What you need to know
- Motorola has launched the Moto G Stylus 5G (2023), powered by the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chipset.
- The phone sports a Full HD+ 120Hz display, 50MP dual camera setup, NFC, and faster 20W charging.
- The phone will be available first through Cricket, followed by other carriers and retailers .
Motorola is one of the few companies still making phones with built-in styluses, and the new Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) brings a handful of welcome upgrades over its predecessor that might make you think twice about picking up the more expensive Galaxy S23 Ultra.
Unlike the recently launched Moto G Stylus (2023), the latest 5G-toting Moto G Stylus has a few flagship-level specs that would even make its predecessor (which I enjoyed) jealous. Not only does the Moto G Stylus 5G have a striking design similar to the flagship Motorola Edge+ (2023), the phone is powered by the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1, which is already a step up over the Snapdragon 695 powering the Moto G Stylus (2022).
This chip promises to bring a 40% boost in CPU performance and 35% faster graphics rendering. Coupled with up to 6GB of RAM, it'll be better equipped to handle productivity and gaming.
Speaking of productivity, the built-in stylus isn't in the same class as Samsung's S Pen, but it will still provide access to some handy features like the Handwriting Calculator and Optical Character Recognition for extracting text from documents. Motorola also lets users scribble directly in text boxes and converts it into text.
The display is a 6.6-inch Full HD+ panel with a 120Hz refresh rate. You also get stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos, up to 256GB of internal storage, and Android 13 with plenty of Motorola's My UX goodies, including personalization options, gestures, and exclusive widgets. And like the Moto G Stylus 5G (2022), the phone also supports NFC, which isn't always a given with Motorola's mid-range and lower-end devices, so we'll count that as a win.
On the back is a unique camera setup with a 50MP primary sensor. And instead of slapping four cameras on the back, the secondary sensor is an 8MP ultrawide camera that works as a macro and depth sensor. There's also 4K 30fps recording from the primary camera and a front-facing camera that takes 16MP shots.
Motorola outfitted the Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) with a 5000mAh battery, which it claims should last up to two days on a charge. And when you need to charge it, the phone supports 20W wired charging, which is more than what we get from most of Motorola's lower-end phones that sit at 10 or 15W, so we'll count that as another win.
All this will be available starting June 2 on Cricket. It'll come to other carriers later, and retailers such as Amazon and Best Buy will begin selling the phone on June 16, starting at $399.
