Motorola's Razr might be getting all the attention, but mid-range phones like the Moto G are what have vaulted the brand back into profitability. In other words, those $250-ish phones are serious business, and the company's latest models -- the Moto G Power and Moto G Stylus -- take the line in some interesting new directions.
They are, however, very similar phones. Both use Qualcomm's Snapdragon 655 chipset with 4GB of RAM, not to mention the same 6.4-inch, 19:9 LCD screen running at Full HD+. Unlike the recently announced Moto G8 Plus, neither of these new models' screens have a teardrop notch -- instead, holes punched in their top-left corners reveal 16MP front-facing cameras. Throw in some Dolby-tuned stereo speakers, lightly tweaked builds of Android 10 and a new Gamesense feature that blocks notifications mid-frag, and you've got a solid shared foundation to work with.
At $249, the Moto G Power is less expensive of the two, and if I'm honest, it's generally the less interesting model to boot. Easily the best thing about this phone is its massive, 5,000mAh battery, which Motorola rates for up to three days of continuous use. That's not a record or anything -- last year's Moto G7 Power packed a similarly large battery -- but customers keep clamoring for multi-day usage and Motorola seems happy to oblige.
Gallery: Moto G Power hands-on | 9 Photos
Gallery: Moto G Power hands-on | 9 Photos
Beyond that, this Moto G model also packs a curious triple-camera system. The 16MP main sensor seemed like an adequate performer in our limited hands-on time, though the dreary winter conditions in Chicago meant shooting gorgeous photos was pretty much out of the question anyway. The 8MP wide-angle camera performed about as well -- its photos seemed just a touch underexposed -- but captured a full 118 degrees of Chicago skyline anyway. The real oddball here is the 2MP macro camera which captured surprisingly detailed shots of quarters and flower bulbs, but seemed sort of unnecessary overall. I'm all for choice and flexibility in my smartphone cameras, but your mileage is really going to vary with this one -- I can't remember the last time I really wished I was carrying a macro lens.
The Moto G Power has its charms -- namely, that tremendous battery -- but the G Stylus is easily the more interesting of the two. That's mostly because of, well, that stylus -- it's a far cry from the Galaxy Note's S Pen and isn't much more than a thin stick with a metal-mesh tip, but these things are so rare in general that Motorola deserves some credit for taking a stab at the concept. (That said, it feels a lot like the LG Stylo.)