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<\/a><\/p>\n$500<\/p>\n
The GoodActive stylusHeadphone jack! MicroSD card support!IP68\/69 ratedBig screen for the people who love big screensThe BadImproved but still present bloatware situationProcessor is a touch laggyPhoto processing isn\u2019t greatFeels about $100 too expensive<\/p>\n
Even the bloatware problem has been reined in. Don\u2019t get me wrong, it\u2019s still present. But the unwanted apps have been scaled back to a manageable level compared to a couple of years ago. There\u2019s just one pre-downloaded app \u201cfolder\u201d that\u2019s actually an app rather than three<\/a>. The full page MotoHub widget, which was a privacy nightmare, is gone. The third-party weather app is now clearly identified as \u201cdeveloped by OneLouder Apps\u201d on the initial splash page \u2014 something I complained about in my last Stylus review in 2023<\/a>. If an app is going to ask to track your location constantly, you should at least be able to understand who made it without doing 10 minutes of googling.<\/p>\n The fact that bloatware is no longer my top concern with the G Stylus is a major improvement. But the phone comes with a higher price tag this year: $499, a full $100 price increase year over year. I\u2019m sure the memory crisis has something to do with that. But it puts the Stylus squarely in the midrange, and I\u2019m not convinced that it performs like a midrange phone should.<\/p>\n Once you clear out the unwanted apps, the Moto G Stylus is much more pleasant.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t want to sell the G Stylus short. The active stylus is lovely to use, and there\u2019s nothing quite like it in any other budget or midrange phone. It\u2019s pressure sensitive, does a reasonably good job of handwriting recognition, and you can even configure it to magnify text when you hover over it. I have a feeling that\u2019s a feature I\u2019m going to really appreciate in a few years.<\/p>\n The notes app comes with the option to organize your notes into collections, which makes it feel less like a dumping ground and more like a tidy home for all the random stuff I stumble on and want to remember. The stylus is thoughtfully developed and integrated, and I think it even rivals the much pricier Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra\u2019s<\/a> stylus experience.<\/p>\n But the Moto G Stylus stumbles on a couple of basics, one being photos. The main camera is fine; it\u2019s a 50-megapixel sensor with an optically stabilized lens. It does a good enough job in daylight, although colors are very punchy and red-channel clipping can cause some unpleasant color shifts. It gives a certain artificial look to photos. The ultrawide is fine, and it doubles as a macro camera so it provides autofocus for close-up shots. That means you get shots you might actually want to use compared to the days of the crappy 5-megapixel dedicated macro camera.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the thing: there are four camera lens-looking things on the back of the phone, one of which houses the flash. There are only two rear cameras available in the camera app. What gives? The spec sheet claims the last one is a \u201c3-in-1 light sensor.\u201d Motorola spokesperson Brendan Hall says it \u201chelps with Auto White Balance, Exposure, and Anti-Flicker.\u201d Which, I guess. But no doubt at least part of its job is to look like a real, third camera lens, and that feels like kind of a cheap trick.<\/p>\n The Moto G Stylus offers robust water and dust resistance: both IP68 and IP69, so it can stand up to water immersion and high pressure spray. This is excellent news. But software support doesn\u2019t look as good: only two major OS upgrades and three years of security updates offered, and Motorola has a reputation for delivering those pretty slowly.<\/p>\n That lens in the bottom right corner houses a \u201c3-in-1 sensor,\u201d not an actual camera.<\/p>\n That headphone jack is just a thing of beauty.<\/p>\n The Stylus 2026\u2019s Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 chipset coupled with 8GB of RAM feels like just enough power for this device. I noticed very slight hesitations here and there, particularly after waking it and opening a new app. Granted, I\u2019ve been using flagship phones for most of the last year, but it\u2019s been a long time since I\u2019ve consciously noticed any kind of lag running my day-t0-day apps. It\u2019s not enough to be a real concern today, but this is also the fastest the phone is ever going to run. It\u2019ll hold up for its two scheduled annual OS upgrades, but I do worry about it slowing down after that.<\/p>\n I appreciate the Moto G Stylus. I love that it offers something truly different from the competition \u2014 the active stylus, a sense of style, not to mention the headphone jack and microSD slot. There\u2019s bloatware, but not as bad as before. I just wish the cameras were a little better and it came with more software updates so I could recommend it as easily as the undefeated midrange champ: the Google Pixel 10A<\/a>.<\/p>\n Despite its shortcomings, the Moto G Stylus really does bring something different to the midrange.<\/p>\n At a significant discount, the Moto G Stylus becomes a more interesting value proposition. Prior to RAMageddon, I would have said Motorola was sure to offer some good discounts on it before too long. Now I\u2019m not so sure. Bottom line, if you want to hold onto your phone as long as possible and you take a lot of photos, you should stick with the Pixel.<\/p>\n Photography by Allison Johnson \/ The Verge<\/p>\n Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.Allison JohnsonClose Allison Johnson<\/p>\n Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n FollowFollow<\/p>\n See All by Allison Johnson<\/a><\/p>\n GadgetsClose<\/p>\n Gadgets<\/p>\n Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n FollowFollow<\/p>\n See All Gadgets<\/a><\/p>\n MobileClose<\/p>\n Mobile<\/p>\n Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n FollowFollow<\/p>\n See All Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n MotorolaClose<\/p>\n Motorola<\/p>\n Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n FollowFollow<\/p>\n See All Motorola<\/a><\/p>\n ReviewsClose<\/p>\n Reviews<\/p>\n Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n FollowFollow<\/p>\n![\"Motorola](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/268490_Motorola_Moto_G_Stylus_2026_AJohnson_0002.jpg\"\/)
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