TWS true wireless earphones - $50 to $75
FOUR STARS - Moondrop has upgraded the wildly popular Space Travel in price, in features, and in sound quality. The Moondrop Moca are great, balanced-sounding wireless earbuds around 50 dollars.
And - after a troublesome first few months, their previous problems now seem to have been solved in firmware update 1.2.5.
Moondrop Moca specs and features:
Bluetooth 5.4 with AAC codec
No waterproof rating
4,5 - 6 hours playtime on a single charge (ANC on/off)
Charging case can charge earpieces fully 3 times
Has: ANC, Transparency, app support, wireless charging, multipoint connection
Doesn't have: gaming mode, spatial audio
Comes with 3 sets of ear tips, English manual
$50 - $60 - See price on Amazon US, your Amazon country or AliExpress
Update February 23, 2025: Previous problems like the malfunctioning microphones now seem to have been solved in firmware update 1.2.5. The total score jumped from 2 to 4 stars.
In and underneath this Moondrop Moca review, you will find comparisons of the Moondrop Moca vs Moondrop Space Travel, KZ Carol, and QCY MeloBuds Pro.
All reviews on Scarbir.com are unsponsored and honest. Want to support my research? Buy me a coffee or support me via PayPal.
Design, comfort and battery life
The $50 to $60 Moondrop Moca doesn't have the fancy presentation of the brands cheapest models; the $30 Moondrop Space Travel and the $25 Moondrop Block.
The Moca is available in sand-brown or grey-dark grey. In the latter, the Moca almost looks utilitarian cheap. The charging case is of cheap plastic and the lid doesn't feel very strong.
The case has good aspects, though. It's thin enough to carry in a jeans pocket and resists scratches from keys in the same pocket. Three subtle LED-lights on the front of the case also show the remaining battery well, and the case can both be charged via USB-C and wirelessly.
It's a bit hard to take the earbuds out of the case, as the hinge of the lid doesn't provide enough space.
The earbuds look plain and rather cheap, with the sides of the stems just displaying L or R and a LED-light down below. It seems that Moondrop wanted it to play a bit safer than the outspoken Space Travel.
The form factor is the same, and rightly so. The diagonal earpieces are snug and comfortable in your ears.
Unlike the Space Travel, the Moondrop Moca has solid battery life. It provides at least 4,5 hours of playtime with Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) on, and up to 6 hours with the function off.
Sadly, Moondrop doesn't provide an official waterproof rating for these earbuds.
The Moondrop Moca looks cheap, but does what it musts: provide enough battery life and a comfortable fit. Wireless charging is a welcome bonus.
Controls, connectivity and app support
The Moondrop Moca is the brand's most versatile pair of wireless earbuds on a budget.
The Moca automatically pauses music when you take an earbud out, and resumes playback when you put it in again.
It also supports multipoint connection, meaning you can connect it to two devices at the same time. Once you've setup Bluetooth on two devices, it reconnects quickly and automatically every time. It also switches very easily between your devices. Just push play on a song or video on the other device, and the sound switches.
The controls respond fairly well, with the ability to play/ pause music (single tap), return/ skip a track (double-tap), switch ANC modes (hold), activate the voice assistant (triple tap), or activate the game mode (four times on the left).
Sadly, there's no possibility to change the volume from the earbuds itself.
The default Bluetooth connectivity of the Moca is strong, offering a reliable connection more than ten meters from your device(s), without any connection or sound hiccups.
The Moca gets support from the Moondrop Link 2.0 app. When first publishing this review in November 2024, the Android app support was better, but the iPhone app now has the same functionality in February 2025.
The control options on the Android app
The EQ presets mainly change the sub-bass level
The Moondrop Link 2.0 apps lets you:
Update the firmware
Read the manual
Change the touch controls
Cycle between the ANC settings On, Off, and Transparency
Choose from five EQ sound presets
Turn off the LED-light on the earbuds - thankfully
The Moondrop Moca lacks volume controls on the earbuds, but does come with multipoint connection. As of the first months of 2025, the iPhone app support is now as decent as the Android version.
Phone and video calls
Since firmware update 1.2.5, you can now take a phone call or enter a video conference with the Moondrop Moca.
