The $399.99 Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G for 2024 has a brighter display and a longer-lasting battery than its predecessor, but a built-in stylus remains the main selling point. After all, it costs $900 less than the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, one of the only other phones sold with such an accessory. Otherwise, fast charging support and good call quality are tempered by a slightly outdated processor, an underwhelming camera, and limited software support. It’s worth considering if you want the ability to scribble or take quick handwritten notes without spending too much money, but if a built-in stylus isn’t a priority, you’re better off spending $100 more on our Editor’s Choice winner, the Google Pixel 8a, which offers superior performance, cameras, and software support.Design: Vegan Leather Gets DirtyThe Moto G Stylus measures 6.50 by 2.94 by 0.33 inches (HWD) and weighs 6.70 ounces, making it a bit larger and lighter than the previous version (6.41 by 2.91 by 0.36 inches, 7.13 ounces). The Google Pixel 8a (5.99 by 2.86 by 0.35 inches, 6.63 ounces) is much smaller and slightly lighter, while the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (6.40 by 3.11 by 0.34 inches, 8.22 ounces) measures around the same size but weighs much more.
Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you make better buying decisions. See how we test.
Motorola increases the screen size slightly to 6.7 inches (up from 6.6 inches) while keeping the same resolution of 2,400 by 1,080 pixels. The screen maintains a 120Hz refresh rate and benefits from 10-bit color that covers the DCI-P3 space for rich, vibrant, and accurate hues. Peak brightness tops out at 1,200 nits. The Pixel 8a’s 6.1-inch screen has the same resolution and refresh rate but reaches a significantly higher peak brightness of 2,000 nits. Meanwhile, the $399.99 Samsung Galaxy A35 has a 6.6-inch screen with a resolution of 2,340 by 1,080 pixels, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a maximum brightness of 1,000 nits. I didn’t have any problems viewing the Moto G Stylus’s screen even in direct sunlight; it looks crisp and readable in every environment.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)
The bezels are incredibly thin and frame the screen uniformly. A small, round selfie camera sits at the very top of the screen, just below the top bezel. The side rails are made of metal, while the back uses a vegan leather material. You can get the phone in two colors: Caramel Latte (cream) or Scarlet Wave (red). I tested the former.
The back material is aesthetically pleasing, resists fingerprints, and provides a good grip, though it readily attracts dust, dirt, and hair. It’s difficult to keep clean, so you might want to put a case on it. Other recent Motorola phones have used the same material to a similar ill effect. The material also covers the raised camera module, which at least makes for a cohesive appearance.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)
The bottom contains a 3.5mm headphone jack, A USB-C 2.0 port, and A storage slot for the stylus. Once inserted, the stylus’ end sits mostly flush with the frame, creating a small button. Simply press it to eject the end of the stylus. The stylus emits a satisfying click when removed and inserted.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)
The right side has a small power button and two volume buttons, while the left houses the combined SIM and microSD card slot. Every button on the phone feels sturdy and offers excellent travel.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)
For biometric security, you can use the in-display fingerprint sensor or the front-facing camera. Both methods worked well in testing, though I particularly enjoyed how the embedded fingerprint sensor lit up upon activation.An IP52 rating means the Moto G Stylus is reasonably dustproof and can withstand light splashes of water. The IP67-rated Pixel 8a and Galaxy A35 are much more durable, however.Stylus: Small and UsefulThe stylus is pleasant to use since it easily glides across the screen. That said, I did find it a little too small and flat to grip for serious writing. Removing it from the phone brings up stylus-specific options for adding a note, creating a to-do list, and drawing on a canvas. Unlike the S Pen for the Galaxy S24, this one doesn’t have a side button or other advanced functions. Therefore, you can’t access any controls or actions directly from it. I found myself longing for an eraser button when I wanted to quickly fix mistakes.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)
I enjoyed creating to-do lists the most since the software automatically turns handwriting into text. Unfortunately, the phone had a hard time reading my writing, and I often had to adjust the results manually. Given the relatively small size of the screen and stylus, I don’t think taking long-form notes or creating intricate sketches is practical, though you might disagree. One neat trick is that the phone alerts you whenever the stylus isn’t nearby. It also shows you its last known location on a map, albeit in longitude and latitude.Performance: Decent, Despite an Older ProcessorThe Moto G Stylus comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, though you can add a microSD card of up to 2TB. The Pixel 8a includes 8GB of RAM and a non-user-expandable 128GB, while the Galaxy A35 pairs 6GB of RAM with 128GB of expandable storage.The phone still uses the somewhat outdated Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 processor as last year’s model. Nonetheless, it handled everyday tasks smoothly and didn’t slow down when I ran multiple apps simultaneously.
