Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) review — it's no Galaxy Note, but it gets the job done

Great battery, questionable software support

Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) review image.
(Image: © Future)

Tom's Guide Verdict

You won't spend a fortune on the Moto G Stylus 5G (2023), which manages to pack a headphone jack, long battery life, stylus, and a clean looking design in a package that's under $400.

Pros

  • +

    Affordable price

  • +

    Surprisingly good battery life

  • +

    Narrower chassis

  • +

    Clean looking design

Cons

  • -

    Inconsistent focus with camera

  • -

    Only 1 year of OS updates

  • -

    Dim screen

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Now in its third generation iteration, the Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) takes the incremental step of being taken more seriously — backed by a cleaner design, upgraded chipset, and a 120Hz display refresh rate. What makes it different from other phones today is that it’s packaged with a stylus that tucks inside of the phone when it’s not being used.

After experiencing the wonders of Samsung’s S Pen, the expectation for other stylus packing smartphones, such as this one, has increased for me. The S Pen, included with the Galaxy S23 Ultra and supported by the Galaxy Z Fold 4, proved to me that today’s stylus is precise enough for graphic designers, drawers, and other creatives to produce works of art.

However, Motorola needs to give me a convincing argument that the Moto G Stylus 5G is worth picking when compared other phones like the Apple iPhone SE (2022) and Samsung Galaxy A54 offer more if you're willing to spend between $30 and $50 extra.

Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) review: Specs

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Starting price$399
Display6.6-inch FHD+ (2400 x 1080) IPS LCD
Refresh rate120Hz
ChipsetSnapdragon 6 Gen 1
RAM6GB
Storage256GB
Rear cameras50MP main, 8MP ultrawide
Selfie camera16MP
Battery5,000 mAh
Charging20W wired
Size6.41 x 2.91 x 0.36-inches
Weight7.12 ounces
ColorsRose champagne, Cosmic black

Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) review: Price and availability

Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) review image.

(Image credit: Future)

Motorola's Moto G lineup is surprising cluttered with Stylus models. This 5G model should not be confused with the super-cheap LTE-only version, the Moto G Stylus which sells for $199. Instead, the Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) costs $399, which is a $100 drop from the price of the 2022 5G model. 

The price leaves the Moto G Stylus 5G in a kind of no man's land for budget phones. It's too expensive to go up against the best cheap phones under $300, but it may have a hard-time measuring up against more full featured midrange devices like the iPhone SE and Galaxy A54 or even the Google Pixel 7a, our current pick for the best cheap phone under $500.

The Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) is currently available through Cricket Wireless, where it’s going for free for new customers — or $149.99 for existing customer upgrades. It’ll be available later on other carriers such as AT&T, T-Mobile, Metro by T-Mobile, Google Fi Wireless, UScellular, Consumer Cellular, Optimum Mobile, Spectrum Mobile, Xfinity Mobile, Boost Infinite and Boost Mobile. 

Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) review: Design and display

Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) review image.

(Image credit: Future)

Unlike the ungodly wide phones I’ve been using of late, I really like the slender design of the Moto G Stylus 5G (2023). It's much easier to type on the Moto G keyboard with swipe gestures. That said, the phone's 20:9 aspect ratio made it impossible to reach the upper edges and corners of the 6.6-inch display without really stretching my fingers.

Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) review image.

(Image credit: Future)

For its price, I love the cleaner design of the Moto G Stylus 5G. That’s because it sports a shimmery matte finish, which made it less of a fingerprint magnet than the shiny exterior that its predecessor used. I was also surprised by how Motorola was kind enough to bring back the 3.5mm headphone jack. Really, it’s one of those surprises that you don’t expect, especially when Motorola says the phone has a water-repellent design. (There's no official IP rating like you get with the Pixel 7a, Galaxy A54 or iPhone SE.) The side-loaded fingerprint sensor on Motorola's phone also worked well in my testing to unlock the phone.

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Moto G Stylus 5G (2023)iPhone SE 2023Google Pixel 7a
Peak SDR brightness (nits)564596931
DCI P3 color gamut coverage (%)75.2% (Natural) / 108.8% (Saturated)81.2%91.9% (Adaptive), 79.1% (Natural
Delta-E color accuracy (lower is better)0.2 (Natural), 0.24 (Saturated)0.210.05 (Adaptive), 0.11 (Natural)

The 6.6-inch Full HD+ display isn’t too shabby for watching videos because of the smoother 120Hz refresh rate. While I did like how it added more motion to certain animations, like scrolling around the home screen or web pages, viewing angles of the display were rather weak — with noticeable distortion at slight angles. Furthermore, the display topped out at 564 nits when we measured the Moto G Stylus 5G screen with a light meter — it's very difficult to see details on the screen in direct sunlight.

Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) review: Cameras

Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) review image.

(Image credit: Future)

When it came to snapping photos, the Moto G Stylus 5G rear cameras proved sufficient enough — just as long when there’s ample lighting around. There are two camera lenses on the back: a 50MP main shooter and an 8MP ultrawide sensor, which is the combination I’d expect to find in most phones in this price range nowadays.

There’s not a whole lot to say about the performance, since the best results were produced by the main 50MP sensor. Under bright conditions, the main camera produced good looking details and punchy colors that weren’t too over-saturated. In high contrast scenes, it did a good job as well to balance out the highlights and shadows — giving the overall shot an even exposure.

Switching over to the ultrawide camera, I had a slightly wider coverage area to work with, but I found details were a lot softer. I was also frustrated by the’ focus on the ultrawide lens. It was all over the place with several shots (including those in good lighting) being out of focus.