The microphone problems that completely failed to pick up your voice in firmware update 1.1.3 from November 2024, seem to be gone in firmware update 1.2.5 for the Moondrop Moca.
Now, your voice could use a bit more loudness, but it sounds clear and natural.
The microphones reduced noise around you in a decent manner.
Wind noise is a threat to your clarity, however, causing your voice output to lower in volume and sound more distant.
Whether the Moondrop Moca ranked 0 stars on this aspect before, the new 1.2.5 firmware update changes things for the better. It’s now a safe choice for phone calls and video conferences, especially in indoor situations.
Video and games playback
The Moondrop Moca has no problems playing videos on apps like YouTube or Netflix on both Android phones or iPhone.
The Moca has an almost hidden gaming mode. You have to tap the left earbud four times quickly to activate it, but it doesn't always register well.
The gaming mode synchronizes sounds greatly with the action on your screen, with very little noticeable delay in Call of Duty mobile. The sound is immersive too, although there isn't much spatial information of where gunshots and explosions come from.
ANC quality of the Moondrop Moca
The Moondrop Moca has strong Active Noice Cancelling (ANC), especially for its 50 dollars price.
You may have to twist the earbuds a little bit in your ears to get the best effect.
All frequencies are heavily dampened. Brighter sounds like distant laughter or chatter can disappear from your surroundings and the same goes for middle sounds, like a radio playing in the background of the typing on a keyboard.
The only things that slip through the ANC, are loud sudden sounds (like door slams) and lower mid-tones, like the darkest edges of the same keyboard typing.
That does indeed mean the Moca ANC is stronger than the ANC of the Moondrop Space Travel, which slips through more middle sounds. It's also stronger than the KZ Carol.
The Transparency mode can't really be used to follow a conversation or clearly hear traffic - the effect isn't strong enough when you also play music.
Both the ANC and Transparency mode let in a slight amount of wind noise. While it's not too annoying, you may want to increase the music volume to counter it better.
Switching between the functions doesn't alter the musical presentation too much; the Moca performs very consistent throughout.
Lastly - Moondrop holds on to its cute / weird sound effects when cycling between the functions - meaning that you'll hear a girly voice say ‘Ssssh’ for the ANC, ‘Hey’ for the Transparency mode, and ‘Huh?’ for ANC off.
The level of Active Noise Cancelling on the Moondrop Moca is a big surprise. The ANC is strong to bring rest to your head even when you're not playing music.
Sound quality review of Moondrop Moca
The Moondrop Moca builds upon the surprisingly good budget sound of the Moondrop Space Travel, with more width and air in the sound.
The Moondrop Moca has a comparable sound to the $25 budget surprise Moondrop Space Travel. It aims for balance and clarity over bass power and warmth, which are more common in this price category.
Compared to the Space Travel, the Moca puts more effort into the higher frequencies. Higher vocals sound clearer and there's more air between brighter vocals and instruments.
The Space Travel sounds warmer, a bit darker and more closed-in; the Moca clearer and airier.
At the same time, the Moca stays far from the treble brightness and harshness of previous Moondrop wireless models like the Moondrop Sparks and the Moondrop Golden Ages. It feels like the most balanced sounding Moondrop TWS to date.
The Moca spreads its attention across all frequencies and flows them beautifully into each other. There isn't a part of the music that's recessed or overly elevated.
Female and higher male vocals are clear and pronounced. They have plenty of space to reach the higher notes (extend into the highs), yet hold back from sounding sharp.
The same goes for brighter instruments. Trumpets and violins are clear and have great presence. Center mid-tones like the guitar and piano play are a tad clearer than average, but they come with a warm underlining and feel natural. There's plenty of room for details as well - like the plucking of guitar strings or the separate guitar parts on your left and right in Eagle's Hotel California from the Hell Freezes Over album.
Lower mid-tones are wonderfully clean. Darker male vocals and lower electronic tones don't indulge in the center-mids or overflow in the bass frequencies. It may be the most natural lower-mid presentation I've ever heard in $50 wireless earbuds.
While the mid-bass shows a neat, deep slam, it misses tightness. If you listen to techno or other (electronic) dance genres on the highest volumes, it can lack a bit of thump - comparable to the highly regarded Sony Linkbuds S.