(Credit: Geekbench/GFXBench/PCMag)
Benchmark testing confirmed the reasonable performance. On the Geekbench 6 CPU test, which gauges general power, the phone scored 934 on the single-core test and 2,766 on the multi-core test. These results beat those of last year’s model (690 and 2,457, respectively), but the Pixel 8a’s Tensor G3 chip turned in far more impressive scores of 1,545 and 4,208. The Galaxy A35’s Exynos 1380 processor did better too, hitting marks of 1,010 and 2,790.The Moto G Stylus also didn’t do as well as the Pixel 8a on the GFXBench Aztec Ruins gaming test at 1,140 pixels. It reached just 10fps, far short of the Pixel 8a’s 55fps.Geshin Impact plays fairly well on the phone, stuttering only during intense battle scenes. However, the phone got warm to the touch after just 10 minutes. Less intensive games, such as Alto’s Odyssey, ran flawlessly without causing the phone to heat up. If general computing power and gaming are paramount, the Google Pixel 8a is the better choice.Battery: Long-Lasting PowerTo test the Motorola Moto G Stylus’s 5,000mAh battery, I played an HD video on YouTube over Wi-Fi with the display at full brightness. The phone lasted an outstanding 22 hours and 14 minutes in this scenario. This is a huge improvement over the older model, which managed 13 hours and 20 minutes. The Pixel 8a’s 4,492mAh cell lasted a far less impressive 12 hours and 50 minutes on this test.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)
The Moto G Stylus supports fast wired charging at 30W, as well as 15W wireless charging, though you have to supply your own charger. For comparison, the Pixel 8a offers wired and wireless charging speeds of 18W and 7.5W, respectively.In testing, it took 2 hours and 19 minutes to charge the Moto G Stylus from empty to full over a sufficiently fast wired connection. The Pixel 8a took less time to charge (1 hour and 50 minutes) despite having a slower charging rate on paper.Connectivity: Reliable 5G and Loud SpeakersThe Moto G Stylus supports sub-6GHz 5G (including C-band) on all the major carriers in the US, but not the ultra-fast mmWave spectrum that’s available in some locations. It’s available both unlocked and through carriers. For comparison, the Pixel 8a supports all forms of 5G.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)
You can use an eSIM with the Moto G Stylus, but I opted for a physical T-Mobile SIM card. That carrier doesn’t offer great coverage in my area, so the phone managed just 30.1Mbps down and 1.22Mbps up. My iPhone 14 Pro didn’t fare much better in the same location, registering download and upload speeds of 21.4Mbps and 19.9Mbps, respectively.The Moto G Stylus supports Wi-Fi 5, not the newer Wi-Fi 6E or 7 protocols. When I connected it to a Wi-Fi 6 router, it got speeds of 131Mbps down and 9.32Mbps up. The iPhone 14 Pro performed better, with rates of 282Mbps down and 8.57Mbps up from the same location. When I brought the phones to the edge of the network, the Moto G Stylus hit 128Mbps down and 8.16Mbps up. The iPhone 14 Pro fared worse here, grabbing download and upload speeds of 100Mbps and 4.89Mbps, respectively.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)
Call quality is good; the phone does a fine job of minimizing background noise including wind and rain. The earpiece reached 76.5dB in testing, while the speaker maxed out at 90.5dB. These levels are more than loud enough to hear callers in just about any environment.Thanks to Dolby Atmos support, the phone managed to boost some of the low frequencies in our bass test track, The Knife’s “Silent Shout.” I was able to hear a good portion of the opening bass line in the song, though the speakers weren’t exactly pulsating with sound. The speakers got loud enough to fill a small room, but you should still connect wired headphones via the 3.5mm headphone jack or wireless headphones via Bluetooth 5.1 for a better audio experience.The phone includes NFC for mobile payments, as do the Pixel 8a and Galaxy A35.Cameras: Below AverageThe camera stack on the Moto G Stylus consists of a 50MP f/1.8 main lens with optical image stabilization (OIS) and a 13MP f/2.2 ultra-wide imager with a 120-degree field of view and macro capabilities. Photos are binned by a factor of four down to 12.5MP. The camera app has four distance modes: Tap the flower icon to take close-up shots, the 0.5x mode for wide shots, the 1x mode for standard shots from the main camera, and the 2x mode to zoom in a bit digitally. The front of the phone has a 32MP f/2.4 camera for selfies.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)
