Moto G Stylus 2026 leans on AI-powered active pen upgrades as price climbs

Alongside a new affordable tablet, Motorola has introduced the refreshed Moto G Stylus. The 2026 model retains the key selling point of the lineup, a built-in active pen, but this time, the company is betting on the upgraded features.

New to the refreshed active stylus is its ability to register tilt and pressure. In supported apps, these brand-new parameters will enable better controls over the input, and Motorola says that the pen will also enable a better pen-on-paper experience.

The Notes app is one of those supported applications, and it has tools like Sketch to Image, which utilizes AI to convert simple sketches into what the brand calls "polished visuals." Another notable AI-powered feature is the Handwriting Calculator, which can solve equations from handwriting.

Besides the Notes app, users can use the pen of the new Moto G Stylus for Drag & Drop, Circle to Search, Hover to Magnify, and Quick Clip features. The interesting bits pretty much end there, as the other specs aren't that exciting. For instance, the new phone is powered by the same Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 that's inside the 2025 model.

Motorola has bumped the battery capacity, but only by a bit. The 2026 model has a 5,200 mAh battery, a 200 mAh improvement over the predecessor. It retains the same 68W fast charging support, and the camera setup isn't much different than the 2025 Moto G Stylus.

As for the display, the 2026 Moto G Stylus comes with a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with a 120 Hz refresh rate. The notable improvement here is the peak brightness rating, which has bumped from 3,000 nits to 5,000 nits.

While the specs remain pretty much the same as the predecessor, the price doesn't. The Moto G Stylus 2026 will be available with a starting price of $499.99, a $100 bump from the last-gen model. Motorola is, however, sweetening the deal by bundling a four-pack of Moto Tags for the base model.

There will be a 256 GB model, which will retail for $599.99. It will be bundled with a Moto Watch, a Moto Tag, and Moto Buds Loop earbuds (curr. $286.23 on Amazon). So, as it turns out, the 256 GB option is more worth it among the two. For those interested, the Moto G Stylus 2026 will be available to purchase from April 16, 2026, through Motorola's official website and retailers.