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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways
- The Moto G Stylus 5G (2024) is disposable present for $299 successful 2 colorways: Caramel Latte and Scarlet Wave.
- The telephone has a sleek, beauteous vegan leather back, extended stylus capability, and user-friendly software.
- I privation the bundle enactment was longer, arsenic it's presently a twelvemonth oregon 2 down competing brands.
For Amazon Prime Day, Motorola has heavy discounted its Moto G Stylus 5G (2024), bringing it to conscionable $299 ($100 off).
It's been respective years since I evaluated the first-generation Moto G Stylus, and a batch has improved. But precocious past year, I had the accidental to trial the Moto G Stylus 2024. It's been a mates of months since, truthful here's however my acquisition has gone with my T-Mobile SIM installed.
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While I bought a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra last twelvemonth for 3 times the terms of the Moto G Stylus, for regular use, I similar carrying the latter. It's smaller, the stylus meets each my needs, and I bask the streamlined Moto acquisition and customization. My notification shadiness isn't cluttered with ads, and I tin adjacent spell 2 days earlier needing to complaint it.
Motorola sent maine the Caramel Latte colour with a vegan leather back, which is beauteous and matches 1 of my favourite java types (haha!). There's besides a Scarlet Wave colour that's much red, astir similar lipstick. With 8GB of RAM, 256GB of interior retention with microSD paper support, and a 5,000mAh battery, each for conscionable $299, the Moto G Stylus is 1 of the amended fund phones successful caller year.s
The stylus remains the distinguishing diagnostic of the 2024 Motorola model. It has been improved implicit erstwhile generations with reduced latency, amended targeting, and an updated idiosyncratic interface. Pulling retired the stylus erstwhile the telephone is disconnected is convenient, and there's a caller enactment pop-up for rapidly jotting down thoughts. It's a subtle but precise useful diagnostic for notetakers connected the go.
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As acold arsenic default notes apps go, you tin take betwixt Moto Note and Google Keep Notes. Since Keep Notes is my default, the telephone is adjacent much utile for my needs.
When the telephone is on, and the stylus is removed, a database of favorited shortcuts appears connected an overlay screen, allowing you to leap close into the action. The stylus settings see removal notifications and the past known determination of the stylus to assistance you find it if it's lost. The stylus has a overmuch nicer plan than erstwhile Moto Stylus models I've used, intimately resembling the Samsung S-Pen. It's casual to hold, slim, and charges wrong the phone.
Built-in pen aside, Motorola's idiosyncratic interface is 1 of my favourite parts of the phone; it's a reasonably stock, Pixel-esque look and consciousness boosted by Motorola's useful gestures and strategy enhancements. For example, you tin twist to motorboat the camera, marque chopping motions to toggle the flashlight, and prime up the telephone to soundlessness the ringer. These gestures, and respective others, marque the telephone consciousness overmuch smarter than others, and it's large to person them disposable adjacent astatine this little terms point.
The Moto G Stylus 5G launches with Android 14 and has monthly information updates, but fixed the affordable terms and processor of the phone, you tin apt expect 1 large upgrade to Android 15 and perchance 2 years of Android information patches. The cadence volition vary, of course, though I privation Motorola would propulsion the bounds a small much and committedness astatine slightest 2 years of OS upgrades. Samsung and Google, for comparison, connection upwards of 7 years of updates.
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The 6.7-inch OLED supports up to a 120Hz refresh complaint that tin dynamically set based connected your usage cases. For example, it'll little the refresh complaint erstwhile you're scrolling done photos oregon a webpage -- erstwhile determination are less animations to render. I've enjoyed hours of contented with the phone, and having a bequest larboard successful the 3.5mm headphone jack surely helps erstwhile traveling without wireless earbuds.
A 50MP main and 13MP ultra-wide camera are positioned connected the backmost of the phone. It's surely refreshing to spot a mid-range telephone without the unnecessary macro lens and extent sensor. Instead, the ultra-wide camera supports a 120-degree field-of-view portion besides serving arsenic the macro shooter.
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While the camera hardware is not arsenic almighty arsenic flagship phones, Motorola provides fantabulous bundle tools that assistance you seizure large photos and beryllium originative with small effort. Still, I've enjoyed utilizing the Motorola camera, particularly erstwhile capturing speedy shots during the daytime. The 50MP camera strategy should service astir radical conscionable fine. At this terms point, you truly can't complain.
ZDNET's buying advice
I started utilizing idiosyncratic integer adjunct (PDA) devices that each had a stylus successful 1997, and I americium inactive a instrumentality of utilizing specified an accessory that provides precision inputs and on-device handwriting. The Moto G Stylus 5G is an affordable enactment for stylus lovers portion besides serving arsenic a precise susceptible Android phone. The Motorola idiosyncratic interface remains 1 of my favorites since it is optimized for businesslike usage and doesn't trust arsenic heavy connected AI to assistance you get things done.
This communicative was archetypal published connected May 25, 2024, and was updated connected July 2, 2025, to bespeak the Amazon Prime Day sale.
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