The Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G (2022) is a large budget phone with a built-in stylus. Motorola announced it on April 21, 2022, and sales began in the US on April 28. The unlocked 8 GB + 256 GB version launched at $499.99, and carriers sold lower-memory versions. The phone is now discontinued, and the Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) replaced it.
Design and display
The phone has a plastic body and measures 168.9 x 75.8 x 9.3 mm. It weighs 215 g, and the stylus lives in a slot inside the body. Motorola sold it in two colors, Steel Blue and Seafoam Green.
The front is a 6.8-inch LCD with a resolution of 1080 x 2460 pixels and a 20.5:9 aspect ratio. Its 120 Hz refresh rate was a first for the Moto G family in North America. A hole-punch selfie camera sits at the top center of the screen. Motorola describes the design as water-repellent, but it does not list an IP rating.
The phone keeps a 3.5 mm headphone jack and adds NFC, which the previous model lacked. Other features include Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.1 and a USB-C 2.0 port. It takes a single nano-SIM. The fingerprint reader sits on the side, and there is a single loudspeaker.
Performance
The phone runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695, a 6 nm chip with an Adreno 619 GPU. The unlocked model has 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. Carrier versions came with 4 GB or 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. A microSD slot accepts cards of up to 1 TB. Motorola.com also bundled a 256 GB card with the unlocked model. Verizon’s version adds mmWave 5G.
Cameras
The main camera has 50 MP, an f/1.9 lens and optical image stabilization. Quad Pixel technology combines pixels to produce 12.5 MP photos by default. An 8 MP ultrawide camera with a 118-degree view also works as the macro camera. A 2 MP depth sensor completes the rear setup.
The front camera has 16 MP and an f/2.2 lens. Video recording tops out at 1080p at 60 fps on the rear cameras. The front camera records at 1080p and 30 fps, so this phone has no 4K video.
Battery and charging
The 5,000 mAh battery is rated by Motorola for two days of use. Charging is limited to 10 W with the included TurboPower charger. PhoneArena measured almost three hours for a full charge. The phone has no wireless charging.
Software and updates
The phone shipped with Android 12 and Motorola’s My UX interface. Motorola promised one Android upgrade, to Android 13, and three years of security patches. That support window has now ended based on the launch date. Buyers should keep this in mind before choosing it for daily use.
Should you buy the Moto G Stylus 5G (2022)?
This phone is no longer produced, so new units are hard to find. It still suits people who want a cheap phone with a stylus, a large screen and a headphone jack. However, its security support has run out and charging is slow. Buyers who want current software should look at a newer stylus model. The Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) is the direct successor.
