With the launch of the Moto G Stylus ($300 at Motorola) and Moto G Power ($250 at Motorola), Motorola did one thing somewhat bizarre to its telephones: It eliminated all of the numbers from the telephone’s names. Last yr, the Chicago-based firm launched the much-beloved Moto G7. The yr prior there was the Moto G6 and earlier than that the Moto G5 and G5 Plus. And whereas there really is a Moto G8, it is not destined for the US.
LikeBeautiful designSolid battery life so farGreat value
Don’t LikeStylus wants extra software program optionsNo NFC
In lieu of numbers, Motorola hit on a distinct naming scheme: Put the telephone’s important function into the identify. For instance, the Moto G Power has a big battery, therefore the phrase energy. And the Moto G Stylus, as you most likely discovered, has a stylus. But these two telephones have way more in frequent than the dearth of numbers of their names. At their core, the Moto G Stylus and Moto G Power are the identical telephone. They have the identical processor, RAM, display, fingerprint reader and selfie digicam. But issues get fascinating once you examine the variations between the 2 price range telephones.
At $250, the Moto G Power is $50 cheaper than the $300 Moto G Stylus. The Moto G Power appears quiet and reserved in its Smoke Black end whereas the Moto G Stylus and its Mystic Indigo coloration give off a flashy vibe. I respect the important thing function of the Moto G Stylus. The stylus provides a degree of precision that makes navigating the telephone extra environment friendly. Now, I’m not an enormous stylus particular person and this function is not for me. But that is OK, as a result of the Moto G Stylus remains to be a stable featured price range telephone. I’ve been debating whether or not or not I’d suggest the Moto G Stylus to somebody who does not desire a stylus. It could be like shopping for a convertible automobile that you just by no means meant to drive with the highest down.
I’ve to imagine that is why Motorola launched each the Moto G Stylus and Moto G Power on the identical time. If you want a telephone with excellent battery life, get the Moto G Power. And when you love the precision of a stylus or take pleasure in sketching, the Moto G Stylus is ready for you. But the stylus appears to be missing software program options that might make it extra helpful. I want extra apps took benefit of the stylus at a software program degree. Maybe one other method of claiming that is that the Moto G Stylus is not a $300 Galaxy Note 10. Moto G Stylus vs. Moto G Power: Key variations Moto G Stylus prices $300, the Moto G Power prices $250Moto G Stylus has a 4,000-mAh battery, the Moto G Power has 5,000 mAhMoto G Stylus has 128GB of storage, the Moto G Power has 64GBAside from the macro digicam, the Moto G Power and Moto G Stylus have totally different rear camerasMoto G Stylus has a built-in stylusMoto G Stylus is Mystic Indigo, the Moto G Power is available in Smoke Black
The Moto G Stylus is a little bit of a novelty The marquee function of this telephone is the stylus. The solely different telephones that I do know of with a built-in stylus are the Galaxy Note line of telephones from Samsung and LG’s Stylo sequence of telephones. The Galaxy Note 10 begins at $950 and final yr’s LG Stylo 5 prices $299 however could be discovered closely discounted. On the stylus telephone spectrum with the Galaxy Note 10 on one finish and LG Stylo 5 on the opposite, the Moto G Stylus falls near the Stylo facet of issues each when it comes to value in addition to what you are able to do with the stylus. The stylus suits flush on the underside proper nook of the telephone. It hooks simply open and may set off a reasonably fundamental Notes app that you need to use to create drawings, write notes or simply doodle. The stylus can be used to navigate the telephone, markup screenshots and edit photographs. Unlike the S Pen on the Galaxy Note 10, there is not a Bluetooth connection, so you aren’t getting options tapping the button on the stylus to take an image.On the left is the Samsung Galaxy Note 10, on the appropriate is the Motorola Moto G Stylus.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Motorola has a digicam function referred to as Cinemagraph which lets you file a video, then select components of the video to stay static. You can use the stylus to shade out components of the video with way more precision than simply utilizing your finger. But what number of Cinegraphs are folks actually capturing? Moto G Stylus is gorgeous Like the Moto G Plower, the Moto G Stylus has a 6.4-inch full HD show with a hole-punch that homes the selfie digicam. The design provides the telephone a contemporary and premium look. It has a USB-C port for charging, a headphone jack and on the again is a fingerprint reader disguised because the Motorola emblem. It does not have wi-fi charging, NFC or an IP ranking for mud or water resistance. It does have a “splash proof” coating, nevertheless, that was capable of deal with a few waters drops that I deliberately poured on it. Don’t submerge the Moto G Stylus. It ought to be fantastic if a number of drops of water get on the telephone.
