It's true that the Moto G Stylus 5G looks and feels like part smartphone and part tablet with four rear cameras on the back and a big screen. Also on the back of the phone is a fingerprint sensor, covered by the iconic Motorola logo. And while the back looks like it's made of glass, it's actually plastic. The Emerald color changes through various shades of green to almost black as you rotate the phone. On the front you'll get a 6.8-inch Full HD+ display.

It's pretty modern, at least in features, thanks to the 16-megapixel selfie camera in the top left corner. Volume controls and a power button are located on the right, while the SIM card slot and a microSD card slot are on the left. You can use the microSD card portion of the tray to add up to 1TB of additional storage to your phone. The bottom of the Moto G Stylus 5G has a 3.5-millimeter headphone jack along with a USB-C port for charging or data transfers. data and the built-in stylus on the far right.

The built-in pen is very thin. We initially struggled to find a comfortable grip for the first few days of testing. There's a stiff, rounded tip that's used to interact with the screen and the other end of the stylus will click like a pen, but it doesn't offer any additional functionality. There's no question that the Moto G Stylus 5G is a big phone.

However, it's comfortable to hold and very manageable, jotting down notes with the stylus or scrolling through your Twitter feed. Interestingly, the G Stylus 5G lacks any formal IP rating for water and dust resistance. Motorola lists it as having a "water-repellent design," and if you read the fine print, you quickly learn that it can withstand the occasional splash or light rain. One accidental drop in the pool or sink, though, and you'll likely be shopping for a new phone.

A simple yet capable stylus

Arguably the star of the show here is the stylus, and Motorola put a lot of work into optimizing the software to take advantage of the digital pen. When the phone is unlocked and the stylus is removed, a small circular icon appears on the screen.

You'll be able to touch the icon to see a menu for common tasks using the stylus, like taking a screenshot or opening the app. Another useful feature you can enable is for the phone to record your current GPS location every time you remove the stylus. That way, if you lose the little pen, at least you'll know where you got it from the phone. Unfortunately, that is as far as the location feature is concerned. You will not get a precise location of the object.

As for the writing experience, there is some lag when drawing and the stylus tip gliding isn't as smooth as, say, the Apple Pencil on an iPad, but we'd bet after a few uses you'll get used to its quirks and you won't think twice.

Smooth performance and long battery life