Motorola - Moto G Stylus 5G 256GB (Unlocked) - Cosmic Emerald

DO NOT BUY THIS PHONE!!!! I picked it up last night, and this morning I sat down on the floor of my porch. The phone slid out of my pocket, hitting the wooden deck, and the screen shattered. It was literally 3 inches from the pocket of my sweat jacket to the deck. I have had cell phones for almost 20 years, and this is the first time Ihave ever had one break. In addition, even though I had done a full google backup of the Samsung I traded in, the Motorola would only import 8 of 147 contacts. I 100% regret this purchase. DO NOT BUY MOTOROLA.

TL:DR: Solid overall phone, a tad overpriced BUT if you want the stylus it is the only affordable option. Setting aside the stylus, the Moto is a decidedly mid-range phone. The CPU is decently fast although some brief lag is noticeable at times (but it doesn't feel like a 'slow' phone). The screen is clear, but viewing angles are only so-so and the contrast is definitely not among the best LCD. I personally like that it is LCD as there is no risk of burn in if this phone is used to display static images or used as a driving .GPS for example. The speaker is not great, its a single speaker and not especially loud. The case is beautiful and the emerald green plastic looks very premium. Fingerprint sensor works flawlessly. Cameras are 'ok' but not competitive with more expensive phones. The lack of OIS means in anything other than bright light there is a risk of blurry shots. Still, nothing much to complain about here. with 3 cameras and a depth sensor the 4-pack on the back suggests a far more expensive phone. Battery life has been good, but not as good as I'd expect with a huge 5000mah battery. Weirdly, according to Accubattery mine never charges to full capacity and tops out around 4650mah. That might be the app or it might be the battery really isn't able to take a full charge. In either case, the culprit seems to be the Moto display which constantly wakes up the screen and results in some idle drain. Overall though, this is in the top tier of battery life phones. Charging takes a bit longer than expected, but again given the size of the battery this is expected. No wireless charging support in the Stylus 5g, but honestly I don't mind as charging a battery this size via induction charging is not idea anyway. No NFC either, if that matters to you. Call quality is quite good (yes, people still call on the phone) and bluetooth, wifi, and 5g all seem to perform well. So overall, as a phone, the Stylus 5g is a decent entry-level phone with no major complaints. Now, the whole reason to get this over a considerably less expensive phone is the stylus. So how is that? Well, its also entry level. The phone has no palm or touch rejection meaning any stray touch will be recorded as a pen stroke. That makes for awkward drawing and note taking. The sensitivity is not especially high either, and there is no pressure sensitivity, so the pen experience is better than no pen, but only just. It stores nicely in the phone body and has a very pleasing clicky top. The phone will warn you if you leave the pen behind which is nice. Moto has put some pen features in the phone, but with some weird omissions like the screen shot annotation app has no eraser function. I don't mean this in a bad way, but this is the worse pen experience you are likely to have on a pen-capable device. Still, it is worlds better than no pen....if you need a pen. This is good for using as a navigation tool (very satisfying), for some screenshot annotations, simple doodling, and scratching out a quick note. it is NOT a drawing or sketching or fine writing stylus. At the offered price, this is a 3 star phone, the stylus is worth an extra point. As of this review, the Stylus 5g is now the only new 2021 phone that comes with an included pen. Samsung has discontinued the Note line, and its S21 and Fold 3 both support the SPen, but have no place to store it.

I was pushed more expensive popular phones but this phone had the best value for an unlocked phone. The Motorola phone has the most memory for the price and all the features you'd expect with a smart phone. This phone replaced my Samsung which was a refurbished phone that was only a year old so I definitely didn't want another Samsung and I am not an iPhone person; I considered One Plus because I had good experience with them in the past but the memory was half of what the Motorola had. The only thing that I don't like is that it there is a delay loading past text messages and there's also a delay sending text messages, it's kind of weird. Otherwise, it's the best that I could get for under $500, I really can't bring myself to pay $1k for a phone. I also am not into paying a monthly bill or being locked into contracts.

It has it's shortcomings but OK for a mid-range phone. I purchase this to use in the interim while my Pixel 6 pro was getting the shattered screen replaced. Cameras are mediocre. No NFC. Decent storage, Stylus as precise as a dull pencil so I didn't even bother with it. Processor performance is decent put will hiccup when pushed. It does have fast charging if you have a high wattage USB PD charger. There is a micro SD tray with the nano sim tray but I didn't try installing a micro SD card. It does have good battery life (but then, it's a new phone with a new battery). Overall fine for $300 phone with 5G. Just be reasonable with your expectations.

