Motorola refreshed the Moto G Stylus 5G for 2023 and dropped the price by $100 to a more budget-friendly $399. The device features a large, vibrant screen, competitive battery life, and a stylus for doodling and note-taking. It costs less than half the price of the stylus-equipped Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra ($1,099) and is one of only a few phones that include the accessory. As good as the Moto G Stylus 5G is, however, unless having a built-in stylus is a must-have on your list, we recommend the Editors' Choice-winning Google Pixel 7a ($449) in this price range for its better cameras and software.
A Pen Above
The Moto G Stylus 5G looks fine, though it’s a bit basic. It’s available in two colors: Cosmic Black or Rose Champagne. It measures 6.41 by 2.91 by 0.36 inches (HWD) and weighs 7.13 ounces. You can feel the extra size versus the Pixel’s measures of 6.0 by 2.8 by 0.4 inches and 6.8 ounces, though the Pixel has a smaller screen and doesn’t garage a stylus.
The phone features a 6.6-inch LCD with a decent 2,400-by-1,080-pixel resolution, making for a pixel density of 399ppi. The screen is 0.2 inches smaller than last year’s model, but it carries over the same 120Hz refresh rate. The Pixel 7a has a slower 90Hz screen, and while there’s a difference, you have to look closely to notice the extra speed. It’s an advantage Motorola has over several other phones in this price category, and one worth praising.
The screen does the job well enough for daily use. It looks a little washed out in bright sunlight, but it’s still usable. Viewing angles are good. It's your basic $400 smartphone screen.
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The bottom edge is loaded with components. There’s a 3.5mm headphone jack, a USB-C port, a downward-firing speaker, and the pop-out stylus. The phone’s right edge holds the volume buttons and the power button, which is also a fingerprint reader that worked flawlessly in testing. There’s a SIM card/microSD tray embedded in the left edge.
Motorola didn't give the G Stylus 5G an official IP rating, but the company does cite a water-repellent design in its marketing materials. The company sprays the inner components with a protective nano-coating that shields the electronics against light splashing. Keep that in mind if you plan to take the phone on adventures where dust and water could be a factor. The Pixel 7a has an IP67 rating, which means it can be submerged in shallow water for short periods.
The phone's body is made entirely of plastic, including the midframe. It doesn’t feel as nice as glass and metal, but the finish also doesn’t attract fingerprints.
A stylus is a great feature for artists who want to draw or paint on their devices or for busy pros to take quick notes. While a built-in stylus has never appealed to me, the pen included with the phone works well. It has a soft feel and glides smoothly across the glass display. It’s a passive stylus, so it doesn’t perform any of the fancy motion gestures or button functions offered by the S23 Ultra.
Removing the pen from its slot launches a handy menu that lets you quickly access note-taking apps and useful functions such as drawing. Returning the stylus to its garage makes this menu go away automatically.
Performing on Par
The Moto G Stylus 5G runs on the newer Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 mobile platform. The model we tested had 6GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, though some variants include 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. In contrast, the 2022 G Stylus 5G was available with up to 8GB of memory.
On the PCMark Work 3.0 test, which measures a phone’s ability to handle critical day-to-day tasks, the Moto G Stylus 5G rated 12,822, a considerable bump over last year’s 10,025. The Pixel 7a scored 11,123 on the same test, so Motorola’s latest is a bit faster.
Moving to Geekbench 5, which tests CPU efficiency, the phone scored 690 and 2,457 for the single- and multi-core tests, respectively. Those results are vastly inferior to the Pixel 7a’s Tensor G2 chipset, which rated 1,343 and 2,853.
Benchmarks aside, the phone performs exceptionally well in the real world. Apps load quickly, scrolling through the OS is smooth, and games run well. Genshin Impact, one of the most graphically demanding games on mobile, ran well at low settings, though I did notice some obvious stuttering when I bumped the settings to medium.
The phone features a 5,000mAh battery, just like last year’s. I drained the battery by streaming a YouTube video on Wi-Fi with the screen brightness maxed out. In this test, the 2023 G Stylus 5G lasted 13 hours and 20 minutes. Last year’s phone hung on for 13 hours and 10 minutes. Google’s Pixel 7a survived a similar 13 hours and 25 minutes. In other words, the G Stylus 5G provides solid battery life that matches the competition at this price.
Motorola bestowed the phone with support for 20W wired charging, but the box includes a 10W adapter. We filled the battery from empty with the included power brick in 2 hours and 49 minutes. That’s on the slow side. There’s no wireless charging, which is mostly the case at this price, though Google is changing that perception by offering the feature on the Pixel 7a.
Freely Flowing 5G
The phone supports sub-6GHz 5G, but not mmWave 5G. That means it can reach midrange speeds generally under 1Gbps, but not the 2Gbps or higher speeds available to phones with mmWave. An important distinction: It supports the latest C-band spectrum, which provides respectable speeds over larger areas.
I evaluated the Moto G Stylus 5G on T-Mobile's network in an area where strong 5G Ultra Capacity service (T-Mobile's fastest) is available. I also performed the same test on the edge of T-Mobile’s 5G service area. In both cases, I used the Pixel 7a as a comparison to see if either device offered a noticeable difference in performance.
