Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) review: specs, battery & used prices

Summary

The Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) is one of the few phones that still ships with a built-in stylus, pairing that niche with a 6.6-inch 120 Hz LCD, a 5000 mAh battery and a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1. Our catalog scores it 47 on the everyday axis and 79 on compactness, with a launch price near $399 for the 4/64 GB base trim; used examples now ask around $89 or less, which makes the stylus nearly free. Successors with the same trick include the Moto G Stylus 5G (2024) and the Moto G Stylus 5G (2025), both already in our catalog.

Display and design

The 6.6-inch IPS LCD runs at 120 Hz with a 600-nit peak, smooth for the class though not bright enough for comfortable direct-sun reading. The body weighs 202 grams, with the stylus silo adding negligible bulk; jotting notes, signing PDFs and cropping screenshots are the practical wins. There is no formal ingress-protection rating in our records, so treat moisture with care.

Performance

The Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 earns an everyday axis of 47 and a gaming axis of 12: menus, notes and media are fluid at 120 Hz, while 3D games need lowered settings. The base 4 GB of RAM is tight by current standards, so the higher trims are worth seeking if you multitask. Stylus input itself is latency-tolerant and best suited to notes and sketches rather than precision art.

Camera

A 50-megapixel main sensor leads the rear array with an 8-megapixel ultrawide alongside; optical stabilization is absent, and video tops out at 4K30. The camera axis of 25 mirrors the segment: fine in daylight, fragile at night, with shutter lag visible in motion. For document scanning and quick notes, though, the combination of camera and stylus is genuinely useful.

Battery and charging

The 5000 mAh cell provides a battery axis of 40, reliably a full day of mixed use, and the efficient chip stretches it further on light days. Charging tops out at 20 W, scoring 2 on our charging axis, so plan an overnight routine. There is no wireless charging, which is expected at this price and rarely missed by the stylus-first audience.

Verdict

The Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) makes sense in exactly one scenario, and it is a real one: you use the stylus, and you want it cheap. At around $89 used, the smooth 120 Hz screen and two-day-capable battery are respectable bonuses. The two-year software window from 2023 has closed, which argues for the 2024 or 2025 Stylus models if budget allows, but as a note-taking workhorse the price is hard to beat.