The sub-bass lacks a bit of power by default too. The rumbles in James Blake's great test track Limit to Your Love stay on the surface somewhat. This changes when you switch to a specific EQ Preset. The Ultra Bass EQ deepens and thickens the sub-bass in an impressive way and increases the lower-mids very subtly, without altering other aspects of the sound - including the mid-bass.
Unfortunately, the other four EQ sound presets from the Moondrop app do very little to change the sound - if they change anything at all, that is. The Reference preset perhaps changes the tonality slightly, but it could even be a placebo effect. When it comes to mid-bass, these aren't earbuds that provide you a private dance party. Balance triumphs engagement.
These also aren't the loudest earbuds, but this time, the maximum volume is a bit higher than the Space Travel, making these more suitable for active listening.
The Moondrop Moca may lack a bit of mid-bass punch if you mainly listen to dance, hip-hop or techno, but you get a great balanced sound on in return.
—> These are the best sounding wireless earbuds from $25 to $100
Moondrop Moca comparisons
Moondrop Moca vs QCY MeloBuds Pro
The QCY MeloBuds Pro costs around the same as the Moondrop Moca and is a more user-friendly product.
The Moondrop Moca and QCY MeloBuds Pro both have great ANC for their ~50 dollar price point, and both perform great for gaming too.
When it comes to sound, the Moca and MeloBuds Pro are atop of their price range. The Moca especially. It sounds a bit clearer and more open than the MeloBuds Pro, with more fluent transitions between frequencies and crispier, more pronounced vocals. The QCY has a slightly thumpier mid-bass and heavier lower-mids. It can also go a bit louder.
The MeloBuds also has volume controls and a usable waterproof rating. It makes them more versatile than the Moca.
Around $45 on Amazon US, your Amazon country or AliExpress
Moondrop Moca vs Moondrop Space Travel
After firmware update 1.2.5 of the Moondrop Moca, these earbuds actually feel like a small upgrade over the $30 Moondrop Space Travel.
That’s because of its features mainly. The Moca has multipoint connectivity, offers 4,5 instead of 3 hours playtime, and its calls are slightly clearer as of the 1.2.5 firmware update.
The Moca’s ANC is stronger as well, and video and gaming playback synchronize well instead of sub-par, like on the Space Travel.
The Moca build on top of the fantastic sound foundation of the Space Travel, and takes away a bit of bass and lower-mid effort to trade it for more clarity and openness in the sound. The Space Travel sounds a bit darker and more closed-in; the Moca clearer and airier.
Around $30 on Amazon US, your Amazon country or AliExpress
Moondrop Moca vs KZ Carol
The more affordable KZ Carol has much in common with the Moondrop Moca. It also combines great sound quality with Active Noise Cancelling and multipoint connectivity.
Both these earbuds shine in the sound quality department. The Moondrop has a flatter sound, with more equally spread attention to the frequencies. The KZ has a more pronounced bass, which is rumblier and thumpier, and also pushes out higher vocals more. While its well-balanced, it still strikes as engaging and ‘V-shaped’ next to the Moca.
The Moondrop Moca has stronger ANC than the KZ and also adds wireless charging and a more capable gaming mode. Both aren’t the best options for phone calls.
Around $35 on Amazon US, your Amazon country or AliExpress
Verdict: Moondrop Moca
The Moondrop Moca is comfortable to wear, has wireless charging and surprisingly strong Active Noise Cancelling. It's also the most balanced sounding wireless earphone around 50 dollars near the end of 2024.
Since the release, it also has been a very troubled earphone, however. Different firmware updates completely broke the microphones for phone calls, let in a buzzing sound in one of the earbuds, or made the earbuds jump connections between two connected devices.
Since firmware update 1.2.5, things are looking better for the Moondrop Moca again - and we’re at a point this earphone can now be called good, despite their first months of problems.
Four STARS - Good
Buy Moondrop Moca/ Check lowest price
Buy on Amazon US
Buy on your Amazon country
Buy on AliExpress
I received the Moondrop Moca from the manufacturer to test and review. This doesn't influence my judgment. My reviews are 100% independent and non-commercial - read about it here.
The links on this page are affiliate links. Buying via one of this links supports me in reviewing more earphones. Was this review helpful to you? Please consider supporting me:
Also read:
Leaderboard: All rated wireless earphones
