Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G | 2024 | Unlocked | Made for US 8/256GB | 50MP Camera | Scarlet Wave

Really good phone, minimal gimmicks
I bought this recently to replace an aging Moto G7 Power (circa 2018?). I needed this to be my go-to main device to do most things on. I didn’t want a top-of-the-line flagship phone, because they usually have gimmicks that are of limited use to me (like folding screens). But I still needed a fairly decent spec’d phone to handle everything that I wanted.Having had Motorola and Samsung phones before, I knew that the Motorola would likely closer to pure Android, since Samsung likes to push its One UI on top of everything. There is still some pre-installed ‘bloatware’ that Motorola packages with it, but it’s really straightforward to remove/uninstall the majority. A few Moto apps could only be disable, but that’s just as good.The main specs for me is that it needed to have storage capacity (my old Moto had long hit its limit), needed to be 5G, needed to be unlocked, and needed good battery life.My past experience with Moto has been that their batteries tend to be better than average life. This one is no exception – I went 3 days without a charge and light use, and on a day of heavy use I still had ~60% at the end of the day.Back to the storage capacity, the 256GB is plenty of room for apps. AND, Motorola still includes a microSD slot to add up to 1TB. That built-in storage has the option to enhance memory performance too by allowing up 8GB to be used as RAM. That’s adjustable too in 2GB increments.One real nice to have is that Motorola finally came around to including NFC and wireless charging in its devices. That was the final kicker for me that pushed me to get this. Part of the problem with my old phone is that the charging port was worn and wouldn’t always charge unless positioned a certain way. So, wireless charging is a nicer, more durable feature for me.It’s running the latest Android 14 and immediately asked to update to the latest patch after initializing.As for that initializing, Google has really gotten Android to be nearly seamless when migrating devices. When it came up the first time, it told me what to do with the old phone – basically just turn on bluetooth and scan a QR code. It asked a few questions of what I wanted to carry over, then it took it all from there. When it was done and up and running, it had my wallpapers and ringtones and a bunch of other settings that came from my old phone. It made adjusting to a new device pretty easy. The only thing I did have to do is remove the unwanted apps that are included, like I mentioned before. It’s now a smoother, more capable version of what my old phone no longer was.The display is nice, clear, and bright. It’s actually really good resolution, I had to get a magnifying glass just to see what is the pixel size. It’s bright enough to still see in the sun, and goes dim enough for at night.The camera is good for a phone camera. I’m still a dedicated DSLR guy for high quality images. But this does a fairly good job for the usual everyday photos. The one rear camera is rated at 50MP, but there is is small caveat to that. It uses all those pixels in groups to generate a combined ‘better’ pixel. This comes out to an effective resolution of around 13MP, which is still more than enough for most needs. And with that pixel arrangement, the image processing can do things like better digital zoom, and image stabilization. There is optical image stabilization too. All-in-all, this does make for fewer blurry picture. The camera app itself covers all the bases for different needs, include night and action shots. A nice-to-have in the app is the option to go full manual control, which the photog in me really appreciates. It’s not a full standalone camera, but I can get it to do what I want rather easily.Lastly, there is one thing about this particular phone that I would categorize as a slight gimmick, and that’s the stylus. Don’t get me wrong, it is nicely integrated into the body so it’s out of the way. I just have never had the need for a stylus on a phone. For someone needing the finer point of a stylus, I can see it having a purpose for them. Who knows, I’ll give it a try now and then, and see if I pick up to it.Overall, I am extremely happy with this. I does what I need, and then some. It’s not a flagship phone, but it’s definitely on the higher side of the mid-level category.

Good overall pick for price range.
Obviously not the top of the price bracket of phones available but you get what you pay for. I’m not a big phone guy as far as doing lots of research on specs and stuff, I am just looking for a consistent machine that can run games I want to play, with decent photo storage, and cool colors. Ive had this phone for at least a few years now and the only drawback I really feel is the camera. A partner and some friends all have versions of the Google Pixel and their camera is a dream compared to the Motorola one. Again, I feel like you know that if you’re looking at this phone but…Anyways, works well with everything, convenient sized screen (not too big or too small), good display, consistent performance, and fairly indestructible. I do have a case and a plastic screen protector on it (and always have) but the glass has never cracked or been scratched. The outside metal has gotten some scuffing over time but thats not a huge deal to me. Feels good in the hand and works well with any android products (which I love).

This phone is amazing given it’s cost. I really love the stylus.

Je l’aime bien sauf pour une chose: pas de voyant lumineux ou d’écran de verrouillage qui clignote de façon continue lorsqu’on a une notification. Alors, si on a pas entendu la notification originale, on ne saura pas qu’il y en a eu une. Par exemple mon Samsung a une led qui clignote et de différentes couleurs… jusqu’à ce que j’aie ouvert mon cell.

i like the crisp, clear display and the features as advertised. the scarlet color also looks good but i would really prefer if they have one in navy blue or cobalt blue.too bad it does not have a scheduled power on/off option. i had a moto g power once which if you set an alarm then switch the phone off, it switches back when the alarm hits. unfortunately, they removed that option too.