Pros & Cons
-
- Sharp and bright display
- Useful included stylus
- Relatively affordable
-
- Mediocre cameras
- Limited software support
Motorola Moto G Stylus (2025) Specs
| Battery Life (As Tested) | 15 hours, 30 minutes |
| Camera Resolution (Rear; Front-Facing) | 50MP, 13MP; 32MP |
| CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 |
| Dimensions | 6.38 by 2.94 by 0.33 inches |
| Operating System | Android 15 |
| Screen Resolution | 2,712 by 1,220 pixels |
| Screen Size | 6.7 |
The 2025 version of the Motorola Moto G Stylus offers a better display, a swifter processor, and a more protective waterproof rating than its predecessor, all for the same $399.99 price. The standout feature remains its embedded stylus, which is now paired with AI features, including Sketch to Image and a Handwriting Calculator. If you want a stylus with your phone, the Moto G Stylus is the most affordable way to get one and does a fair job across the board, though we wish its cameras were better and that Motorola offered a longer period of software support. If you don't need a stylus, you’re better off spending a little more on the $499 Google Pixel 9a, our Editors’ Choice winner for midrange phones, which has superior cameras, smoother performance, more robust AI, and a longer software support commitment.
Design: Dashing, But a Dirt Magnet
The Moto G Stylus for 2025 looks almost identical to the 2024 model. It measures 6.39 by 2.94 by 0.33 inches (HWD) and weighs 6.74 ounces, making it slightly shorter and heavier than the outgoing version (6.50 by 2.94 by 0.33 inches, 6.70 ounces). The $399.99 Samsung Galaxy A36 5G is bigger and heavier all around (6.41 by 3.08 by 0.29 inches, 6.88 ounces), while the Pixel 9a (6.1 by 2.9 by 0.4 inches, 6.6 ounces) is shorter and thicker, but lighter.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)The tray for the combined SIM card and microSD card is on the left edge of the phone's metal frame, while the right houses the power button and volume rocker. The buttons feel solid and make an audible clicking sound when pressed. A 3.5mm headphone jack, USB-C port, speaker grille, and the included stylus line the bottom edge of the phone.
When the stylus is in its storage slot, the end of it looks like a small button that’s flush with the phone's frame. Pressing it in ejects it just enough so you can grab it and pull it out.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)The back of the phone is covered in vegan leather and comes in Gibraltar Sea (navy blue) or Surf the Web (lighter blue). I reviewed the Gibraltar Sea model. The back panel is soft to the touch and attractive. It also does an excellent job of resisting fingerprints, but it's a dirt magnet, picking up something from just about every place I set it down. The same vegan leather covers the square camera module in the top left corner, which gives the phone a coherent appearance, but has the same issues with attracting detritus.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)For security, there's an under-display fingerprint sensor and the option to use the front-facing camera. Both methods work well, but the fingerprint sensor is faster and more secure than face detection.
The Moto G Stylus has an IP68 rating, making it fully waterproof. This is a significant upgrade to the IP52 rating on last year’s model. The Pixel 9a also has an IP68 rating, while the Galaxy A36 has a slightly less protective IP67.
Display: Pleasantly Bright
The G Stylus has a 6.7-inch display with a resolution of 2,712 by 1,220 pixels and a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. The screen is big and bright, and I could see it even under direct sunlight. This is due, in part, to its increased output. The screen reaches a peak brightness of 3,000 nits, a vast improvement over last year's model, which topped out at 1,200 nits. It has thin bezels around the top and sides, and a slightly thicker one beneath it. A small circular cutout at the top marks the user-facing camera.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)The Galaxy A36 has the same size display and 120Hz refresh rate, but is less sharp (2,340 by 1,080 pixels) and only reaches 1,900 nits. The Pixel 9a has a smaller 6.3-inch display with a 120Hz refresh rate, 2,434 by 1,080 pixels, and a maximum brightness of 2,700 nits.