Not surprisingly, the performance of the Moto G Stylus 5G cameras struggled under low lighting conditions. Details became muddier looking, while the slower shutter speeds caused more ghosting when I didn’t keep the phone very still.

Video recording fared more or less the same, but I was pleased by how the stabilization on the Moto G Stylus 5G managed to keep the footage smooth and not jerky. Additionally, I was surprised by the depth of field with the main camera, which gave background elements that soft, out-of-focus look that cinephiles crave. Sadly, though, low-light video performance was riddled with jittery movements, artifacting elements, and muddy details.

Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) review: Performance

Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) review image.

(Image credit: Future)

Powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 and paired with 6GB of RAM, the Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) has enough under the hood to handle most basic tasks. Scrolling web pages and sending out email performed as expected, but I did notice instances of lag when I scrolled through the sprawling world map in Age of Origins.

Initiating the "high performance" mode while playing the game didn’t do a whole lot to minimize the slowdown. Synthetic benchmarks scores from Geekbench 5 also indicated that the Moto G Stylus 5G is not a heavy handed powerhouse with average scores of 718 and 2,483 respectively for single and multi-core tests. The Pixel 7a, nobody's idea of a performance powerhouse, easily tops those numbers with its Tensor G3 silicon.

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Moto G Stylus 5G (2023)iPhone SE (2022)Google Pixel 7a
Chipset/RAM as testedSnapdragon 6 Gen 1 / 6GB Apple A15 Bionic / 4GBGoogle Tensor G2 / 6GB
Geekbench 5 (single-core/multi-core)718 / 2,483 1,718 / 4,4821,018 / 3,065
3DMark Wild Life Extreme Unlimited (score / frames per second)1,420 / 23.75 8,352/506,875 / 41.1

Despite this, if you’re not into running processor intensive apps, I think the Moto G Stylus 5G's performance is perfectly acceptable for the average user.

Motorola is kind enough to equip the Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) with 256GB of storage, which is shocking to say the least. That’s four times more storage than what Apple has with the iPhone SE (2022), plus you can supplement that capacity with a microSD card.

Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) review: Software

Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) review image.

(Image credit: Future)

Accompanied by a stylus, the Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) automatically has a leg up over other phones when it comes to productivity tasks like note taking and more precise photo editing. I will admit, however, that the stylus is a throwback to the smartphones of long ago — when resistive touchscreen displays relied heavily on the skinny pointer. Motorola's stylus is so skinny, in fact, that it feels a bit awkward to use.

Furthermore, there’s no special tech behind this stylus, it’s much like any other third party stylus you’d find online. There’s no pressure sensitivity, so it won’t apply deeper strokes the hard you press down. In that regard, it’s just a basic pointing tool that I found handy for signing PDFs and the occasional photo editing.

Functionally, I liked how the Moto Note app automatically launched whenever I took out the stylus. There’s even an option to create animated gifs, which made it simple to turn any video I watched into a short clip I could share.

Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) review image.

(Image credit: Future)

As for the rest of the software experience, Motorola’s My UX experience offers everything I needed. I specifically still love how the Moto G Stylus 5G incorporates many of the kinetic gestures that Moto has made popular with its phones — like the chopping motion to turn on the flash, twisting motion to launch the camera, or double tapping the back of the phone to launch custom action.

However, the biggest elephant in the room is the underwhelming software support for the Moto G Stylus 5G (2023). The phone runs Android 13 as of this writing, with a promised update to Android 14, but it won’t see the light of day with anything beyond that. When it comes to security updates, the company is promising up to three years of support.

Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) review: Battery life

Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) review image.

(Image credit: Future)

Don’t let its svelte design fool you! Motorola managed to stuff a sizable 5,000 mAh battery that impressed me with almost two full days of battery life. Most of the phones I’ve tested in the last year reach no more than a day’s use, so having one that got me through nearly two whole days is rare.

I was also happy to see that it delivered better results than its predecessor when I ran our synthetic battery tests on it. In fact, the Moto G Stylus 5G lasted 12 hours and 12 minutes, which is more than 2 hours better than the average smartphone. The Pixel 7a lasts a little more than 10 hours on our test, while the iPhone SE gives up just after 9 hours, so the Motorola phone has both devices beat there.

The Moto 5G Stylus 5G does feature 20W charging to speed the process if you’re desperately low on battery; I really wish the phone packed wireless charging as well, which you'll find in the Pixel 7a and iPhone SE.

Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) review: Verdict

Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) review image.

(Image credit: Future)

Fighting in a somewhat crowded arena, the Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) is in a tough position because while it does capture attention for its affordable cost, there are better phones available for just a little bit more. There’s also the concern about how long your investment would last here, mainly because Motorola doesn’t offer the same software support that other Android makers offer with their devices.

Yes, you could just live with Android 13 (or Android 14 when it’s made available) for an indefinite period of time, but the more pressing matter are those security updates. Three years isn’t a whole lot, so once that’s up, you may be opening yourself to potential hurdles that could compromise the phone’s security.

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John Velasco
Senior Channel Editor for Phones

John’s a senior editor covering phones for Tom’s Guide. He’s no stranger in this area having covered mobile phones and gadgets since 2008 when he started his career. On top of his editor duties, he’s a seasoned videographer being in front and behind the camera producing YouTube videos. Previously, he held editor roles with PhoneArena, Android Authority, Digital Trends, and SPY. Outside of tech, he enjoys producing mini documentaries and fun social clips for small businesses, enjoying the beach life at the Jersey Shore, and recently becoming a first time homeowner.