✍️ Motorola Moto G Stylus (2025) Review: A Mid-Range Masterpiece with a Pen
The mid-range smartphone market is fiercely competitive, but Motorola has consistently carved out a unique niche with its stylus-equipped G-series. The Motorola Moto G Stylus (2025), particularly the Unlocked model with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage, arrives with a refreshed design, significant display upgrades, and a promise to deliver flagship features at a palatable price point. We've spent time with the striking Pantone Gibraltar Sea variant to see if this pen-toting phone is the ultimate budget-friendly productivity tool.
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| Motorola Moto G Stylus (2025) Review: A Mid-Range Masterpiece with a Pen |
💎 Design and Display: A Premium Feel for a Mid-Range Price
Motorola has elevated the design language for the 2025 model. The phone boasts a sophisticated look, especially in the deep, rich Pantone Gibraltar Sea color, which features a premium-feeling vegan leather back. This material not only adds a touch of class but also provides a comfortable and secure grip—a welcome departure from the fingerprint-prone plastic backs of earlier models. Its sleek profile is impressive, especially considering the integrated stylus and large battery.
The display is arguably the biggest upgrade this year. The Moto G Stylus (2025) features a stunning 6.7-inch Super HD pOLED display with a sharp resolution of 1220 x 2712 pixels and a smooth 120Hz refresh rate. Text is crisp, colors are vibrant thanks to 10-bit color depth, and media consumption is a joy. Critically, Motorola has dramatically improved the brightness, with a claimed peak of 3000 nits, making outdoor visibility excellent even under direct sunlight. This display alone is worth the price of admission for many users. The trade-off for this gorgeous screen is the use of older Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for protection, which isn't as resilient as newer generations.
A notable durability improvement is the inclusion of an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance, a significant step up that offers much-needed peace of mind against accidental spills and rain.
🚀 Performance and Software: Snappy Enough for Daily Life
Powering the Moto G Stylus (2025) is the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 Mobile Platform, paired here with a generous 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of uMCP storage. This configuration delivers a snappy, responsive experience for day-to-day use, including app switching, web browsing, and general navigation.
While the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 is a solid mid-range chip, it won't rival true flagship processors. For casual gaming, it handles titles well, though demanding 3D games may require slightly reduced graphic settings. The 8GB RAM is crucial for multitasking, keeping multiple apps running smoothly in the background. The 256GB of internal storage is plenty for most users, and for digital hoarders, the inclusion of a dedicated microSDXC slot is a massive advantage that is increasingly rare in modern smartphones.
The phone runs on a relatively clean version of Android 15 with Motorola's light-touch Hello UI. The software is largely free of bloatware, focusing on essential productivity features and Motorola's popular Moto Actions gestures. Motorola has also slightly improved its software commitment, promising two major Android OS updates and three years of security patches, though this still lags behind key rivals like Samsung and Google.
🖊️ The Stylus: Better Responsiveness, New Tricks
The defining feature, the built-in stylus, sees meaningful improvements. Motorola claims the stylus input is 6.4 times more responsive than the previous generation, and the difference is noticeable. While it is still a passive stylus and not on the level of Samsung's active S Pen, it feels significantly smoother for quick note-taking, sketching, and precise navigation.
Key Stylus Features:
Instant Note-Taking: Removing the stylus immediately brings up a floating menu for quick notes or screenshots.
AI Integration: The phone now supports Google's Circle to Search and Motorola's AI Sketch-to-Image feature, enhancing the stylus's utility for searching and creative tasks.
Built-in Convenience: The ability to always have a stylus docked and charged inside the phone body remains its core strength.
📸 Camera: Solid Results in Good Lighting
The camera system is headlined by a 50MP main sensor with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), a feature that significantly improves low-light performance and video stability. This is paired with a 13MP ultrawide lens that conveniently doubles as a dedicated macro camera. A 32MP front-facing camera handles selfies.
In good daylight, the main 50MP camera captures excellent photos with good detail and pleasing, vibrant colors—characteristic of Motorola's color science, which tends to lean toward social-media readiness rather than absolute color accuracy. The OIS is a major benefit for reducing blur. The ultrawide camera is decent, offering good versatility.
Video recording is supported up to 4K at 30fps on both the main and ultrawide cameras, which is commendable for this price range. Overall, the camera system is highly capable for the average user, though it falls short of flagship performance in challenging low-light scenarios.
🔋 Battery and Charging: Speed and Endurance
Battery life is another major strength. The Moto G Stylus (2025) packs a large 5,000mAh battery, easily providing a full day of heavy use or two days with moderate usage.
The charging speed has seen a monumental leap. It now supports 68W TurboPower wired charging, capable of getting the phone to 100% in under 40 minutes. Even more surprising is the inclusion of 15W wireless charging, a premium feature that cements the phone's incredible value proposition. Note: The 68W charger may need to be purchased separately depending on your region.
✅ Verdict: The Best Mid-Range Stylus Phone
The Motorola Moto G Stylus (2025) is a highly complete and compelling package. The Unlocked 8GB/256GB model, especially in the stylish Pantone Gibraltar Sea color, represents a new standard for the mid-range segment.
Pros:
Stunning Display: Sharp 1.5K pOLED with 120Hz refresh rate and outstanding brightness.
Built-in Stylus: Convenient and significantly more responsive than previous models.
Premium Design: Vegan leather back and attractive Pantone color options.
Excellent Value: 8GB RAM, 256GB storage, and microSD expansion.
Flagship Charging: 68W wired and 15W wireless charging.
Durability: IP68 water/dust resistance and MIL-STD-810H compliance.
Cons:
Software Updates: Commitment still shorter than key rivals.
Passive Stylus: Not as feature-rich or sensitive as an active stylus.
Gorilla Glass 3: Older glass protection is a minor concern for durability.
For consumers seeking an affordable, feature-packed smartphone that offers a clean Android experience, great battery life, and the unique utility of an integrated stylus, the Motorola Moto G Stylus (2025) is an unreserved recommendation. It successfully blends premium features with a sensible price, making it one of the best budget power-user phones of the year.