Moto Buds Loop

I approve of this whole 'loops' thing for ear 'buds' over shoving silicone or foam down one's ear canal, often associated with ear infection and wax build-up! There, I said it! So when these 'loop' style units started to get popular I was very interested. I rushed out and bought Anker's SoundCore C30i 'clip-ons' and at first, thought they were great but when I got the Moto's version, I realised that maybe, with the SoundCore for 25% of the cost (RRP), one gets what one pays for!

Earphones that 'hang' on the bottom of the ear are OK, but very few of them are totally devoid of the risk of falling out, especially when provoked by firm body movements - think gym workouts. So these, as I found with the SoundCores, clip on and don't shift. They're great!

One of the reasons that I find the Moto Buds Loop to be better than the SoundCore C30i is very much a physical one. When putting the SoundCore buds on the edge of the ear, the Helix, apparently, they are stiff, tight and need two hands for me, always, to get into place. Once they are on, they don't shift, but over time they do let you know that they are there by the firm grip, however I try to adjust them. The Moto Buds Loop, conversely, have a 'bouncy' and more flexible 'arm' joining the speaker facing your ear with the battery housing round the back. Consequently they are very easy to put on, even one-handed, and presumably because of the material used, stay in place in just the same way, but differently, you don't know they are there. Hours and hours on end and one forgets they are on.

Now, all of the above might be dependent on one's ear cartilage and size, I do accept, and it maybe for someone who has smaller ears than me the SoundCore units don't grip and pinch over time like they do for me. My ears are big, for sure. But nobody could deny the firm 'grip' of the opening/closing mechanism and pretty-much always needing two hands to get them into place. The Moto Buds Loop absolutely win here with whatever that pliable material used is. The exact same thing happens with my Sony LinksBuds Clip 'loops'. All the above. Too tight, two hands to put on and I know they are there all the time when placed. I can't image how small your ears need to be in order to have to use Sony's supplied 'fitting cushions' by the way!

The Moto Buds Loop are easy to pair-up with any phone, yes, iOS too, using Bluetooth (as are they all) for simple functions or with the Moto Buds App for more granular control, assignable taps for functions - the usual thing. Dual connection for connecting to a second device - essentially swapping over if, for example, one is listening to music via one's PC and a phone call comes in. It will stop the music from one source when you 'answer' and go to the other device's function, then back again to the music when you hang up. Crystal Talk uses "AI-Powered" noise cancellation for clearer phone calls. I'm not sure, honestly, if I can tell the difference, but some report being able to do so.

There's a nifty feature that allows the user to, with the case open and the buds inside, use the case to record audio, say at a meeting, which hooks into the phone's "Take Notes" AI app and gets saved into the Moto Notes app with a transcription and summary. So all that does rely on having a Moto phone - and one which has MotoAI on it (which to be fair is most now, going forward).

As for sound quality, you should be aware that I'm no audiophile and that my ears are now well over 60 years old! But they sound great to me with their 12mm drivers and sound tweaked by Bose. But to be fair, so do the other two units mentioned above - I think they all sound pretty similar. All of them do a grand job of proving a high enough volume in my test areas, in amongst traffic too. I do wind up the 'bass' in settings on all of them so that some of it gets across the 'gap' between the speaker and start of the ear canal, resulting in, yes, some. Users shouldn't expect the bass response that they'd get with over-ear headphones or in-canal buds. That's not what these are for. They are for enjoying audio, but still being aware of one's surroundings.

All of them do a great job in this respect - you can hear whatever is going on, but still have a great audio-listening experience. Inevitably it's going to be a compromise when there's a gap between the speaker and the ear, but it's a good one. And the payoff is all-day comfort (with the Motos, I really forget they are there) with 37 hours of juice with the case and 8 hours continuous listening between returning them for a boost. You can also grab 3 hours listening back with a 10-minute spell in the case. The case takes about an hour to charge from flat. Moto say that they are 'water repellent' - so sweat, splashes, light rain.

If you're into bling, you can also buy (for more cash) the French Oak coloured Swarovski version of the loops! They hike the price for the standard Trekking Green ones of £130 RRP (though as I type, £99 at AmazonUK) to £250! Not sure the extra will be worth it for most people, but for the fashion-conscious amongst us, maybe! Anyway, whichever colour you fancy and however deep is your purse (or fat your wallet) I can recommend these very much. For me, they fit the best out of the three options noted above, but YMMV on that so perhaps see if you can try before you buy.