At 6.7 by 3.1 by 0.4 inches (HWD) it is about the same size as the LG Stylo 6 (6.7 by 3.1 by 0.3 inches) but comes in a smidge lighter at 7.5 ounces versus 7.7 ounces. Scrolling through social media for a while, I noticed that the phone doesn’t quite keep up. Don’t expect any grand improvements: while it’s a specialized version of the 2021 Moto G … The top of the G Stylus is bare, but the bottom is packed. To make matter worse, both will only get one Android upgrade. At top volume, there’s a little distortion in the highs. PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering Labs-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services. However, the TCL 10L is more accurate than either Motorola phone, with a Delta-E rating of 0.22. The updated G Stylus camera stack features a 48MP primary lens with an f/1.7 aperture and 4x4 pixel binning. I’ve used other handsets with this processor before, including the Moto G Power, and I’ve found it to be a pretty decent option for phones in this price range. The Moto G Stylus sports 4GB of onboard RAM which in my opinion is sufficient and I haven't noticed any issues switching between apps in my day-to-day. Qualcomm's mobile platforms use the baked-in AI Engine for image processing, task prediction, energy consumption, and natural language processing with Google Assistant and other virtual assistants. (The XL version of Google's budget phone costs nearly $200 more than the Moto G Stylus, but it has the same camera setup as the $399 Pixel 3a so this will give you some idea of how Motorola's phone compares to the best camera phone if you're on a budget.). It’s no surprise that both versions of the G Stylus blew the Stylo 6 out of the water on every benchmarking test, and a quick look at the specs would lead you to think the new G Stylus should outperform its predecessor as well. The Moto G Stylus is 1.4 millimeters shorter and 0.4 millimeters thinner than the Moto G Power. If you forget to put it away, your phone will remind you. Motorola takes a light-handed approach with My UX. The stylus remains in place securely until you dig it out via a little notch in the corner of the phone, at which point it slides out fairly easily. The Moto G Stylus is a solid phone with an interesting feature that makes it easier to jot down notes whenever you want. The updated stylus is still passive, but it's a little longer and has a clicky top like the one on the LG Stylo 6. Though Motorola’s updated camera software lets you adjust the bokeh, we noticed mapping issues on nearly every test photo. When I switched over to Dolemite Is My Name on Netflix, the G Stylus screen recreated the 1970s-style haze that the movie was shot in, but Eddie Murphy's garish outfits didn't look as vibrant as they have on other screens. If you’re a fan of Motorola, check out the Moto G Power; it’s a better value overall (though it's also got several flaws). (Numbers closer to zero are more accurate.). It’s also water resistant, so sweat or a little rain shouldn’t be an issue, but there’s no IP rating. Mids are pushed forward, but it’s not unpleasant in the least. The Dolby-tuned stereo speakers of 2020 have been replaced with a single bottom-firing speaker and Moto’s Audio Effects setting. The most recent model of the Moto G Stylus ($299.99) comes simply 9 months after the 2020 Moto G Stylus … There are also G Stylus–specific features. Portraits with the front-facing camera had noticeable issues with subject mapping even around the contours of a shaved head. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time. While watching a No Time to Die trailer on YouTube, shadowy scenes looked extra dark and even those shot in bright sunlight looked rather muted. Of these, the introduction of the Moto G Stylus is the most important shock. Though we run every phone through the same battery of tests, we only compare phones in the same general price range. Other cameras on the back of the Moto G Stylus include a 2MP macro lens and an ultra wide angle lens. This time, the company has managed to double up on … The problem is color — they're simply not vibrant or bright enough on the Moto G Stylus’ display. Two-minute review The Moto G Pro / Moto G Stylus looks like an ordinary affordable phone, but is anything but. The main camera on the Moto G Stylus uses quad-pixel binning to combine four megapixels into one to let more light in. There was no breeze