The main camera struggles to capture fine detail, even on bright sunny days at 1x zoom. The branches on the pine tree in the photo above appear smudged and pixelated upon close inspection, for instance. The colors also look artificially bright; the tips of the branches are a lighter shade of green than in reality.
Ultra-wide camera (Credit: Sarah Lord)
These issues are also present at the 0.5x zoom level. Here, the leaves on the trees appear almost neon green. The lack of clarity extends to the ground, where dandelions appear smudged and noisy.
Main camera (Credit: Sarah Lord)
The 2x digital zoom mode has the same problems as the others. In the photo below, the edges of the leaves look blurry.
Main camera with 2x zoom (Credit: Sarah Lord)
The macro camera does a slightly better job of capturing detail, though the edges of the lilacs in the image below aren’t very crisp.
Macro shot (Credit: Sarah Lord)
The selfie camera works fine, capturing my dog under dim lamplight just fine. It also works well enough for video calls.
Selfie camera (Credit: Sarah Lord)
The main camera can record 1080p video at 60fps or 30fps. Like the photos, video clips show a fair amount of noise.If smartphone photography is a priority, the Google Pixel 8a performs much better. It also comes with some neat AI editing tools, including Magic Editor, Audio Magic Eraser, and Best Take.Software: Choose Your BloatThe Moto G Stylus runs Android 14, and Motorola says it will offer one OS upgrade (to Android 15) and three years of security patches. Google promises a much more generous seven years of OS and security updates for the Pixel 8a, while Samsung commits to four years of OS upgrades and five years of security patches for the Galaxy A35.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)
Motorola tries to get you to install a fair amount of bloatware on the phone during setup, but thankfully there’s an option to skip much of it; I unchecked everything but still ended up with Adobe Scan and Facebook installed. The phone also comes with a deletable folder that includes various Motorola apps for parental controls, data and privacy protection, and digital well-being. And, as mentioned, the stylus has its own useful software features when you start to use it. Unlike the Pixel 8a, you don’t get any AI features here. Motorola hasn’t said anything about AI for its affordable phones. In stark contrast, Google’s phone can create summaries of websites in the Chrome browser, for instance, and dictate site content. It should also gain access to the Gemini Nano tool eventually.Verdict: The Stylus Enhances a Mostly Average PhoneIf you’re looking for an affordable phone with a stylus, the Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G is your best bet. In addition to a built-in stylus, it offers outstanding battery life, a large, bright screen, and acceptable performance for less than $400. Its lackluster cameras and short software support window, however, mean that most people should get the $500 Google Pixel 8a instead. Thanks to its faster overall performance, more durable build, better imaging chops, and superior software support, the Pixel 8a remains our Editors’ Choice winner for midrange Android phones.
Like What You’re Reading?
Sign up for Fully Mobilized newsletter to get our top mobile tech stories delivered right to your inbox.
This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.
