Editor’s Desk
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Final yr’s Moto G Stylus 5G 2024 was a surprisingly spectacular midrange telephone, one which I had a tough time placing down regardless of costing lower than half that of the flagship telephones I examined in 2024. This yr, the Moto G Stylus 2025 manages to step issues up a notch in ways in which I didn’t anticipate, and it might put different flagships on the spot, but once more.
Whereas it is not precisely the AI powerhouse that the Pixel 9a is likely to be, Motorola has upgraded the Stylus 5G in different methods, principally with higher {hardware} specs and a few enhancements on the software program entrance. The result’s a telephone that, not less than on paper, feels prefer it ought to value much more than it does at simply $399.
I’ve had the Moto G Stylus 2025 for just a few days now, and whereas I am excited to essentially put it by means of its paces, listed below are a few of my favourite issues that I’ve observed, based mostly on my early impressions of the telephone.
Lets discuss that design
Motorola appears to have settled on a design for 2024 and 2025, so the Stylus 2025 does not look too totally different from its predecessor except for the bigger digital camera housing. That is not a nasty factor, and I fairly just like the design of the Stylus 2025, particularly once you take its new colours under consideration.
Motorola started its partnership with Pantone just a few years in the past, a collaboration that has seen each corporations making use of some somewhat distinctive colour choices to Motorola’s telephones, such as the Razr. The Moto G Stylus 2025 comes decked out in two Pantone colours, and whereas they each look nice, Surf the Net actually stands out with its vibrant blue-ish/ indigo hue.
The colour seems nice on the telephone’s body and tender vegan leather-based again, giving it an nearly neon vibe that I do not typically see on smartphones.
These days, Motorola appears largely in opposition to launching telephones with the standard white or black colour methods, forcing customers to choose units with a little bit of aptitude added to them, even when they’re simply mid-range or finances telephones. The Moto G Stylus 2025 follows this development, trying arguably extra enticing than Samsung’s Galaxy S25 collection at half the worth of the most affordable mannequin (though the Navy Galaxy S25 is a superb one).
The entrance seems nice as nicely
Then there’s the show. Motorola has achieved an excellent job shrinking the bezels down on its Stylus telephones, to the purpose the place the Moto G Stylus 2025 might nearly be mistaken for a flagship telephone.
That stated, there’s extra to the show than meets the attention, not less than at first look. Motorola is utilizing an OLED panel with a “Tremendous HD” decision, which I admittedly hadn’t beforehand heard of on a telephone. With a 2712 x 1220 decision, it seems to take a seat someplace between a Full HD+ panel discovered on most mid-range and higher-end telephones as of late and a Quad HD+ show discovered on premium phones.
The result’s a show that is pushing extra pixels than even the $800 Galaxy S25 whereas retaining a easy 120Hz refresh price.
The Moto G Stylus 2025 has higher show specs than the bottom Galaxy S25, a telephone that prices twice as a lot.
Not solely that, however the show can attain a powerful 3,000 nits of peak brightness, which is greater than all Galaxy S25 fashions, together with the Galaxy S25 Ultra. It additionally consists of flicker prevention, which is nice for folks with PWM sensitivity.
That is arguably the perfect show on a Moto G telephone, and I hope Motorola continues to include extra spectacular shows into its units, particularly its flagship fashions just like the upcoming Razr 2025.
Preserving the lights on
With show specs like that, it is pure to marvel about how battery life could be affected. In any case, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 is not probably the most highly effective or environment friendly chip, and whereas the battery has a good capability of 5,000mAh, I might have wished to see one thing bigger.
Nonetheless, Motorola appears to have mitigated any considerations, ranking the telephone for over a day of use on a single cost. Up to now, the telephone manages to exceed my expectations, simply lasting a full day in common use. I hope to see how that adjustments as I exploit it extra and the telephone circumstances itself to my habits, however up to now I am fairly happy with battery life.
However that is simply a part of the story.
Motorola outfitted this $400 telephone with 68W wired charging and 15W wi-fi charging. These are specs I often solely see on higher-end OnePlus phones, so to see them on a telephone this reasonably priced is a really welcome shock. I have never fairly timed how briskly the telephone totally costs but, however it’s going to attain 50% faster than most different telephones I’ve used, and I might really feel greater than snug strolling out of the home at that cost.
It is good that we’re beginning to see bigger batteries, however with the ability to cost them rapidly can also be simply as useful. I actually hope this turns into a norm for U.S. telephones, particularly at this worth.
Every thing else (up to now)
As famous, the Moto G Stylus 2025 is not an AI powerhouse, so do not anticipate something like a Pixel’s Gemini Nano tips right here. That stated, Circle to Search is truthfully a function I do not assume I can dwell with out on a smartphone, so I am glad to see its inclusion right here.
There’s additionally a brand new Sketch to Picture function, which jogs my memory a little bit of Samsung’s feature of the same name. I have never performed with it a lot, however early impressions are fairly good up to now (something that may produce a reasonably spot-on R2-D2 out of a virtually indecipherable drawing is okay in my books).
I am very curious to see how the cameras fare in my testing. The newer Sony Lytia 700C sensor sounds very promising, and final yr’s Moto G Stylus 5G 2024 did not disappoint within the imaging division. That stated, I am undecided why Motorola determined to incorporate a colour sensor, apart from for uniformity on the digital camera housing, and I want it had been omitted.
And naturally, there is a built-in Stylus. Like final yr’s mannequin, the stylus has a way more strong design and does not look or really feel as low cost as earlier fashions. I do not anticipate S Pen ranges of precision on this passive stylus, though the corporate says it has 6.4X extra responsiveness than its predecessor. I do discover it attention-grabbing that Motorola’s passive stylus retains getting higher as Samsung continues to remove features and functions from its S Pen… however I digress. 🍵
Already giving flagships a run for his or her cash
I’ve solely had the Moto G Stylus 2025 for just a few days and will likely be testing it extra forward of my full overview, however I am already shocked at simply how good this telephone feels to make use of. Within the wake of pretty mediocre telephones which might be by some means priced even greater, the $400 Moto G Stylus 2025 looks like an enormous step in the suitable path for not solely Motorola however for cheap Android phones.
Together with the Pixel 9a and even the OnePlus 13R, the Stylus 2025 exhibits that you just will not need to pay a ton of cash for a flagship expertise, whether or not that is with a ton of cool AI options or with spectacular {hardware}.
I solely hope that different corporations are watching, particularly within the U.S., the place the midrange smartphone market appears to have stagnated. At this level, it feels as if the Android underdogs like OnePlus and Motorola are pushing the needle in any significant method.
Flagship for much less
The Moto G Stylus is without doubt one of the finest midrange telephones you should purchase proper now. It provides loads of specs that match or surpass costlier telephones and it is all for a resonably low worth of $399.