when I took this photo of a California poppy, which is probably why its edges aren't as fuzzy as a similar shot I took with the Moto G Power's macro lens. For the most part, the G Stylus ships with a stock version of Android. Please deactivate your ad blocker in order to see our subscription offer, Today's best Motorola Moto G Stylus deals. Yes, that’s the same software that shipped on its elder sibling. Procyon, a comprehensive AI benchmark used by manufacturers and developers, yields the most useful information of the bunch. In terms of performance, camera and design, there's very little separating the Moto G Stylus from the Moto G Power. As for how the Moto G Stylus' cameras compare to the ones on other low-cost phones, I grabbed a Pixel 3a XL and the Stylus to photograph a bowl of pasta. Our daylight test shots with the primary lens were crisp with excellent depth of field. The newest version of the Moto G Stylus ($299.99) comes just nine months after the 2020 Moto G Stylus hit store shelves. Keep an eye on your inbox! The Moto G Stylus has a 48-megapixel main wide-angle camera that uses a technique called pixel binning to combine the light information from four pixels into one. The experience gave me a new appreciation for the gargantuan displays found on the likes of the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max and the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, and perhaps that’s what Motorola was going for when it updated its G-series lineup. How to Add the Black Unity Collection Wallpaper to Your Apple Devices, Xiaomi's Quad-Curved Concept Phone Has No Ports or Buttons. Apart from the stylus that gives the phone its name, the only other feature of note is the fingerprint reader on the back of the Moto G Stylus, which is easy to locate without inadvertently smudging the phone's camera lenses. Sign up for What's New Now to get our top stories delivered to your inbox every morning. The depth sensor on the rear module helps to create a natural bokeh, but we still noticed some issues with subject mapping when there are multiple people in a shot. The Moto G Stylus costs $299, a $50 premium over the Moto G Power, but less than the $399 iPhone SE, as well as the debut prices for Google's Pixel 3a and the Nokia 7.2. The macro lens on the Moto G Stylus produces OK images under the right conditions. This year’s G Stylus has a slightly more refined aesthetic than its predecessor. That said, the difference between the current G Stylus and Stylo 6 are night and day; the Stylo 6 is painfully slow no matter what the task while the G Stylus just takes a second to catch up sometimes. This scene — some stuffed animals sitting around my backyard lit only by red LED lights overhead and a lamp in the background — looks nightmarish in the Moto G Stylus' effort. Battery Life (Hrs:Mins): 12:13 The Moto G Fast, which has the same sized battery as the G Stylus, lasted 4 minutes longer. I didn't experience the same stray motion that I got on the Moto G Power using just my finger. Noise cancellation worked without a hitch. Low-light photos with the primary lens are also good, though we noticed some loss of fine detail in the foreground, likely due to over-aggressive noise correction. Another edge the Stylus holds over the cheaper Power is with the built-in storage. The few embellishments made to Android are actually useful — Moto Actions let you activate the phone's camera with a twist of the wrist, turn the flashlight on and off with a chopping motion or take a screenshot with three fingers. The blur here is more pronounced, too, though the Stylus includes tools for adjusting lighting and blur effects. The Moto G Stylus, Moto G Power and Moto G Fast share matching looks, identical screen sizes and the exact same mobile processors. On recent Note models, the S Pen has added Bluetooth connectivity, which enables features like using the stylus as a remote control for presentations, music playback and taking pictures. The Moto G Stylus holds its own here — while the light streaming into my dining room caused a little over-exposure on the right side of the shot, the pasta itself is well-lit and colorful. With only a battery letdown being a clear issue, the G Stylus can be a great daily device for anyone who doesn't wanna spend $500-$1000+ on a phone. Back outside, the breeze picked up when I took another photo of those poppies in my backyard, this