These Are the Very Best Earbuds I Would Never Wear

Motorola sells various earbuds, but at the highest end of what the company offers, you’ll find the diamond-studded Moto Buds Loop. No matter how these buds sound, that’s not what will determine whether you want to buy them—it’s how they look.

Price and Availability

The Motorola Buds Loop are available in two versions: one with Swarovski crystals and one without. The former, which is the review unit I have on hand, is called Pantone French Oak and costs $300. At the time of writing, the latter isn’t available on Motorola’s website but can be found on Amazon for $150. It’s called Trekking Green, though it’s dark enough to look black, at least in photos.

Premium, Luxurious, and Gaudy

These are the first earbuds I’ve ever worn that I’ve felt uncomfortable wearing in public. Having Swarovski crystals wrapped around your ear lobe is either a look that suits you or it doesn’t, and it stands out quite a bit on those of us it doesn’t. I’m not a complete stranger to jewelry. I have a white gold wedding band and a stainless steel watch, but gold earrings with diamonds are not quite my speed.

Sadly, that’s where this story would begin and end for me. Even if offered them for free—and to be clear, as review units, I have been offered these for free—I still don’t want to wear them.

That said, as fashion pieces, I don’t want to ding them for that. No piece of fashion speaks to everyone, and the desire to do so is why most tech consists of black or white plastic. Yet even as a piece of jewelry, I’m not all that impressed by these buds. You see, combining an expensive material with a cheap one makes it stand out just how cheap the latter is, and the plastic components on the Moto Buds Loop don’t strike me as any more premium than those of significantly cheaper buds from JBL or CMF.

If anything, I’d say they actually feel cheaper. To my eye, this combination actually makes the Moto Buds Loop look less like a luxury item and more like a bedazzled phone accessory.

That feeling continues to the case, which is large but feels almost too light and hollow. The paint strikes me as easily scratched, though I haven’t dropped the case yet to confirm.

A Comfortable Fit That Takes Some Getting Used To

The Moto Buds Loop are Motorola’s first open-ear earbuds. In contrast with other open-ear buds I’ve reviewed, like the JLab Epic Open Sport, which wrap behind your ear, these clasp around the back of your ear lobe. This makes them look a tad like giant earrings that hang out to the side instead of down.

If these are your first pair of earbuds of this type, the fit takes some getting used to, as it’s not immediately intuitive how to scoot them into your ear. But I grew accustomed to them easily enough and found the fit held rather snugly. These clung to my ear and stayed in place much more reliably than most in-ear buds do for me. While these aren’t advertised as buds for athletes, I feel I could wear them on a jog without issue.

That said, there is a break-in period. My ears are not used to any kind of weight, and I did not find these comfortable at first. That changed with time, and I can now wear them for hours no problem.

It’s taken me longer to get used to the physical controls. There is a button on the half that fits behind your ear. Pressing down on this button once pauses or resumes your current audio. Double-pressing switches between tracks. Holding down the button activated the voice assistant. It works well enough, but it’s not the easiest to find by touch alone. Unlike some buds, I needed to view the instructions to figure out how to manage playback on the Moto Buds Loop.

Impressive Sound

If you’re concerned about the sound quality you will get out of these buds, don’t be. Motorola has partnered with Bose for the sound, and it shows. This feels much closer to the experience you get from a good pair of in-ear earbuds than the sound that comes out of bone conduction headphones like Shokz.

That’s not to say you won’t notice the weaknesses. Even with bass cranked up in the equalizer, don’t expect to hear much of it. As open-ear buds, don’t expect any sort of active noise cancelation either. Additionally, there’s no spatial audio either.

Volume levels are comfortable. While my phone warns me the audio can damage my hearing when cracked all the way up, these buds don’t actually get all that loud. Or rather, they get as loud as I need them to be without hitting volumes that cause me pain. They’re loud enough to drown out most distant background noise, but I can still make it when someone is calling my name.

The microphones are even more impressive. They provide a clear, full sound that should not give you any issues on calls. This is one area where I most notice the difference in quality between these and cheaper buds. Though for the majority of people, typical buds like the CMF Buds 2 are more than good enough for 1/6th of the price. Yet when compared with more similarly priced options like the aforementioned JLab Epic Open Sport (similar if you’re buying the Moto Buds Loop without the crystals, that is), Motorola’s buds come out clearly ahead.

Indoor Audio Sample

Outdoor Audio Sample

All the Necessary Bells and Whistles

You don’t need to install the Moto Buds app to use these buds, but the software is there in order to take advantage of the extra features. The included equalizer comes with a few presets and the option to save your own. You can modify the default controls, and there’s the ability to ring your ear buds if you’ve misplaced them.

The app isn’t without its quirks. It refers to the way you press the physical button as “gestures,” a label that implies these buds have touch controls of some kind. They don’t.

All in all, Moto’s app is as functional as most earbud apps. It’ll look most at home on a Motorola phone but fit in all enough anywhere else.

Should You Buy the Motorola Moto Buds Loop?

I have a colleague (who happens to be male) who was very excited to see earbuds that look like the Moto Buds Loop hit the market. I am not that person. Unlike most other tech products, whether or not you should buy these earbuds depends on whether you are that person. As much as I like how these buds sound and feel, I’m not wearing these once the review is done.

That said, I am tempted to buy the Trekking Green version, because these buds are much more compelling at half the price and, to my eye, look better without the extra Swarovski bling.