The Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) is a budget Motorola phone with a built-in stylus. Motorola announced it on May 30, 2023, for North America. Sales began at Cricket on June 2, 2023. The unlocked model with 6GB of RAM and 256GB of storage launched at $399.99. The phone is now discontinued, and its US product page no longer offers it for sale.
Design and display
The phone has a plastic frame and a plastic back with a water-repellent design. It has no official IP rating, though. It measures 162.83 x 73.77 x 9.19 mm and weighs 202 grams. The stylus slides into the bottom of the frame.
The front holds a 6.6-inch LCD with a 2400 x 1080 resolution. The panel refreshes at up to 120Hz. The phone came in two colors: Cosmic Black and Rose Champagne. Both were sold in the US.
Performance
Inside is the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1, a 4nm chip with four Cortex-A78 cores at 2.2 GHz. Four Cortex-A55 cores at 1.8 GHz handle lighter tasks. Carrier models pair it with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The unlocked model has 6GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. A microSD slot accepts cards of up to 2TB.
The stylus is a passive capacitive pen. It has no pressure sensitivity. Software tools include handwriting calculation, a lasso tool, Live Message and text recognition.
Cameras
The rear camera system has two lenses. The main camera uses a 50MP sensor with an f/1.88 aperture and Ultra Pixel binning. An 8MP ultrawide camera also works as a macro and depth camera. The 2022 model had a third rear camera, so this setup is simpler. The front camera has 16MP.
The rear camera records video at up to 4K and 30 fps. The front camera records at up to 1080p and 30 fps. Motorola does not list optical image stabilization.
Battery and charging
The battery has a capacity of 5,000mAh. Motorola rates it for up to two days on one charge. Wired charging runs at up to 20W, and a charger comes in the box. There is no wireless charging.
Software and updates
The phone launched with Android 13 and Motorola’s My UX interface. Motorola promised one major Android update and three years of security updates. Other features include NFC, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.1 and a single nano-SIM slot. The phone also keeps a 3.5mm headphone jack and stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos.
Should you buy the Moto G Stylus 5G (2023)?
This phone suits buyers who want a stylus without paying flagship prices. It also fits people who use wired headphones or need microSD storage. However, its update promise was short from the start. Motorola no longer produces it. Its direct successor is the Moto G Stylus 5G (2024).
