Motorola looks to conquer the budget smartphone market with the g85 5G

Combining sleek design, solid cameras and strong performance in a $399 package

The Moto g85 in Cobalt Blue on an orange desktop

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I really liked the Moto g84 5G when I reviewed it earlier this year, particularly given its price. Motorola looks to have lifted its game even further with the g85, which launches today.

The g85 Looks quite similar to its predecessor, with vibrant Olive Green and Cobalt Blue colours with vegan leather finishes, or Urban Grey with a PMMA finish.

Take a closer glance though and you can see that Motorola has brought the curved Edge screen design from its more premium Edge devices down to the G series.

The 6.7-inch pOLED screen boasts a Full HD+ resolution and supports a 120Hz refresh rate for smoother scrolling. On the audio front, there's support for Dolby Atmos and HiRes audio playback.

On the camera array there's a 50MP main sensor, with Quad Pixel technology, optical image stabilisation and a Sony LYTIA 600 sensor for better low-light performance. Alongside that is a 8MP ultra-wide lens with Macro Vision support for capturing finer details.

The phone is powered by a Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 processor, with 8GB RAM on board and 128 of storage. The 5,000 mAh battery supports 30W fast charging as well.

On the downside, there's only commitment for a sigle OS update, with three years of security updates.

Pricing and availability

The Moto g85 is available in three colours: Olive Green and Cobalt Blue with Vegan leather finishes, and Urban Grey in a more traditional PMMA finish.

The phone will set you back $399, and will be available from JB Hi-Fi, The Good Guys, OfficeWorks, Big W, Harvey Norman, Bing Lee, Mobileciti, Amazon, and motorola.com.au.

Full specs

Category Specification
Operating System Android™ 14
System Architecture / Processor Snapdragon® 6s Gen 3
Memory 8GB RAM, expandable up to 16GB with RAM Boost*
Storage 128GB built-in | up to 1TB microSD card expandable; UFS 2.2
Body Silicone/Vegan Leather PMMA/Acrylic
Dimensions 161.91 x 73.06 x 7.59mm
Weight (Silicone/Vegan Leather) 173g
Weight (PMMA/Acrylic) 171g
Water Protection Water repellent design
Display 6.7'' pOLED Endless edge display
Display Technology pOLED; 3D Curved; 10-bit; DCI-P3 color space; 120Hz refresh rate; Peak brightness: 1600 nits; Touch sampling rate: 240Hz
Display Resolution FHD+ (2400 x 1080) 395ppi
Display Aspect Ratio 20:9
Display Screen-to-body Ratio 92.70%
Display Certifications SGS Blue Light Reduction, SGS Motion Blur Reduction
Battery 5000 mAh
Battery Life Over 34 hours of battery
Charging 33W
Networks 5G: sub-6, 4G: LTE, 3G: WCDMA, 2G: GSM
Bands 2G: GSM band 2/3/5/8
3G: WCDMA band 1/2/5/8
4G: LTE band 1/2/3/5/7/8/18/19/20/26/28/32/38/40/41/42
5G: n1/n3/n5/n8/n28/n41/n78
Main Rear Camera 50MP
f/1.79 aperture
0.8μm pixel size | Quad Pixel Technology for 1.6μm
Quad PDAF
Optical Image Stabilization (OIS)
Camera 2 8MP Ultrawide angle (118° FOV)
Macro Vision
f/2.2 aperture
1.12μm pixel size
Flash Single LED flash
Rear Camera Software Shooting modes:
Portrait, Macro, Ultra-Res, Night Vision, Tilt-Shift, Pro, Scan (powered by Adobe Scan), 360° Panorama
Artificial Intelligence:
Google Photos Auto Enhance, Auto Smile Capture, Gesture Capture, Google Lens™ integration, Shot Optimization
Other Features:
Burst shot, Timer, Assistive Grid, Leveler, Metering Mode, Watermark, Live Filters, RAW photo output, QR/Barcode scanner, HDR, Quick Capture (twist-twist)
Rear Camera Video Capture Rear Main Camera: FHD 30fps
Slow motion: HD (120fps)
Rear Ultra-wide/Macro Camera: FHD (30fps)
Rear Camera Video Software Shooting modes:
Timelapse (w/ Hyperlapse), Slow motion, Dual Capture Video, Macro
Other Features:
Video Stabilization, Video Snapshot, Audio Zoom
Front Camera Hardware 32MP
f/2.4 aperture
0.7μm pixel size | Quad Pixel Technology for 1.4μm
Front Camera Software Shooting modes:
Pro (w/ Long Exposure), Spot Color, Dual Capture, Portrait
Artificial Intelligence:
Auto Smile Capture, Gesture Capture, Google Auto Enhance, Auto Night Vision, Photo Booth
Other Features:
Burst Shot, Timer, Assistive Grid, Watermark, Leveler, Selfie Photo Mirror, Selfie animation, Face Retouch, RAW Photo Output, HDR, Live Filter
Front Camera Video Capture FHD (30fps)
Front Camera Video Software Shooting modes:
Dual Capture, Timelapse (w/ Hyperlapse), Spot Color
Other Features:
Video Stabilization, Face Beauty, Video Snapshot, Selfie Video Mirror
SIM Card Dual SIM (pSIM + eSIM)
FM Radio No
Speakers Stereo speakers; Dolby Atmos®
Microphones 2 microphones
Headset Jack No
Bluetooth® Technology Bluetooth® 5.1
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4 GHz + 5 GHz
Ports Type-C port (USB 2.0)
NFC Yes
Location Services GPS, AGPS, LTEPP, Glonass, GALILEO, Beidou, QZSS
Sensors Proximity Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, SAR sensor, Magnetometer (e-Compass)
Security Fingerprint reader; Face unlock
Inbox Accessories 33W TurboPower™ charger, USB Type-A to USB Type-C cable, Guides, SIM tool [select countries], Protective case
Voice Control Google Assistant
Colors Olive Green, Cobalt Blue, Urban Grey
Device Name moto g85 5G