Motorola’s new watch and earbuds are a case study in deja vu

Phones aren’t the only gadgets that Motorola is announcing today. But whereas the new Razr foldables evoke a sense of nostalgia, its latest smartwatch and earbuds summon a powerful feeling of déjà vu. Handling the new Moto Watch Fit and Moto Buds Loop, it’s like I’m looking at Motorola-flavored clones of the Apple Watch and the Bose Ultra Open. And wouldn’t you know it, the placard near the Buds Loop demo models conveniently says “Sound by Bose.”

I mean, just look at the Moto Watch Fit next to my Apple Watch Series 10. Motorola isn’t the first smartwatch maker to copy Apple’s design language — see Samsung’s 2024 Galaxy Watch lineup — but it is disappointing when you consider the OG Moto 360. With a stylish circular face, it was one of the standout smartwatches in the early days of Android Wear. This new Moto Watch Fit is technically the first Motorola-made smartwatch in nearly a decade (the disappointing 2019 Moto 360 was actually made by a weird company called eBuyNow), but it’s hard to find Motorola’s DNA here.

On paper, there’s nothing wrong with the Moto Watch Fit. It’s just a little boring. It has all the components of a basic fitness tracker. There’s a 1.9-inch OLED display with 1,000 nits of brightness and Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It has swappable 22mm bands with a modular lug system that looks and functions a lot like Apple’s. You can track heart rate, calories, sleep, steps, and blood oxygen. The demo model I see even has rings to close. There’s built-in GPS and over 100 activity types. For water and dust resistance, you’ve got an IP68 and 5ATM rating. So, safe for washing the dishes, showering, and long dunks in a pool. You get a spiffy green nylon strap that looks and feels like Apple’s Sport Loop.

The main differences I clock are that this is an Android-only watch, it doesn’t run off of Wear OS, and boy does it have some bezels. Like budget watches from Amazfit and the original OnePlus Watch, this runs on a proprietary real-time operating system. That likely means no third-party app options, but on the plus side, you get great battery life. In this case, an estimated 16 days on a single charge.

The Moto Buds Loop are a bit more exciting, but I’m a magpie and that might just be the Swarovski crystals talking. Like the Bose Ultra Open, these don’t go in your ear. They hug the side of your ear — sort of like a conch piercing. Open-ear buds are having a moment, and the whole pitch here is you get to have a piece of “techno jewelry” that lets you listen to audio, take calls, stay aware of your surroundings, and look good while you’re at it.

There are two versions of the Buds Loop: one “regular” version in deep green and another beigey champagne-like color with the aforementioned Swarovski crystals. Both feel lightweight in the ear, though I wasn’t able to test sound as Motorola hadn’t paired any of the demo models for folks to test. (Motorola says in its press release that people will feel “pleasantly surprised” by the sound quality, and in its keynote, heavily emphasized its partnership with Bose. Take what you will from that.)

Despite the sparkle, the materials don’t feel as premium as Bose’s buds. The middle part is made of a flexible silicone-like material, and there’s no hinge. This is so you can rest assured that they’ll handle rain and sweat, though it has an odd effect on the Swarovski version. It’s like embedding crystals into rubber. Maybe I’m an overly cautious city gal, but who is going to go on runs or solo walks blinged-out?

Spec-wise, Motorola didn’t go too much into detail. There are four mics, 12mm drivers, spatial audio, and case charging that takes about 60 minutes. You get up to eight hours of play on a single charge, while the case offers up to 37 hours of potential battery life. There’s AI-powered noise reduction for calls, and when paired with a Motorola phone, you can use them to trigger the Moto AI assistant. Otherwise, they’re regular Bluetooth headphones. Unless you also happen to have Lenovo devices. Then you can make use of the Smart Connect feature to switch between Motorola and Lenovo devices more seamlessly.

Based on Motorola’s launch keynote — in which it schlepped out many partners like Swarovski, Pantone, Bose, Lenovo, and for some reason, FIFA — the company is leaning hard into design to set itself apart from the competition. You can see that in how they’re picking bold colors for the Razr phones, a unified deep green for its accessories, and again, the Swarovski sparkle. But again, having spent some time with these accessories, it only gets part of the way there. I surprisingly liked the way the blinged-out buds looked on my ear. It was mildly amusing that both the watch and regular buds unintentionally matched my shirt. But if I’m thinking about how I want to spend my hard-earned cash, I’m more inclined to invest in quality or innovative products, many of which also have spiffy hardware and designs.

The unknown factor in all of this is price. Quite literally, I cannot tell you how much the buds or the watch will cost in North America as Motorola declined to give us that information. All I can say is that the buds will be available in “select countries” this summer while the watch will be available in the coming weeks. Motorola says pricing will be unveiled closer to shipping. Motorola declined to answer when asked if that was due to uncertainty around President Trump’s tariffs. That said, we do have UK pricing. The regular Moto Buds Loop will cost £129.99, while the Swarovski version will cost £249.99. The Moto Watch Fit will cost £89.99.