed to cut down on things like whiny fan noise and the low hum of my heater. They even cut down on the clacks of my mechanical keyboard and kept me from noticing when someone turned the tv on.

I was able to get 8+ hours of listening out of the Buds-S on a single charge (with ANC turned on) multiple times, despite the box saying to expect just 6 hours. I can't promise you’ll see the same, but the 6 hour rating feels like a conservative estimate. Even though they have a long battery life (whether ANC is on or not), I usually took them out after three or four hours due to mild discomfort. That’s not a huge issue—very few earbuds can remain comfortable for longer.

There’s no app for the Moto buds, which does make them quicker to set up. However, that means you can’t remap any of the functions on the touch zones or set custom EQ profiles, so you're stuck with the defaults: the left bud controls the ANC modes, and the right bud controls track skipping. That limitation is different in mono mode, which we’re happy to see as an option. No matter which bud you use on its own, you’ll be using it with the control layout of the right earbud in whatever ANC mode you had it in last without any controls to change that.

Maybe. I honestly think that there are a lot of people who would enjoy these earbuds. They’re not groundbreaking or the best at everything they do in their price range. What they are is a set of earbuds with excellent audio quality, modern conveniences like wireless charging, and a better weatherproofing rating than what Samsung and Apple are offering for the same money.

You could spend less on something like the Sony WF-C500 and still have good sound, but then you lose features like wireless charging and ANC. The Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro are also an option if you want those features, but they're a bit more expensive. We don't currently recommend Samsung's buds because of issues with skin irritation. The Moto Buds-S are priced right, but there's more value to be had elsewhere.

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Connor is a writer living in Dallas, Texas, where he can usually be found taking photos, working out, or camping. He writes reviews, features, and guides for Android devices, power stations, earbuds, and audiophile devices like DACs and DAPs. Connor's first Android was a Samsung Intercept all the way back in 2010, and his favorite phone of all time is the Pixel 2 XL, which he insists on keeping up to date with third-party ROMs like LineageOS. At 6'5", Connor is quite literally a massive nerd, and he's so obsessed with coffee that he brought his espresso machine camping with him as part of a power station review. Connor often values cool factor over practicality, which is probably why he built an all-in-one VR gaming PC into a 2003 eMac case. Connor can be reached at c.nolan at androidpolice .com