Performance: Simply Average
The Moto G Stylus has 8GB of memory and 256GB of storage, which can be expanded by 1TB via the microSD slot. It runs on the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 mobile platform, which reliably handles multiple daily tasks at once.
On Geekbench 6, which tests CPU processing power, the phone scored 1,026 on the single-core test and 2,918 on the multi-core test. The Samsung A36 uses the same chip but has 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It measured 1,028 and 2,968 on the same tests. The Pixel 9a and its Google Tensor G4 chip performed better, with scores of 1,704 and 4,425.
(Credit: Geekbench/GFXBench/PCMag)To test graphics performance, I used the GFXBench testing suite. The phone ran the Aztec Ruins test at 14fps. The A36 ran the same test at the same rate, while the Pixel 9a ran it quicker at 43fps.
In terms of real-world gaming, the G Stylus did a decent job of playing Genshin Impact. The graphically intense game ran smoothly, though it stuttered once in a while during combat gameplay. Less demanding games, such as Alto’s Odyssey, played without a hitch.
Battery Life: Plenty of Power
I tested the phone's battery by streaming a video on loop over Wi-Fi with the screen set to the highest brightness level. The 5,000mAh battery lasted an impressive 15 hours and 30 minutes. This is a significant downgrade compared with the 2024 model, which managed an excellent 22 hours and 14 minutes on the same test. The change is most likely connected to the newer phone's increased screen brightness. Even so, the 2025 Moto G Stylus outpaces the Pixel 9a (13 hours and 15 minutes) but not the Samsung A36 (16 hours and 40 minutes). It's plenty of battery life for all-day use.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)The Moto G Stylus can charge at up to 68W via wire and 15W wirelessly. The A36 can charge up to 48W with a wire and doesn’t support wireless charging. The Pixel 9a maxes out at 23W wired and 7.5W for wireless. Like its competitors, the G Stylus doesn’t come with a charging brick in the box, so you’ll have to provide your own.
It took 1 hour and 21 minutes to charge the phone to full using a 20W charging adapter. Meanwhile, it took the A36 1 hour and 10 minutes to fully charge with a 45W charging brick.
Connectivity: Standard 5G and Wi-Fi
The Moto G Stylus supports sub-6GHz 5G (including C-band) on the major mobile providers in the US. Unfortunately, it doesn’t support the faster mmWave technology found on T-Mobile and Verizon networks. The Pixel 9a also lacks mmWave support, but the Samsung Galaxy A36 has it. You can get the Motorola unlocked or on a plan through your carrier.
The phone is compatible with eSIM, but I used a physical T-Mobile SIM card to test the device. In the Portland area, it managed to reach download speeds of 100Mbps and upload speeds of 3.83Mbps. In the same location, my iPhone 14 Pro was speedier with 175Mbps down and 11.9Mbps up.
Similar Products
Our Current Picks for The Best Phones With a Headphone Jack in 2026
(Credit: Sarah Lord)The Motorola supports Wi-Fi 6E, but not the newer 7 protocol. I connected the phone to a Wi-Fi 6 router and got download speeds of 517Mbps and upload speeds of 22.6Mbps. The iPhone 14 Pro got 412Mbps down and 22.6Mbps up from the same location.
The phone fared poorly at the edge of the Wi-Fi network, managing just 2.80Mbps down and 2.16Mbps up. The iPhone did much better, with 31.3Mbps down and 10.6Mbps up when tested in the same location.
The G Stylus includes NFC for mobile payments and Bluetooth 5.4 for connecting to accessories.
Audio: Impressively Loud
Call quality is excellent, and I could easily hear callers even when I was walking around in the wind and rain. The earpiece reached 77.3dB during testing, and the speaker managed 91.2dB at its loudest point (both measured with a decibel meter). These are impressive numbers, so you should be able to hear most calls, especially when using the speakerphone.
