Motorola just launched a new Android phone to take on the Google Pixel 8a

If you have your heart set on a phone with a stylus, you’re probably familiar with Samsung devices like the Galaxy S24 Ultra and the previous Galaxy S23 Ultra. But there is another company out there that ships phones with a stylus — Motorola. Unlike Samsung’s flagship, the new Moto G Stylus 5G (2024) won’t break the bank thanks to its $400 starting price in the U.S.

The Moto G Stylus 5G (2024) is the latest in a series of midrange stylus-equipped phones that Motorola started releasing in 2020. The latest model keeps up with its predecessors with solid midrange capabilities and, as the name indicates, support for 5G.

Design-wise, the Moto G Stylus 5G (2024) looks like other Motorola phones released this year — including the Moto G 5G (2024) and Moto G Power 5G (2024). There’s Gorilla Glass 3 on the front, a vegan leather backside, and two very nice colors to choose from: Scarlet Wave (red) and Carmel Latte (tan).

The phone has a 6.7-inch 2400 x 1080 pOLED display with a crisp 395 pixels per inch (ppi), which is a bump up from the plain 1080p LCD screen on last year’s model. It also has a 120Hz refresh rate, a feature we’ve seen roll out to more and more midrange Android phones like the Google Pixel 8a. It’s nice to see a smooth refresh rate and OLED panels come to phones that won’t hit your wallet too hard. If you want the same thing in the Apple ecosystem, prepare to pay upwards of $1,000.

Under the hood, you have a Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 processor, which hasn’t changed since last year. There’s 8GB of RAM and 128GB and 256GB options for built-in storage. Motorola also has a RAM Boost feature that temporarily turns storage into virtual RAM, which is an interesting idea, though it’s hard to imagine most people putting it to such tough use.

The new Moto G Stylus supports microSD cards up to 2TB, which should be plenty of storage for most people. There’s a beefy 5,000mAh battery, which Motorola says will give you over a day of runtime, along with 30-watt wired fast charging and 15W wireless charging. It’s IP52 water-repellent, but it shouldn’t be fully immersed since that isn’t the same as being waterproof.

The cameras consist of a 50-megapixel main sensor, a 13MP ultrawide sensor, and a 32MP front-facing sensor. Based on our testing of the Moto G Stylus 5G (2023), it’s likely to be a solid shooter in good lighting,but will face more challenges than flagship phones in lowlight conditions. Finally, the Moto G Stylus 5G (2024) comes running Android 14, and like last year’s model, we anticipate it getting at least one major software update — but probably not much more than that. Naturally, you’ll also get some note-taking features with the Moto Notes app.

The Moto G Stylus 5G (2024) will be sold unlocked at Amazon and Best Buy, as well as on Motorola’s website, starting May 30 for $400. In the following weeks, it’ll also come to Walmart and major carriers, including Metro by T-Mobile, AT&T, Cricket, Boost Infinite, Boost Mobile, Consumer Cellular, Google Fi Wireless, and others.

We still need to use and review the Moto G Stylus 5G (2024) before making any final judgments, but based on the spec sheet alone, this looks like a promising handset. The specifications look solid, the design is nice, and the price is right — it com in cheaper than Google’s latest Pixel 8a. If Motorola can stick the landing — which is easier said than done — this could be an exciting one.