Starting in an area with a solid T-Mobile signal, the Moto G Stylus 5G achieved download speeds of 743Mbps and upload speeds of 107Mbps. In the same spot, the Pixel 7a got 789Mbps down and 132Mbps up. Google’s phone took a slight lead here, but it isn’t a big enough difference to really matter.
Motorola’s phone posted 2.1Mbps down and 0.5Mbps up when I tested in an area with a weak signal. Google’s device recorded speeds of 3.1Mbps down and 0.9Mbps up. Again, Google’s phone hit slightly better speeds than the G Stylus, but the difference is negligible.
The phone offers Wi-Fi 5, a somewhat dated standard. Still, it performed well in speed tests. It reached 256Mbps down and 118Mbps up when held near our router, while the Pixel hit 265Mbps down and 112Mbps up. We also ran speed tests at the edge of the router’s range, where the Motorola hit 1.2Mbps down and 0.3Mbps up compared with the Pixel 7a’s 1.4Mbps down and 0.5Mbps up. We expected better from the Pixel 7a, which has a more modern Wi-Fi 6E radio on board.
We can’t forget how important it is for using the phone to make voice calls, and I have to say I was impressed with the call quality. I could hear the party on the other end of the line clearly, and they could hear me even with some background noise (thanks to my dogs for providing a steady soundtrack of barking).
The stereo speakers sound reasonably good, though the sound won’t dazzle your ears. In addition to the downward-firing speaker mentioned earlier, the earpiece serves as the second speaker to generate the stereo effect and Dolby Atmos sound. While playing our test track, “Silent Shout” by The Knife, we could hear decent depth. The bass wasn’t quite as powerful as we’d have liked, but the highs were clean and without distortion. During a test call, the earpiece peaked at 82.6dB, and the speaker maxed out at 99.9dB. This is louder than the Pixel 7a, which peaked at 75.6dB and 92.4dB.
Motorola included Bluetooth 5.1 for pairing with wireless headphones, which is not the latest spec. You won’t get the latest speed and range improvements offered by Bluetooth 5.3, but this version still worked well in our testing. There’s also support for NFC for mobile payments.
Respectable Cameras
The cameras perform in line with other phones in this price range. The primary camera uses a 50MP sensor with an aperture of f/1.88. It bins images down to 12.5MP, though an ultra-resolution mode lets you capture photos at the sensor’s full 50MP resolution. The phone also adds an 8MP ultrawide camera that does triple duty as macro and depth sensors, as well.
The problem that the Moto G Stylus 5G (and other phones in this price range) faces is just how good the Pixel 7a cameras are. The Moto G Stylus 5G takes good pictures, but it simply can’t hang with Google’s fine-tuned photo hardware and software. Daytime photos from the Motorola look clean and crisp, to be sure, but it doesn’t work as well in dim light.
The aggressive beauty filters of the selfie camera, an issue I had with previous Motorola phones, are still on by default. The overdone effect can make you look like a mannequin. It’s easy enough to turn off, thankfully. Otherwise, the 16MP, f/2.5 selfie camera takes decent photos in the right lighting conditions, though it definitely won’t impress you much.
In a sizable upgrade from last year, Motorola now offers 4K video capture at 30fps, whereas you could only record in 1080p with 2022’s phone. Videos captured at the higher resolutions look great off the phone. You can also record in 1080p at 30fps, 60fps, or 120fps, and in 720p at 240fps for super slow motion.
Lackluster Update Policy
Android phones above $300 are seeing improved upgrade policies, but Motorola isn’t matching its peers. The phone ships with Android 13 and will eventually be updated once to Android 14. The company promises three years of security updates. Google offers Pixel devices, including the 7a, three years of Android OS upgrades, and five years of security updates.
That said, Android 13 on this phone feels good and is relatively close to Google’s stock offering, though I still prefer Android on the Pixel 7a, especially since Google brings the latest features to Pixel phones first.
A decent number of apps come installed on the phone, including those used with the stylus, and most are helpful. The company’s Smart Folders automatically appear on the home screen and recommend apps to install in categories like shopping and entertainment. You can delete these folders if you’d rather not engage with them, but they could be helpful for new users.
You can also use Motorola’s basic gaming overlay to stream to Twitch, set frame rates, and block notifications. This helps you stay focused on what matters most—the game!
Outside of the update policy, the Moto G Stylus 5G offers a solid Android experience that stalwarts of the OS and newbies alike will enjoy.
This Pen Isn't Mightier Than the Pixel
The Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G meets expectations but doesn’t do much to exceed them. It packs solid specs, a long-lasting battery, and a built-in stylus. It’s a fine option if you’re looking for an affordable device with a stylus, as long as the underwhelming software-upgrade roadmap and middling cameras don’t bother you. If you’re not dead-set on a stylus, however, we recommend spending $50 more on the Editors’ Choice-winning Pixel 7a for its superior cameras, cleaner Google software, and better upgrade path.
Motorola's 2023 Moto G Stylus 5G, a rare phone with a pen-like stylus, delivers a pleasing screen, commendable battery life, and good-enough performance at a reasonable price.
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