The Moto G Stylus advances its signature features, but with a price increase

Motorola’s new Moto G Stylus for 2026 gives it a namesake stylus. But, like many others Phones This year, it will come with Price bump.

The $500 phone, announced Tuesday, includes a stylus-powered stylus that Motorola says responds to tilt and tap, enhancing note-taking in supported apps. The pen recharges while inside the phone, and also supports gestures such as hovering the pen over text to enlarge it or dragging and dropping by holding the pen over an image.

The phone also gets a slightly larger 5,200 mAh battery, compared to the 5,000 mAh battery. In last year’s model.

The Moto G Stylus’ 6.7-inch display is said to hit 5,000 nits at peak and runs at 1.5K resolution with a 120Hz refresh rate. The phone’s cameras include a 50-megapixel wide-angle, a 13-megapixel ultra-wide camera, and a 32-megapixel selfie camera on the front.

These improvements enhance a number of features carried over from last year’s phone, including Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 processor, 68W fast wired charging, and 15W wireless charging. The Stylus is also one of the few phones in this price range that still features a headphone jack, and it has retained its IP68 and IP69 water and dust resistance ratings.

But I have concerns about the value and specifications. Last year’s $400 phone had 256GB of storage, but this year’s $500 model starts with 128GB of storage. To get 256GB of space, you will have to pay $600. Both phones have a microSD card slot to expand storage space up to 1TB. This pricing reflects what we see Google Pixel 10A and Apple iPhone 17E phoneAnd if you don’t need the improved stylus, many of these specs are similar enough to last year’s $400 phone. Which is for sale.

Motorola’s limited update support policy of two years of software and three years of security for its G devices also seems glaring at this price range, given that the Pixel 10A and Pixel 10A Samsung Galaxy A37 priced at $450 Providing seven and six years of support, respectively.

Motorola doubling down on its stylus makes this phone stand out among the competition. While Samsung still includes the S Pen at a much more expensive price of $1,300 Galaxy S26 UltraThe company has stopped using the powered pen in recent years. So, if you want a phone with a built-in stylus that supports pressure sensitivity natively, the Moto G Stylus may be your best option, especially if you don’t want to look for another phone with a stylus like the older Galaxy S24 Ultra On the used or refurbished market.

The Moto G Stylus will go on sale on April 16.