Motorola is introducing a new version of its Moto G Stylus 5G with some nice upgrades for 2022 – and a higher price tag of $499 as a result. The 2022 edition of the G Stylus 5G will include a 6.8-inch screen with a super-smooth 120Hz refresh rate, a more powerful 600 series Snapdragon processor, a stabilized main camera, and a ton of built-in storage. The company is also introducing its $399 budget-oriented Moto G 5G in North America. (It was introduced in Europe earlier this year.)
The most notable update to the 2022 G Stylus 5G – not to be confused with the 4G-only Moto G Stylus – is that 120Hz display for smooth animations and scrolling. It’s a 1080p LCD screen and it includes a 16-megapixel front camera. On the back is a 50 megapixel main camera with optical image stabilization. Stabilization isn’t as common in the mid-range, and it should mean a better chance of getting sharp photos in low light. There’s an 8-megapixel ultrawide that doubles as a macro camera, plus a 2-megapixel depth sensor.
This year’s G Stylus 5G also uses a Snapdragon 695 5G chipset, an upgrade over the 400 series processor in last year’s model. It’s also paired with 8GB of RAM, which is quite a bit more than the 4GB or 6GB more typical of a mid-range phone. That should That adds up to significantly better performance than the 4G version of this phone, which addresses our biggest complaint about last year’s model: that it wasn’t enough of an upgrade to justify the higher price.
Furthermore, you get a 5,000 mAh battery, a generous 256 GB storage, support for sub-6 GHz 5G (including C band frequencies), headphone jack, microSD card slot and a charger in the box. How’s that for thoughtful? A stylus is of course also included, which stores inside the phone and allows for more precise handwriting and scribbling.
The Moto G 5G (without stylus) comes with a slightly less robust set of specs. There is a MediaTek Dimensity 700 processor with 6 GB of RAM, a 6.5-inch 720p LCD display with a refresh rate of 90 Hz and a 50 megapixel main camera without stabilization. You still get a 5,000mAh battery, headphone jack, microSD card slot, in-box charger, and 256GB of built-in storage. That’s a pretty healthy feature set for $399.
Both phones come with Android 12 and Motorola promises an additional OS upgrade after that. The Moto G Stylus 5G will go on sale on April 28 with pre-orders starting today; the Moto G 5G will be available on May 19.