Moto g stylus 5g review 2022: An affordably-priced 5G phone with a great stylus

The Moto G Stylus 5G is an excellent mid-range 5G phone.

Moto G Stylus 5G 2022 is an interesting device, as it’s the first 5G smartphone to hit the market at an affordable price point. Priced at $299, the moto g stylus 5g is much more affordable than the Galaxy S10 5G and the $700 OnePlus 7 Pro 5G. 

With its 5G abilities, it’s also one of the fastest phones on the market today. But can it compete with other popular smartphones? We’ve taken a closer look to find out!

Introducing the phone

5G is supposed to offer blazing fast speeds, but its rollout has been painfully slow. That’s changing soon, though. Verizon plans to launch 5G in early 2019 and T-Mobile should follow not long after that. 

The Moto g stylus 5g was released before Verizon announced its own 5G network; for that reason, it’s not equipped for Verizon’s network. 

There’s no word on when (or if) Motorola will release an updated version compatible with Verizon’s network. In many ways, it’s still worth buying—but only if you can score it at an ultra-low price ($299 or less).

The Moto g stylus is powered by an Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 processor, which is based on an older Snapdragon platform and lacks features like Quick Charge support. 

There’s 8GB of RAM, which should be plenty for even moderately demanding tasks. Most importantly, Motorola has packed it with 256GB of storage that you can expand up to 2TB using a microSD card (the phone comes with a 1TB card). 

While that’s twice as much as you get on most phones, it still leaves little room for your favorite media files. To access them, you’ll need to install cloud storage apps or plug in an external drive whenever you want to transfer files or access them offline.

The design and build

The Moto G Stylus 5G looks almost identical to its non-5G stablemate, but for a single telltale sign: The top bezel houses an antenna. If you look closely, you’ll see it along either side of that trademark Motorola dimple. 

It’s no thicker than any other Moto G; at 7.4mm thick and 161 grams, it’s just about what I’d expect from a mid-range smartphone in 2022. 

Of course, none of that is going to make or break your decision to buy it if you have no intention of testing out Verizon’s new millimeter-wave service, but there’s one more thing that makes the 5G Moto G stand out.

When we talk about phones that stand out, it’s usually due to an outlandish design or some bleeding-edge technology. The Moto G Stylus 5G stands out because of something else entirely—its super capacitive stylus, which is unique in today’s smartphone landscape. 

This year has seen quite a few devices equipped with pressure-sensitive pens, but not many of them are as accurate or feature-packed as Motorola’s new addition. 

Why? For starters, there’s no actual physical tip on its 2mm super capacitive nib. It’s just one point at all times and it feels like you’re writing on glass or paper rather than trying to write on a plastic nib that never seems to want to cooperate.

Price

When you’re shopping for your next phone, it’s easy to get caught up in higher-priced models. After all, who doesn’t want faster speeds and more features? 

But what about those of us who aren’t willing to spend $1,000 or more on our phones? Fortunately, some options keep smartphone innovation within reach—and Moto G Stylus 5G is one of them. 

At only $299, Moto G Stylus offers everything you need at an affordable price. That said, it isn’t perfect—there are some tradeoffs—but they are worth considering if saving money is your goal.

So how does Moto G Stylus compete at its price point? It offers everything you need for an affordable price. That said, you don’t get a premium design or cutting-edge features. 

But at $299, we think it is worth considering if you want to save money and get your hands on Motorola’s legendary build quality. If that sounds like what you’re looking for, read on to learn more about what makes Moto G Stylus tick!

The display

Featuring a 6.8-inch full HD+ AMOLED screen with 1080×2460 resolution, Moto G Stylus 5G looks gorgeous and vibrant. Its tiny bezels make it look more like an iPhone X than other phones in its price range, including the older Moto G7 line. 

Brightness is nice and high—perfect for sunny days outdoors—and colors are highly accurate. Viewing angles are excellent too, even if you’re looking at it from an off-angle, which is important if you’re handing your phone to someone to show them something.

The screen’s brightness and color accuracy are key here. The way you interact with your smartphone can change depending on how vivid its display is, and whether or not it accurately represents colors. 

That’s especially true if you’re using one of Android’s many color-customizable interface modes, such as Material Design or Adaptive—the way those themes shift from dark to light affects how you see your screen, so it must look great.

Tiny bezels make an already big-screen look bigger: The Moto G Stylus 5G has tiny bezels around its screen, making an already big display seem even bigger.

The colors are accurate but not vibrant. The Moto G Stylus 5G’s AMOLED display has good color accuracy and viewing angles, but its maximum brightness is middling, so it doesn’t look as vibrant as phones in other price ranges. 

Performance & features

With its Qualcomm Snapdragon 695, up to 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage, our Moto G Stylus feels as snappy as you’d expect from a mid-range Android phone in 2022. Apps open quickly and multitasking is smooth.

