Motorola made a new Moto G and Moto G Stylus
The Moto G offers a great balance of features for under $250, but the Moto G Stylus 4G is an example of a multitude of compromises. Whether these matter to you however, depends on what you value.
Motorola used to be the king of smartphones and one of the giants of phones in general, but despite hitting many hard times, the Moto G range has been its shining light. The original Moto G kickstarted the affordable phones segment as we know it today, and the latest Moto G devices continue the trend of offering a quality experience for the budget-conscious while letting the Moto Edge Plus 2023 (also announced today) take lead as the company’s high-end gaming phone.
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny: Affordable phones from Motorola
📱 Motorola has two new affordable phones: Moto G 5G & Moto G Stylus 4G
🔋 Both feature large 5,000mAh batteries offering up to 2-day battery life
💰 Moto G 5G costs $249 while Moto G Stylus 4G is just $199
🔊 Both have stereo speakers, Dolby Atmos Sound & 3.5mm headphone jacks
✏️ Moto G Stylus is the cheapest way to get a phone with a stylus
💸 Moto G 5G is one of the most affordable 5G phones in the US
Moto G 5G
Building on the Moto G 2022, this year the Moto G gains 5G connectivity, a new camera, Dolby Atmos sound with stereo speakers, and a couple of new colors. The display is still the same 6.5-inch HD+ display from last year, but it now supports a 120Hz refresh rate for a more immersive experience. If you’re a gamer, this will be a very welcome improvement.
Motorola’s trend of adding macro cameras with questionable utility continues, although the main camera has been changed to a 48MP camera that uses quad-pixel binning technology to combine four pixels into one with a 1.6µm pixel size. The whole package is powered by a Snapdragon 480+ chipset, along with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage which is expandable to 1TB with a microSD card.
Two-day battery life is the claim that’s persistent throughout the Moto G family this year, and the 5,000mAh battery inside the 5G should last the full two days. When it needs to be charged, it supports 15W charging that should charge to full in a couple of hours (no support for 25W charging sadly). There’s also a side-mounted fingerprint sensor as well as the usual array of connectivity options.
The Moto G 5G runs Android 13 but is only getting one upgrade to Android 14. There are also 3 years of security updates. Motorola isn’t well-known for software updates in a timely manner for its affordable devices, so I wouldn’t expect it to get updates anytime soon.
Launching in Ink Blue and Harbor Gray, it will be available unlocked at $249.99 from Best Buy, Amazon and Motorola directly starting May 25. It should also be coming to many carriers shortly after launch.
Moto G Stylus 4G
The Moto G 5G has a lot of the specs we’ve come to expect from an affordable phone and brings 5G to an even cheaper price point, but the Moto G Stylus 4G takes a very different approach. If you read out Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review and yearned for a similar stylus experience at a fraction of the price, the Moto G Stylus 4G is out to deliver exactly that outcome.
The Moto G Stylus 4G features a 6.5-inch HD+ display with a 90Hz refresh rate and houses an embedded stylus that’s well designed and nice to write with, although Motorola couldn’t tell us the pressure sensitivity of it, and it’s definitely not on par with Samsung’s S-Pen.
Motorola told us that 62% of users write notes in the Moto Notes app which seemed pleasant to use in my short time with it, and the Live Message feature will let you draw animated messages in the Messages app and then send them to someone as a gif. These little features definitely help enhance the feeling that this is a premium device.
Beyond the stylus, there are many other similarities with the Moto G 5G. It features the same 50MP camera with quad pixel binning technology, stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos, a 5,000mAh battery with 15W charging, and all the usual sensors and connectivity features. The only one missing – which is also missing on the Moto G 5G – is NFC, which means you can’t use either phone for mobile payments.
The whole package is powered by a MediaTek Helio G85 processor with 4GB of RAM and 64GB or 128GB of storage, which can be expanded up to 1TB using a microSD card. It will launch in Midnight Blue and Clam Pink on May 5 from Best Buy, Motorola.com, and Amazon as well as select retailers.
As someone who uses a Galaxy S23 Ultra daily, the Moto G Stylus 4G isn’t designed for me, but I can see why it’s a compelling offering. In particular, it’s going to be sold via Cricket, Straight Talk Wireless, and Walmart Family Mobile; essentially, lower-cost carriers for customers where price matters a considerable amount.
At a cost of $199.99 MSRP before any discounts, it offers enough of the Galaxy Note experience to be a worthwhile purchase if you find utility in the stylus above all else. The Moto G Stylus is the best-selling Moto G device in North America since its launch, and this year’s Moto G Stylus 4G will likely help this trend continue.