Motorola has taken the wraps off of its latest Android smartphone offering — the Moto G Stylus 5G. It's the fifth Motorola release in the U.S. so far this year, and it looks to combine bits and pieces of those existing handsets to create an interesting budget device.
The low and mid-range markets have become Motorola's bread and butter in recent years. In 2021, that's something the company has really hammered home. Motorola launched four budget devices simultaneously this past January, including the Moto G Play (2021), Moto G Power (2021), Moto G Stylus (2021), and Motorola One 5G Ace. The phones are available for $169, $199, $299, and $399, respectively, with Motorola making it clear that it wants to target as many budgets as possible. That apparently wasn't enough choice, however, as the new Moto G Stylus 5G is yet another mid-range option joining the company's 2021 lineup.
Diving right into the specs, the Moto G Stylus 5G is equipped with a 6.8-inch Full HD+ display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 processor, and a beefy 5,000 mAh battery that should allow for two days of use on a single charge. The phone also has 4 or 6GB of RAM, 128 or 256GB of expandable storage, and a quad-camera setup — consisting of a 48 MP primary camera, 5MP macro, 8MP ultra-wide, and 2MP depth sensor. There is a water-repellent design similar to most other Motorola smartphones, and also sticking with Motorola tradition, there is no NFC for contactless payments.
The Included Stylus Is Improved Over The Previous Model
As the name implies, one of the main draws to the Moto G Stylus 5G is its included stylus. Compared to the non-5G Moto G Stylus from a few months ago, the core experience is mostly the same. It can be used to take notes, draw, and more easily navigate the UI. That said, there are a couple of upgrades for this release. The new stylus features a cylindrical body that's easier to hold and take out of the built-in silo. It can also be placed inside the G Stylus 5G in any orientation, making it easier to grab and remove than its predecessor. Also noteworthy is a new feature in Moto Note that will record every time the stylus has been removed from the phone — thus allowing users to track it down if the stylus becomes lost. While that's all great to see, keep in mind this is still a capacitive stylus. Because there's no pressure sensitivity built into the display, the stylus experience is considerably less functional than what's found on a phone like the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. There is a $900 price difference between the two phones, but keep expectations in check with what Motorola's stylus will actually be able to do.
Outside of the stylus experience, the Moto G Stylus 5G also stands out as the first Moto G device in the U.S. with 5G support. While it's great to see affordable 5G smartphones becoming increasingly more available, this isn't the first 5G device in the overall Motorola product lineup. The Motorola One 5G Ace costs the same as the new G Stylus 5G, and for folks who don't care about the stylus experience, it's a better purchase in more ways than one. It has a beefier processor, slightly faster charging, and NFC for Google Pay. For shoppers that want a cheap stylus-touting phone but don't care about 5G, the regular Moto G Stylus offers a very similar experience for $100 less. Motorola's extensive lineup of budget smartphones is great for having a lot of choice, but it can also make the buying process quite overwhelming.
If the Moto G Stylus 5G looks like the right mix of specs and features, the good news is that it goes on sale starting June 14. The phone is available for $400 at various retailers, including Amazon, Best Buy, B&H, Walmart, and Motorola's own website. It'll also be available at various carriers throughout the U.S.
Source: Motorola