time without the macro lens. Band support is solid; a few bands are missing from the mix, but you're unlikely to miss them unless you’re planning a trip to Japan. This is the same setup as on last year's G Stylus; there's no option to turn off binning, even in Pro mode. I played Alto’s Odyssey for a few hours and noticed only a few skipped frames. Motorola also added a new shortcuts menu, which is helpful when you’re on the go. A white option is also available if you want to pretend you're carrying an iPhone. From the battery to the screen, it’s bigger in just about every way. You will receive a verification email shortly. The ultra-wide lens is capable of good photos with enough light. It’s still thin, but easier to hold. The Moto G Stylus packs in a Snapdragon 665 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of onboard storage. In addition to a score, it offers a granular breakdown for each test. That was marginally better than the 1,734 average we saw from the Moto G Power, but not as good as the Nokia 7.2 (2,054) or the Pixel 3a (2,543). Portrait mode is hit or miss. If you ever had the misfortune of prying the previous version's stylus out with your fingernail, you’ll be happy to know this one clicks in and out of the port. The red light washes out everything, and it's hard to see where one stuffie ends and another begins. It would be an understatement to say Steven Winkelman is obsessed with smartphones and tablets. The Moto G Stylus' colors were about as accurate as the Moto G Power, which had a Delta-E rating of 0.33 to the 0.32 rating of the Moto G Stylus. The Moto G Stylus 2021 builds on its predecessor in every way, offering the best stylus experience at a low price. There’s also no 5G support, which seems like a missed opportunity, since the OnePlus Nord N10 5G sells for the same price. The difference between the two is minor, but the new G Stylus just seems to be a little slower. Visit our corporate site. That outshines the Pixel 3a (401 nits) and TCL 10L (422 nits), though the iPhone SE is brighter at 653. We're back to comparing the two Motorola phones to assess the Moto G Stylus' portrait effects, and the cheaper Moto G Power actually produces a better shot. It's got an expansive 6.8-inch screen, but much more than that, this puppy is heavy, tipping the scales at 213g. But the cameras on the Moto G Stylus are quite different from Motorola's other phone. While the Moto G Power crams in a massive battery, the Moto G Stylus, which is … If you’re thinking that means significantly improved performance, I have some bad news for you: The Snapdragon 678 SoC is a very minor update to the Snapdragon 675 processor that shipped in last year’s G Stylus. Front Camera: 16MP (f/2.0) Using some of the special features of the Moto G Stylus, you start to see the stylus earning more of its keep. The G Stylus is one of the first phones to ship with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 678 mobile platform. Btw most phones are made in China, including Apple. Carriers offering the Moto G Stylus include Verizon, Republic Wireless,  Google Fi and Metro by T-Mobile. Related devices. It's made and owned by a Chinese company. The Pixel 3a XL gives everything a blue cast, which makes that cabernet I'm drinking look more like a cup of oil. Both are heavier than the 7.3-ounce Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra (our favorite smartphone with a dedicated stylus slot). From the battery to the screen, it’s bigger in just about every way. If you just want a good budget phone, the OnePlus Nord N10 5G is your best bet. The sky is a brighter shade of blue in the Moto G Stylus photo, while there's more varied greens in the brush growing along the shore in the foreground. Color accuracy skews cool, and the contrast ratio is poor. They hide out around the hole punch and the edges of the display and are infuriating. Gaming is a mixed bag. Two-minute reviewThe Moto G Stylus (2021) is Motorola’s second go at a stylus-packing device, following the Moto G Stylus (known as the Moto G Pro outside the US) that launched in early 2020 and refining it in every way. Instead, the Moto G Stylus' wide angle lens is an action cam used solely for video. NFC and wireless charging, however, are nowhere to be found. The Moto G Stylus 2021 builds on its predecessor in every way, offering the best stylus experience at a low price. From the front, they look