Moto G Stylus 5G (2025) vs Moto G Power 5G (2025): What are the differences

Intro

The Moto G Stylus 5G (2025) and Moto G Power 5G (2025) are two of Motorola’s latest affordable phones aimed at users who want decent a daily-driver without breaking the bank.  

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Design and Display Quality

Playing two different games

The Moto G Stylus is easier to handle thanks to its smaller body. | Image by PhoneArena

The Moto G Stylus (2025) has a premium look and feel thanks to its synthetic leather back, which is also present on the G Power. The Stylus model feels thinner and more refined, with its under-display fingerprint scanner adding to the sleekness. It’s also MIL-STD-810H and IP68 certified, making it more durable.

The thinner body of the G Stylus is noticeable in everyday use. | Image by PhoneArena

The G Power (2025) is thicker, bulkier, and feels a bit less refined, though the vegan leather finish is a nice touch. The fingerprint scanner is integrated into the power button on the side.

Both phones come in stylish color options — Gibraltar Sea and Surf the Web for the Stylus, and the G Power comes in Leaf Green and Slate Gray.

The Moto G Stylus brings flagship-level display quality to the budget segment, absolutely outclassing the G power. | Image by PhoneArena

Display-wise, there’s no contest. The Stylus features a 6.7-inch OLED panel with a 2712 x 1220 resolution and 3,000 nits peak brightness, making it a standout in this price range. The G Power, meanwhile, has a larger 6.8-inch LCD display that caps out at about 1000 nits, with lower contrast and vibrancy. That said, both support a 120Hz refresh rate.

Swapping between these two displays is jarring, with one feeling like a flagship and the other like a severely outdated device. LCD panels are dying out, and the G Stylus’ amazing OLED screen is a sign that even budget phones can have high-quality displays now.

The G Power was hard to use outdoors. The display was so dim that I had to find shade to read something on the screen or watch video content. That wasn’t the case with the G Stylus.

It’s worth mentioning, though, that the Moto G Power’s display is better protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 vs Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on the G Stylus. Also, the G Power has IP68 and IP69 certification for dust and water resistance while the Stylus only has an IP68 certification.

Just to clarify, IP68 means that the device is immersible up to 1.5m for 30 minm, while IP69 means it can also withstand high pressure water jets.

Performance and Software

Another major win for the G Stylus

The Moto G Stylus is much more capable of handling intense tasks and apps. | Image by PhoneArena

The Moto G Stylus (2025) is powered by the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 chip paired with 8GB of RAM, while the G Power (2025) runs on the less capable MediaTek Dimensity 6300. Both phones ship with Android 15, but Motorola only promises one OS update for the G Power, while the Stylus now gets two.

The G Stylus undoubtedly runs more smoothly compared to the G Power. You can even feel the difference as you navigate the UI, but especially when working with apps. The camera on the G Stylus also feels quicker when you are snapping photos or changing modes.

Benchmark results show the Stylus pulling ahead in both CPU and GPU tasks. It’s the better pick for multitasking, light gaming, and day-to-day performance.

CPU Performance Benchmarks:

In terms of CPU performance, the G Stylus is noticeably more capable — more so for the multi-core performance than the single-core.

The Moto G Stylus showed more than double the graphical performance during our benchmark tests compared to the G Power. That’s to be expected — the G Stylus is intended to be used for creative work, which often includes more graphically demanding apps.

As for storage, the G Stylus comes with 256 GB and the G Power with 128 GB. Both also have microSD card slots, which you can use to expand the storage capacity.

Camera

Some small differences, but neither is exactly “good”

You get two cameras on both. | Image by PhoneArena

The Stylus features a 50 MP main camera with a new Sony LYTIA sensor, which brings some small improvements to detail and dynamic range. The ultrawide and selfie cameras are also more capable than what you get on the G Power, at least on paper and in our tests.

In reality, though, the G Power and its 50 MP main and 8 MP ultrawide setup (unchanged from last generation), did a better job at color reproduction and light balance, resulting in more eye-pleasing images.

PhoneArena Camera Score:

Most of the difference in image quality between the Moto G Stylus and Moto G Power comes from the main cameras. But in our camera tests, the Stylus’ ultra-wide camera also did significantly better for video recording.

Main Camera

It’s clear that the field of view of the Moto G Stylus’ main camera is much more narrow than on the Moto G Power. In this case, it’s hard to argue which one is better, as both have messed up the colors and the lighting.

However, the Moto G Power has handled the scene a little better, revealing more from the shadow areas, and with more natural colors.

Zoom Quality

Neither of these phones has a dedicated telephoto camera, so you have to keep your expectations low for zoom quality. The G Power’s narrower field of view means that at 2x digital zoom the subject will look closer compared to the 2x from the Stylus.

The Moto G Stylus image is sharper in this comparison. It also has a more intense contrast, vs the more even lighting seen in the G Power’s image.

Ultra-wide Camera

The Moto G Stylus might be a little sharper, but the G Power’s photo looks better. That’s because the Power has lifted the shadows more, resulting in more of what’s in the photo being visible.

Both ultrawide cameras have not achieved the right white balance, though, with the G Stylus’ image looking purple and the G Power’s green. Although, the latter is a little better.

Selfies

Just like with the rest of the cameras, the Stylus is sharper. And, in this case, it’s also done a better job with HDR, whereas the G Power has overexposed the sky making it look white. Still, the Power’s color reproduction is much more true to life.

More Camera Samples

Battery Life and Charging

The one strong point of the Moto G Power

The Moto G Power will last you longer. | Image by PhoneArena

Both phones have 5,000 mAh batteries, but our testing showed the G Power lasting longer, likely due to its less power-hungry screen and chipset. However, the Stylus makes up for its shorter endurance with significantly faster 68W wired charging — compared to the G Power’s 30W. Both phones support 15W wireless charging.

PhoneArena Battery and Charging Test Results:

While the battery life tests reveal the one benefit of going for the Moto G Power vs the Moto G Stylus, the latter has much faster charging speeds (although you need to buy Motorola’s 68W charger separately). Thanks to its fast charging, the Stylus makes up for its lower estimated battery life.

Audio Quality and Haptics

Both phones feature stereo speakers and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The Stylus offers a slightly clearer audio experience and better haptics, but neither phone excels in sound quality. They do get loud, though, and are clear enough for casual media use.

Specs Comparison

Which one should you buy?

The Moto G Power is what you would expect a $300 phone to be. | Image by PhoneArena

A hundred bucks difference in the world of budget phones is a significant one. In this case, for its extra cost, the Moto G Stylus (2025) will simply offer you a drastically better smartphone experience compared to the Moto G Power (2025).

However, there is something to be said about the Moto G Power’s surprisingly decent camera quality. And, of course, now that the Stylus does not have the great battery life its predecessor used to, it is a viable option for those that want their phone to last longer on a single charge.