Moto G Stylus Now Free from Bloatware

The bloatware issue is more controlled, but this phone seems $100 overpriced. The 2026 Motorola stylus phone is quite attractive. My review unit is a charming lilac, has a pleasant textured back, includes a MicroSD slot, and might have the last surviving headphone jack on a mainstream phone in North America. The stylus is active with cool features. The bloatware has been reduced, with unwanted apps limited to one pre-downloaded app folder. The MotoHub widget is gone, and the third-party weather app is now identified on the splash page. My main concern is no longer bloatware; instead, the phone is now $499, a $100 increase. Although I’m sure the memory crisis affects this, it places the phone in the midrange, and I’m not sure it performs as such. The active stylus is lovely, with pressure sensitivity, decent handwriting recognition, and even a text-magnifying feature. The notes app organizes notes into collections. The stylus is well-developed and challenges the pricier Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. However, the camera is a letdown. The primary camera is a 50-megapixel sensor with a stabilized lens; it’s decent in daylight, but colors are too punchy, and red-channel clipping affects photos. The ultrawide is decent, doubling as a macro camera. Four camera lenses on the back house the flash, with only two usable rear cameras. The fourth is allegedly a “3-in-1 light sensor,” which helps with auto white balance, exposure, and anti-flicker, but seems more for appearance. The Moto G Stylus offers robust IP68 and IP69 water and dust resistance, though software support is limited to two major OS updates and three years of security updates, with Motorola’s slow delivery pace. The Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 chipset with 8GB RAM is just sufficient, with slight lag noticed. It should manage the two scheduled annual OS upgrades but may slow down afterwards. I appreciate the Moto G Stylus’s unique features: active stylus, style, headphone jack, and microSD slot. Bloatware has improved, but the cameras and limited software updates make it hard to recommend over the Google Pixel 10A. At a discount, the Moto G Stylus could be more appealing, but post-RAMageddon, discounts might not come soon. If longevity and photography are priorities, the Pixel is a better choice. Photography by Allison Johnson / The Verge