very similar, with their matching 6.4-inch displays surrounded by thin (though still noticeable) bezels and similar dimensions. The 16MP selfie cam on the Moto G Stylus does a credible job on self-portraits, though it appears to have been somewhat flustered by the sun peaking through the orange tree behind me. The G Stylus’s plastic frame and back are likely to withstand drops without much damage, but its strengthened glass display panel probably won’t fare as well. Using a light meter, we measured 510 nits of brightness for the Moto G Stylus. When you're done, you can save your scribbles to the included Moto Notes app. In 2020, Motorola made major changes to its beloved G-series lineup. The Moto G Stylus' multicore score of 1,406 on the Geekbench 5 general performance test is slightly higher than the G Power (1,387) and G Fast (1,394). These aren’t major issues, but they’re issues that don’t exist on the older G Stylus. NY 10036. Flip the phone over. PCMag, PCMag.com and PC Magazine are among the federally registered trademarks of Ziff Davis, LLC and may not be used by third parties without explicit permission. RAM: 4GB The Moto G Stylus finds itself in a bit of a pickle. The Stylus looks a little flashier than its sibling, thanks to its Mystic Indigo color scheme that gives the phone a dark blue/almost purple sheen. I tested the G Stylus on T-Mobile’s LTE network around Chicago and recorded impressive averages of 62.2Mbps down and 38.7Mbps up. Motorola’s two new phones, the Moto G Stylus and Moto G Power, tackle this problem by going to extremes. After Android 11, all bets are off. And yet, I don't think it's the best cheap phone option, not even from Motorola. The smaller battery inside the 6.8-ounce Moto G Stylus means it weighs 0.2 ounces less than its sibling. Please refresh the page and try again. Flip over the Moto G Stylus and again, you get a similar look to the Moto G Power with a fingerprint sensor on the back middle of the device and three camera lenses that descend from the upper left corner. It has the same Kryo 460 architecture as its predecessor, except the two Cortex-A76 cores are now clocked at 2.2GHz instead of 2.0GHz. That's nearly 4 hours short of the Moto G Power's performance, but it's still well above the average for smartphones and impressive enough to land on our list for best phone battery life. When the phone's awake, removing the stylus produces a shortcuts menu on the right side of the screen for creating notes in Moto Notes, sketches in Google Keep and snapping screenshots. In our battery test, we have phones surf the web continuously over LTE until they run out of power. The Moto G Stylus had a difficult time contending with the shadows and as a result, the colors of my daughter’s blue shirt don't look quite right. The Moto G Stylus has an ample 6.4-inch display with an 89% screen-to-body ratio so you get a lot of s… But like the Moto G Power, the Moto G Stylus is made of plastic, so there's no mistaking that this is a budget phone. After 15 minutes of charging a drained Moto G Stylus, the phone's battery indicator reached 15%; by half-an-hour, it was up to 29%. At least the Moto G Stylus screen is bright enough to see clearly in direct sunlight. It's an LCD panel — a trade-off we should all be willing … Think of this phone as kind of a discount version of Samsung's more extravagantly priced Galaxy Note 20, which just debuted for three times the price of the Moto G Stylus. Using the stylus I was able to mark off a much more precise area than I could using my finger to edit a Cinemagraph image. © In our battery drain test, which streams HD video at full brightness over Wi-Fi, the G Stylus eked out 13 hours and 7 minutes before powering down. At $300, it lastly gave budget-phone customers a substitute for the lackluster LG Stylo sequence. It's all pretty handy, but I found myself wishing the stylus could trigger more shortcuts on the Moto G Stylus. Moto G Stylus ($300): The Stylus is a little thinner and lighter because it has a smaller 4,000-mAh battery. Owned by a Hong Kong company - not the same. It should easily get you through a full day between charges. Sure, it’s bigger than the 6.4-inch LCD on last year’s model, but those extra four-tenths of an inch come at a cost. Still, I never had to dig into the Moto G Stylus' setting to crank up the display brightness when I took the phone outside. On the G Stylus, you’ll