Patrick Holland/CNET
Impressively, the Moto G Stylus comes with 128GB of storage and helps expandable storage as much as 512GB. The Moto G Stylus is available in Mystic Indigo, which appears attractive. This is the perfect wanting Moto G price range telephone ever. The display is surrounded by thick bezels which might be really thinner than these on the iPhone 11. The brow and chin are a bit chunky however at the least Motorola did away with having their identify on the underside of the telephone like final yr’s Moto G7. Moto G Stylus efficiency and battery Power clever it has a Snapdragon 665 processor, 4GB of RAM and runs Android 10 with a handful of largely useful touches by Motorola just like the Moto Gametime function that helps scale back distractions whilst you’re taking part in a recreation. In our efficiency exams, the Moto G Stylus fared higher than final yr’s Moto G7, however nonetheless fell behind final yr’s Google Pixel 3A and Samsung Galaxy A50. Geekbench v.4.0 single-core
Note:
Longer bars point out higher efficiency
Geekbench v.4.0 multicore
Note:
Longer bars point out higher efficiency
In on a regular basis use, I had no drawback taking part in video games like PUBG, browsing the net or watching YouTube movies. For PUBG I had graphics set to “smooth” and the body charge at medium and I had no issues. But after I performed Alto’s Odyssey typically animations stuttered.While the Moto G Power will get all the eye for its battery, the Moto G Stylus is not any slouch with its 4,000-mAh battery. I’m nonetheless operating precise battery exams on the Moto G Stylus, however in my use it simply lasted two days on a single cost.I’ll replace this piece with remaining outcomes and rankings once we end operating our video exams for battery life.Moto G Stylus’ triple rear camerasThe Moto G Stylus has a 48-megapixel important wide-angle digicam that makes use of a way referred to as pixel binning to mix the sunshine info from 4 pixels into one. The benefit is that the telephone can take photographs with much less noise in medium-to-low-light conditions. The telephone additionally has a macro digicam just like the Moto G Power and an ultrawide-angle digicam referred to as Action Cam for capturing video (suppose Go Pro). What’s neat is that you just needn’t maintain your telephone in panorama place once you movie. No matter what orientation you will have your telephone, the digicam rotates the video accordingly.On paper the principle digicam on the Moto G Stylus is extra versatile than the one on the Moto G Power. But for photographs taken in good gentle, it is onerous for me to see the variations between photographs on a telephone display. When I examine photographs on a pc display, I discover that the Moto G Stylus renders photographs with a pinch extra distinction and pop.The important digicam on the Moto G Stylus renders issues with a pleasant pop to paint and distinction.
Patrick Holland/CNET
The 48-megapixel sensor makes use of pixel binning to mix the sunshine info kind 4 totally different pixels into one.
Patrick Holland/CNET
The HDR on the Moto G Stylus works properly.
Patrick Holland/CNET
The telephone additionally has an evening mode referred to as Night Vision. No it does not flip every part right into a inexperienced infrared scene. Instead it may well assist in low-light conditions to seize further element, sharpness and brightness. In use, I discovered the mode hit and miss. It’s not as constant because the evening mode discovered on barely pricer telephones.Perhaps my favourite function on these telephones is the macro digicam, which can be utilized to take photographs and movies of issues ridiculously shut up. I’m actually astonished on the photographs and focus the telephone was capable of get.But I need to align your expectations. The digicam system on the Moto G Stylus is first rate for the value and it is higher than the one discovered on the Moto G Power. But the Google Pixel 3A, usually $399, could be had for $300 proper now and has the most effective cameras discovered on any telephone at any value. Motorola Moto G Stylus specs vs. Moto G Power, Moto G7, Samsung Galaxy Note 10
Motorola Moto G Stylus
Motorola Moto G Power
Motorola Moto G7
Samsung Galaxy Note 10
Display dimension, decision
6.4-inch LCD; 2,300×1,080 pixels
6.4-inch LCD; 2,300×1,080 pixels
6.2-inch LCD; 2,270×1,080 pixels
6.3-inch AMOLED; 2,280×1,080 pixels
Pixel density
399ppi
399ppi
403ppi
401 ppi
Dimensions (Inches)
6.24 x 2.98 x 0.36 in
6.29 x 2.98 x 0.38 in
6.18 x 2.96 x 0.31 in
5.94 x 2.83 x 0.31 in
Dimensions (Millimeters)
158.55 x 75.8 x 9.2 mm
159.85 x 75.8 x 9.63 mm
157 x 75.3 x 8 mm
151 x 71.8 x 7.9 mm
Weight (Ounces, Grams)
6.77 oz; 192 g
7.01 oz; 199 g
6.07 oz.; 172 g
5.93 oz; 168g
Mobile software program
Android 10
Android 10
Android 9.0
Android 9.0 Pie
Camera
48-megapixel wide-angle, 2-megapixel macro, 16-megapixel ultra-wide angle
16-megapixel wide-angle, 2-megapixel macro, 8-megapixel ultra-wide angle
12-megapixel, 5-megapixel
12-megapixel (wide-angle), 16-megapixel (ultra-wide angle), 12-megapixel (telephoto)
Front-facing digicam
16-megapixel
16-megapixel
8-megapixel
10-megapixel
Video seize
4K
4K
4K
4K
Processor
Snapdragon 665
Snapdragon 665
1.8GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 632
Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor, or Samsung Exynos 9825
Storage
128GB
64GB
64GB
256GB
RAM
4GB
4GB
4GB
8GB
Expandable storage
Up to 512GB
Up to 512GB
Up to 512GB
No
Battery
4,000mAh
5,000mAh
3,000mAh
3,500mAh
Fingerprint sensor
Back
Back
Back
In-screen
Connector
USB-C
USB-C
USB-C
USB-C
Headphone jack
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Special options
Stylus, Action Cam
Water repellent with P2i nano-coating; TurboPower charging
S Pen stylus; Wireless PowerShare; gap punch display notch; waterproof (IP68)
Price off-contract (USD)
$300
$250
$299
$949