The stereo speakers support Dolby Atmos, which resulted in a spirited rendition of our test track, The Knife's “Silent Shout." I could feel the phone vibrate slightly with the thumping bass at the beginning of the song, and the music was loud enough to fill my small room. Still, you’ll want to connect either wired or wireless headphones in order to get the best audio experience.
Cameras: Underwhelming
The cameras include a 50MP main camera with a Sony Lytia 700C sensor, an f/1.8 aperture, and optical image stabilization. There’s also a 13MP ultra-wide camera with a 120-degree field of view and an aperture of f/2.2. A 32MP f/2.2 selfie camera aims forward from the top of the display. Photos from the main camera are binned by a factor of four, resulting in final shots of 12.5MP. The camera has four distance modes: macro closeups as well as 0.5x, 1.0x, and 2.0x zoom. Here is a progression of the non-macro distances:
The colors in these photos look unnaturally bright. While I took the pictures on a sunny day, the sky was not as blue as it appears here. Zooming in reveals a loss of detail on the trees and branches.
The macro photos aren’t especially good. When zooming in, the edges of the leaves are blurry, and it's difficult to make out the individual veins of the flowers.
I was able to get this selfie of my dog in dim light. At this close angle, you can see some lens distortion.
The phone can record 4K video at 30fps and HD video at 30fps and 60fps. It can also capture slow-motion video at 120fps in full HD. The videos look just like the photos, with unnatural colors and visible noise, especially in dark environments.
The editing software comes with Google’s Magic Editor, including its Blur, Unblur, and Magic Eraser tools, but lacks access to Google's more advanced AI tools, such as Add Me, Reimagine, or Auto Frame. If photography is important to you, the Google Pixel 9a takes sharper shots and has AI on board for advanced editing.
Stylus: Fun and Mostly Functional
The stylus is useful and responsive. I had no problem writing or drawing with it, and it comes with stylus-specific software that pops up when you remove it from its storage slot. You can write a note in Moto Note, take a screenshot, crop an image, and use Sketch to Image or the Handwriting Calculator.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)Moto Note is a fine note-taking app, but it isn’t as fleshed out as I’d like. There’s no palm rejection when using the stylus, so my hand made unintended markings in my notes. The checklist functionality is useful, as it automatically turns your handwriting into text, but you have to bring up the on-screen keyboard and hit the checkmark button in order to add a new entry. This is cumbersome and takes too much time when you’re trying to write out a checklist on the go.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)As the name suggests, the Handwriting Calculator identifies your handwritten numbers and symbols, turns them into text, and completes the calculation. The Sketch to Image function is meant to take your doodles and use them as visual prompts for AI to create a polished image, but I had a hard time getting it to work at all. It requires you to sign into or create a Motorola account before using it. I did that, but when I signed in, it failed to load or work properly.
The stylus itself doesn’t have any buttons or fancy features, though the phone does alert you if it detects that the stylus is not nearby and will show you its last known location on a map.
Software: Motorola Needs to Step Up the Support
The Moto G Stylus runs Android 15 and the company promises two years of OS support and three years of security updates. This is far behind the competition: Google offers seven years of OS and security updates for the Pixel 9a, while Samsung promises six years of software and security updates for the A36.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)Motorola attempts to install a bunch of bloatware on your phone, though you can sidestep it during the setup process. Despite my best efforts, I still wound up with Facebook on my phone without expressly downloading it. There’s also a folder of Google apps, as well as a Motorola folder filled with apps such as Moto games, Moto Notes, Moto Secure, Moto Family Space, Moto Unplugged, and Smart Connect. I have no use for anything other than Moto Notes. Thankfully, you can remove the whole folder if you want to.
Aside from the Google editing software and the Sketch to Image feature mentioned above, the phone includes Google’s Circle to Search function, but lacks any other AI tools. If you want the latest AI functionality, the Pixel 9a is a better bet.