Just about every 5G cell phone has solid performance and features. But if you have some specific needs that aren’t being met, let’s look at our last contender. 

Moto G Stylus 5G also comes in a version that runs on Verizon’s XLTE network for fast 5G coverage as well as one on Sprint’s spectrum. 

Performance is solid, but features fall short of competing handsets from Samsung or LG due to its lack of an LED flash for selfies or wireless charging capabilities.

If you’re looking for performance, features, and style all in one, we recommend Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G. 

While it lacks some extra features that might sway some buyers, such as an LED flash for selfies or wireless charging capabilities, our tester found its solid performance and striking design make it worth considering.

Click here to buy this awesome flagship the Moto G Stylus 5G 2022.

Camera quality

The Moto G Stylus 5G has one of my favorite smartphone cameras of 2022. It’s an upgraded version of last year’s model and it takes solid photos in most lighting conditions. 

It can capture more detail than I expected from its 50-megapixel sensor, though you’ll want to keep it steady for any pictures that aren’t taken in well-lit environments, especially low-light shots. The camera app is simple and easy to use, too. 

However, selfie aficionados will be disappointed by the poor-quality front-facing camera; get ready for muddy selfies if you plan on using your phone as a mirror to prep your makeup before heading out.

The Moto G Stylus 5G’s 50-megapixel camera isn’t something you’ll want to use for photos that are too zoomed in, though. It does take solid photos in daylight and it has improved low-light performance

Thanks to an impressive f/1.7 aperture for its main sensor (the front-facing selfie camera is 16 megapixels). The camera software is easy to use, including an auto mode that will adjust your settings based on what it detects you’re photographing. 

Another bonus is that you can also shoot in RAW if you’d like more control over your shots after taking them.

Stylus Pen

The stylus that’s built into the Moto G Stylus 5G works just as well as Apple’s Pencil. I was able to use it to quickly scribble notes, annotate web pages and sketch objects in PDFs on my screen. 

The pen also functions as a laser pointer for giving presentations and supports tap-to-click so you can use it as an eraser to backspace or navigate through your presentation. 

It even snaps on magnetically so you don’t lose it when you toss your phone in your bag or pocket.

Moto also has built-in Pen Up software so you can use your pen in more creative ways. For example, you can use it to capture screenshots and then annotate them.

Or, if you’re using an art app, it will recognize your strokes and draw illustrations on its own. I was able to easily handwrite notes in Google Keep without worrying about autocorrect messing up my writing. 

The pen also supports palm rejection, which means that if you rest your hand on your screen while drawing or taking notes, it won’t accidentally change what you’re doing.

The battery life

The Moto G Stylus 5G uses a 5000mAh battery, which is certainly average for a 5G phone. I found that it consistently lasted from around 8 AM to 11 PM every day, on Wi-Fi and 4G—not bad at all. 

When compared to other 5G phones, though, it’s not as good as one might hope. On Wi-Fi especially, you might find yourself running out of juice pretty quickly without picking up an external battery pack or charger.

The Moto G Stylus 5G’s battery life is certainly impressive, and you won’t have to worry about running out of juice during an entire day of moderate usage. 

It can last for up to two days if you stick to Wi-Fi for most of your browsing. Motorola also provides plenty of power-saving modes and features in case you run into problems.

To make up for its mediocre battery life, Motorola has added several power-saving modes to help out. Moto G Stylus also supports Moto Mods, which can give you an extra kick when you’re running low on juice and don’t have access to an external battery pack.

 I didn’t have any of these attachments, but they are pretty cool additions to see from a mid-range device.

Overall Verdict – Should you buy it?

The Moto G Stylus 5G is an affordable alternative to other high-end smartphones on the market, but for all of its features and good performance, it’s really hard to justify spending $299 on something that you can easily find for half that price. 

But if you’re looking for something more than just a smartphone and would like to use your phone more like you would use a tablet then it could be worth spending that extra cash. 

The feature set is unique, however, it doesn’t stand out enough in any one area. At $300-$350, I might say it was worth considering, but at $299+, I just can’t do it. You can find better options for your money…

The Moto G Stylus 5G has a good build quality and feels nice in your hand. It’s not too heavy and fits comfortably in your pocket. The display is big, bright, and vibrant, though it might be hard to see outside on sunny days. 

It runs on Android 12 so you get some of that new gesture navigation that’s slowly rolling out to other phones around its price point which is nice to see!

The Moto G Stylus is good for those looking for something in between a smartphone and tablet that can be used as both. However, if you’re just looking for an affordable smartphone on Verizon, there are better options out there. 

The built-in stylus is useful but far from spectacular, while its camera and performance are decent but not necessarily anything to write home about.