Motorola is back with its latest refresh of its budget stylus phone, the Moto G Stylus. The new 2022 model keeps the same $299 price tag as last year’s version, but promises improvements in battery life, a faster refresh rate, and upgraded cameras over the old model.
Let’s start with what hasn’t changed, though: the 2022 Moto G Stylus still has the same 6.8-inch display as last year, although the hole-punch camera has been moved to the center (instead of the top left corner of the screen.) It still has its eponymous stylus (which neatly stores inside the phone), a 3.5mm headphone jack, a rear triple camera array, and 128GB of onboard storage.
But Motorola has made some important upgrades, too. The display now has a 90Hz refresh rate, which should make writing with the stylus feel smoother (in addition to the usual benefits for scrolling and navigating around Android’s OS). The battery has been boosted from 4,000mAh to an even larger 5,000mAh size that Motorola promises should last up to two days on a single charge. RAM has been increased from 4GB to 6GB, and the phone ships with Android 11. Motorola is also swapping processors, replacing the 2021 model’s Snapdragon 678 chip with a MediaTek Helio G88.
And as is traditional for an annual hardware refresh, there’s some changes to the camera array. The main rear camera has been bumped up from a 48-megapixel lens to a 50-megapixel sensor, paired with an 8-megapixel ultra-wide / macro lens and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. There’s also a 16-megapixel front-facing camera that appears identical to the one on last year’s Moto G Stylus.
The 2022 model of the Moto G Stylus will be sold unlocked from Motorola, Walmart, Amazon, and Best Buy for $299.99, with preorders starting today.