3 reviews for Moto G Stylus 5G | 2024 | Unlocked | Made for US 8/256GB | 50MP Camera | Caramel Latte

1. 

   Ken Seiders Jr – November 28, 2024

   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.

2. 

   Slvr68 – November 28, 2024

   Everything you need without the cost!
   I have been a Samsung Note user since the series was launched, but after the Note 9, I struggled with justifying the cost of upgrading for so little that was new and useful. I stayed on the Note 9 for many years, and finally, when my provider could no longer replace my Note 9 under extended warranty, I was forced to look at another brand.Enter the Moto G Stylus 5G 2024! Amazon was running a promotion on this brand new release from Motorola, and at $317.95 for a brand new unlocked Moto flagship, I was absolutely down for that. I got so used to paying $1,300 to $1,500 for the latest Samsung flagship phone release, I almost forgot what bang for the buck value looked like! :)As I walked through the Specs of this phone, I couldn’t help but feel like, wow, I’ve been overpaying for a large screen and stylus forever….need to try something new. And I wasn’t dissapointed! I had been considering the Pixel 8 Pro for several months, but I couldn’t get one from my mobile provider, and I couldn’t get a good deal for an unlocked version ($799 to $999) so I started looking at Motorola.Low and behold, their latest flagship Stylus 5G (just launched in May 2024) was on Promo 🙂 The big draw for me with both the Pixel and the Moto Stylus was that they were Google phones…literally. Everything about them was Google centric. And better yet, no bloatware or stupid useless skins over the Android experience. Just pure Google/Android and great Apps.The new phone transfer process was seamless and super easy! I just took my Sim Card out of my old handset, and threw it into the Moto G Stylus, and immediately Google’s phone transfer process kicked in. Step by step, device to device, in about 45 minutes I was done. That’s it, easy peezy.My initial few days with the new Moto, man, a $1,000 less in cost for very good performance, 120Hz refresh rate, Google centric Android experience, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of Flash Storage, Nice Aluminum stylus, good Apps for Notes, Art/Drawing, Editing, etc. WiFi performance is excellent, Cellular reception is much better than my previous $1,400 Note 9, Bluetooth range is excellent, Camera is solid, with Pro features and capabilities if you wanna get all high end with your cameras, camera software is way better than the 2023 version, MP is up(50), camera quality is way up (software improvements), embedded storage is more than adequate for on device storage needs (256GB’s is a lot of local storage, when you store everything to Google Drive), and the performance of the SnapDragon SOC, while not the latest and greatest, it powers through moderate gaming, is awesome for media consumption (streaming video) UI is super fluid, no jittery transitions, swipe is butter, couldn’t be happier with the overall performance.It comes loaded with Android 14, it has an Audio Jack port! and it supports Micro SD card storage up to 2TB (although I haven’t physically confirmed that) and Dolby ATMOS with two very capable speakers integrated for excellent sound performance. The 6.7″ pOLED screen is outstanding, Refresh Rate is awesome (120Hz), SnapDragon 6 SOC is solid, all that and the all day 5,000mAh battery + rapid charging (35W wired, 15W wireless) you’ve got as complete a package as I’ve ever seen.In short, I’m done paying an arm and a leg for technology I don’t really need. Give me rock solid value every day. The Moto G Stylus 2024 is just that, Maximum bang for the buck on every front, and I don’t have to take out a 24 month loan to buy it!!! I would highly recommend trying this handset out!8/29/24 Quick update for everyone on adding MSD storage to the phone. 2TB’s is overkill for me because I use Google Drive for backup and Amazon Photo’s as well, so I don’t need ton’s of onboard storage, but for the sake of checking out the Micro SD card capability, I dropped $35 on a 1TB SanDisk High Speed MSD, dropped it in, and instantly recognized as external (not embedded) storage, and the only choice you need to make is whether you want to format it such that you can move the card to any device as external storage, or leave it as phone dedicated storage and you’re done. Once again, seamless experience, no hassles, no incompatibility problems, nothing. Plug and Play. Having used the handset now for several weeks, it’s more awesome than I originally thought. It just does soooo much for so little cash, I’m giving it a 10 out of 10. Lesson learned, don’t be a slave to specs. This phone is boss, hands down the best stylus enabled large handset for the buck. I can’t wait to see the next gen of this handset……all smiles friends 🙂 🙂 🙂

3. 

   Mike F. – November 28, 2024

   Great phone, nice screen
   Good phone for the price.Good:Price, smooth operation, great screen, strong speaker volume, has NFC, wireless charging, moto gestures (actually pretty useful, chop-chop motion to turn on the light, and twist to turn on the camera). Has a headphone jack. Battery life is excellent. In screen fingerprint reader has worked great for me.Ok:Stylus is nice to have but isn’t super once you have a screen protector (tempered glass) it cuts the sensitivity down too much, makes it skip, but is still usable. It’s a little bit big in the hand, but it’s not a deal breaker, expect it with a phone this size. It feels solid and is a good shape doesn’t feel like it will slide out of your hand.Overall it’s a solid choice for a daily phone that won’t shred your wallet.*Upgraded multiple phones in the family to these after using it for a while. I would and have recommended to others