I'm a fan of Motorola because of their affordable phones and quality build. My last phone, the Moto G2 Play, lasted me a good 4 years before I decided to upgrade to a new 5G model. The only 2 things my last phone was missing was internal space and because it no longer received any security updates. (Both negative for Android fans). Out of all Motorola phones at the time of release, this one had 2 things I wanted my next phone to have - 1) Larger internal space (for all the apps that seem to update weekly) and at least the current version of Android. The Stylus and 5G were just extra good extra options to have. I only have 3 complaints. 1) According to AT&T, even though I live in a 5G area, I DO NOT get a 5G signal. EVER. Even when I've driven within a 45 minute radius, my phone has yet to get a 5G connection which is disappointing. As a pre-paid plan fan, AT&T only offers 1 pre-paid 5G plan, which compared to my 4G plan, costs $25 MORE when you add your credit card to the site. Without it, it would cost $35 more. Yes, more things come with this plan, but the fact is, I'm still paying more for the same 4G service on a phone that's supposed to get 5G speeds. AT&T mentioned they sell the same model at their stores, but it has a different serial number, so I'm not sure if I would've purchase this phone at their stores, it would've made a difference. But they do have a system update specifically for the model they sell and not mine. They tried to push the update to my phone, but it made no difference. I understand with all the carriers, AT&T (and other carriers) have yet to roll out a "true" 5G network. So if you get a stronger 4G signal than 5G, you'll get 5G service. I don't know if iPhone or Samsung customers have the same experience in my area because my friends all still have 4G phones. Battery life is pretty good on this phone. Light use will get you 2-3 days, but I also turn my phone off at night. When the phone first powers on, you will not get any calendar or other alerts you setup on the phone until you actually sign into the phone the first time you turn it on. The load screen is 4 times longer than my old phone which is odd. There is no NFC or fast charge (which my old phone also had). And I don't really use the stylus. Honestly, if they eliminated the stylus and 5G and added NFC and fast charge, this would be the perfect phone for me. Then by the time it was time to upgrade from this phone, maybe 5G will be working in my area to spend more on a 5G phone. On the plus side, there's the 256GB space for all your apps so there's enough space for the constant updates Android apps seem to be notorious for. (Especially any Google apps related.) The camera is ok for taking basic pictures, but obviously not as great as those found on more expensive Android and iPhones. Overall, this phone is a good deal for a mid-level phone. My advice is if your looking to upgrade to a 5G phone, make sure, from someone you know who has the same carrier that it works in your area. Otherwise, stick with 4G models that offer 128GB space and has at least Android 10. Or if you can wait a year or so to finally roll out but don't want to pay extra for that 5G plan, you can always keep your 4G plan until 5G is better in your area.

At first I didn't really like this phone but as I have learned to change some of the settings it has become a nicer better phone. I really like the battery life and the stylus they are great. The price was good for what you get. The phone is worth what you pay for it.

While I had no intention to buy a new $400 phone right now due to AT&T upgrading their service to include 5G came at the worst time before Christmas which made my old phone obsolete at the time. The phone is a great value for anyone who wants to get a decent unlocked phone with a good amount of memory which came with 256GB. I also liked using the stylus pen that came enclosed with the phone.

Keep in mind, this phone does not exactly work with the Verizon networks. I have it on Google Fi and it work so well! Anyways, this is a good phone for the price. It has some really good features. For one, it has a good processor and a great amount of storage. The screen is very nice, bright and colorful. The emerald color on it is stunning! That’s the first thing people notice when they look at it. The fingerprint reader is fast and convenient. The stylus is made of metal and feels solid to the touch. The battery life is GREAT and it lasts a long time. One last big feature: it DOES have a headphone jack! However…it is missing some features. It does not have wireless charging, fast charging, an OLED screen, or multiple speakers. The charging is capped low and cannot do true fast charging. The screen is good, but it is not an OLED and it is capped at 60Hz. The loudspeaker is mediocre at best and the stylus is not like the Samsung S Pen which has actual functions. The stylus is simply a smaller version of the universal ones you can get at almost any retailer, but it does work very well. The cameras are okay, but the Macro lens especially could use some work. For a good Android phone, it’s a decent replacement for most. But if you’ve had an OLED, you will be missing that frequently. The biggest selling points are this: Well-built Nice color Headphone jack! Very fast with good specifications Lots of built-in storage with room for expandable memory as well. Huge battery!! Fingerprint scanner 5G List of major cons: No wireless charging No OLED No fast charging Single mediocre loudspeaker Stylus is not electronic, but a scaled down universal stylus Cameras are just “okay”