find a massive 6.8-inch, 1,080-by-2,400-pixel hole-punch display. Speakers are, unfortunately, one area where Motorola decided to cut corners. CPU: Snapdragon 665 Here's the Cinemagraph of me pouring a Manhattan in which I used the stylus to restrict the motion to the cocktail coming out of the shaker and into the glass. I don't know that those extra megapixels make much of a difference in this photo of a houseboat that I shot with both Motorola phones. The Moto G Stylus features a handy stylus for note-taking and lasts a long time on a charge. Moto Actions is an incredibly useful feature that allows you to complete common tasks with gestures. The G Stylus ships with 128GB of RAM and 4GB of storage. The edges are also glossy black plastic, but the phone doesn't feel cheap at all. The newest version of the Moto G Stylus ($299.99) comes just nine months after the 2020 Moto G Stylus … The viewing angles are good, but tilting the phone calls your attention to the biggest issue of all: shadows. The Moto G Stylus supports a Night mode for taking shots when the lights are low, but if this is the result, I wish Motorola wouldn't have bothered. With a peak volume of 86dB, it’s easy to hear calls on busy streets. PCMag Digital Group. The battery inside the Moto G Stylus may not match the beefy 5,000 mAh power pack inside the Moto G Power, but it's still pretty sizable in its own right. Basemark Web 3.0, a web browser performance benchmark, tells a similar story: There’s a 15% difference between scores, but you’d be hard pressed to notice. Moto G Stylus review: The highs and lows of a $300 smartphone Flagship smartphones get all the attention, but midrange devices can be just as appealing. Screen size (Resolution): 6.4-inch LCD (2300 x 1080) Low-light photos, however, appeared muddy with significant noise. In 2020, Motorola made major changes to its beloved G-series lineup. © 1996-2021 Ziff Davis, LLC. The 16MP selfie camera has an f/2.2 aperture and bins to 4MP by default. The Moto G Stylus uses a 4,000 mAh battery, which keeps the phone powered up throughout the day. Simply select the apps you’d like to add, and whenever you double-tap the power button, you’ll see a small menu appear. The G Stylus ships with Android 10 along with Motorola’s My UX. If you drop the G Stylus in the pool, don't hold out much hope that popping it into a bag of rice will revive it. Some will scoff at devices if they … Usually, it involves limiting screen brightness and … Weight: 6.8 ounces. Your subscription has been confirmed. It's not hard to find the Moto G Stylus at all. About 112GB of storage is available out of the box. The Moto G Stylus had a hard time compensating for the breeze and the flowers in the lower right foreground are blurred as a consequence. Over the past several years, Motorola’s G-series phones have consistently received high scores and often earned our Editors’ Choice award. For the first few days, I kept thinking, “Wow, I don’t remember the old G Stylus having this much lag.” By the fourth day, I realized I still had last year’s model and pulled it out of storage to compare them side by side. Once you notice them, they’re impossible to ignore. And the lens captured some of the detail in the flower's petals, so I'm satisfied with the shot. That makes it easier to operate your camera one-handed. The photo is focused enough to where you can make out the flecks of pesto on the rigatoni. It's an LCD panel — a trade-off we should all be willing to make for a sub-$300 phone — and the Full HD+ resolution of 2300 x 1080 is sharp enough for my eyes. However, it's not quite so simple. Like other recent Motorola phones, the Moto G Stylus' camera supports a Cinemagraph feature in which you can designate some areas of your still image to feature movement. Restoring the stylus to its slot on the phone returns you to the Moto G Stylus lock screen. It has two features not found in any of the lead competition, a stylus that … In graphics testing, the Moto G Stylus turned in an average score of 1,756 on 3DMark's Sling Shot Open GL test. Battery Size: 4,000 mAh I didn't get many "fingerprint not recognized" alerts the way I did with the Moto G Power. Other colors haven't disappeared — you can still see some hint of color from the rug on the floor — but I think this effect is more striking and I'm not sure I could have gotten it without the stylus to tap a very specific area.