Moto G Stylus 2026 vs. Moto G Stylus 2025: When a pen is mightier than specs

Besides Samsung, Motorola has been the only smartphone maker in the mid-range segment to consistently deliver a stylus phone, year after year. Like clockwork, the company just dropped the 2026 Moto G Stylus, and it looks a lot like the 2025 model, but with one major difference — the stylus is finally active rather than passive. This means it now offers advanced features like pressure sensitivity and tilt detection, just like Samsung's S Pen.

This, along with a few upgrades to the specs, makes the Moto G Stylus 2026 now cost $100 more. The price increase seems to be largely due to the new stylus since the specs of both phones are very similar. That said, it could also be due to the ongoing RAM shortage. This makes it even harder to decide between the Moto G Stylus 2026 vs. the Moto G Stylus 2025, but that's where we come in. Here are all the similarities and differences between the two phones so you can make an informed decision.

Moto G Stylus 2026 vs. Moto G Stylus 2025: Design and display

Motorola seems committed to its recent design change, and the Moto G Stylus 2026 looks very similar to the 2025 model, but with very subtle design changes around the camera island. The dimensions are roughly the same, and both phones measure 8.3mm in thickness and weigh around the same 192 grams (191 grams on the 2025 Moto G Stylus). The rear has the same faux-leather finish but with new colors called Pantone Coal Smoke and Pantone Lavender Mist, and a different texture.

Both phones are built tough and feature the MIL-STD-810H certification. What has improved in the 2026 Moto G Stylus is the new IP69 rating for extreme water resistance. The 2025 model is not far behind with its IP68 rating, but you won't be able to submerge it under water for more than 30 minutes (nor should you want to).

The big game-changer, of course, is the new stylus. If you're considering this phone, you probably already intend to use it for note-taking or drawing. The active stylus on the 2026 Moto G Stylus should offer a huge performance improvement over the 2025 model. Sketching, especially, should feel a lot more intuitive as you can now easily shade an area of your drawing by tilting the stylus, just like you would a regular pencil.

Automatically create thinner or thicker brush strokes depending on how much pressure you apply to the tip. Motorola says the pen will last up to 100 hours per charge, and you can fully charge it in just 15 minutes once it's docked in the silo. The pen is also IP68/IP69 rated. The 2025 model uses a passive pen, which, despite claims of 4X better sensitivity, still felt laggy during testing.

The 2025 Moto G Stylus had a bright and vibrant display, and it's pretty much the same deal on the 2026 model, too. Motorola has bumped up the peak brightness from 3,000 nits to 5,000 nits, so that's good. Otherwise, you get the same 6.7-inch AMOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate and Gorilla Glass 3 scratch protection.

Moto G Stylus 2026 vs. Moto G Stylus 2025: Specs, pricing, & software

The Moto G Stylus 2026 features roughly identical core specs as the Moto G Stylus 2025. Both phones use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 SoC and feature 8GB of LPDDR5X RAM with either 128GB or 256GB of storage. Keep in mind that the high storage variant will set you back $100, coming in at $599, while the base variant is $499. In order to sweeten the deal, Motorola is bundling a four-pack of Moto Tags with the base variant and even more goodies with the 256GB variant, like a Moto Watch and Moto Buds Loop. This is actually a pretty neat deal and kind of makes up for the price bump.

Another area for improvement is the battery size. The 2026 Moto G Stylus features a 5,200mAh battery (vs. 5,000mAh), but charging speeds are the same at 68W wired and 15W wireless. The new model runs Android 16 and promises two OS upgrades. You have Motorola's Hello UX running on top of Android, which is the same lean skin we've all known and loved.

The 2025 Moto G Stylus was $399 when it launched a year back, but you can now officially find the 256GB variant for $350, and this is outside of any big sale season. This makes it a very good value for money, especially if you don't need the fancy new features of the active pen in the 2026 model. The specs are also roughly identical so you're really not losing much, if anything.

Moto G Stylus 2026 vs. Moto G Stylus 2025: Cameras

There doesn't seem to be any significant changes to the camera hardware on the Moto G Stylus 2026. Just like the 2025 model, you get a 50MP main sensor, 13MP ultrawide with autofocus for macro shots, and a front-facing 32MP camera, which is also capable of 4K recording. Outside of hardware, though, Motorola has added more Moto AI features and camera tricks like Action Shot and Super Zoom. I feel these features should also make their way to the 2025 model with a future update.

Based on our experience with the Moto G Stylus 2025, we felt the cameras did more than an adequate job in good lighting. You should expect similar performance with the 2026 model, too, albeit with the addition of Signature Style mode, which uses AI to give photos a new flair based on your preferences.

Moto G Stylus 2026 vs. Moto G Stylus 2025: Which one should you buy?

If you're serious about notetaking or sketching on your phone and don't want to spend north of $1,000, the Moto G Stylus 2026 is the perfect compromise. It offers S Pen-like functionality in a phone that costs less than half as much. In fact, it's more water-resistant than the Galaxy S26 Ultra, which is a big win. Motorola is also throwing in a lot of freebies during the launch phase, so it's best to take advantage while you can.

A stylus is not for everyone, though, and if you think you'll only use it occasionally to sign documents or for basic notetaking, the 2025 Moto G Stylus is still one of the best Motorola phones on the market. Not only that, it's a lot cheaper now, making it an even better value for money.