Category: Technologies

Amazon and Disney on Thursday launched a new voice assistant in the US called Hey Disney! that brings Disney games, stories and more to most Echo devices. You can subscribe to the voice assistant for $6 a year, but it’s also included in an Amazon Plus Kids subscription.

To subscribe and set up the voice assistant, you can say, “Hey Alexa, introduce me to Hey Disney.” Once the voice assistant is enabled, characters such as Mickey Mouse, Rocket and Groot, C-3PO and others can give you the weather, set timers and more on your device. You can also play games with, and hear stories from, different Disney characters.

Another unique Hey Disney feature, which CNET demoed at CES 2023, is Soundscapes. These combine ambient music and sound effects to make it feel like you’re in a Disney-themed location, such as sitting on the forest moon Endor from Star Wars or walking about the Magic Kingdom.

Watch this: ‘Hey Disney’ Comes to Amazon Echo Devices

06:53

The new voice assistant doesn’t entirely replace Alexa, but operates as its own voice assistant. So if Hey Disney can’t give you an answer, Alexa can still help out.

Hey Disney works on most Echo devices, but it won’t work on the Echo Show 15, first-generation Amazon Echo, Echo Auto, Fire Tablets, Fire TV and Echo on-the-go devices.

Amazon and Disney’s launch of Hey Disney comes as anticipation builds for Amazon Prime Day 2023. While Prime Day’s exact date is still unknown, we suspect it will be on July 11 and 12.

Dish Network’s long road to becoming a fourth major wireless carrier hit a notable milestone on Thursday, with the company announcing that it now covers 70% of the US population, or over 240 million Americans, with its new 5G network. The news comes as Dish was facing a June 14 deadline by the Federal Communications Commission.

Per a press release, the company says it has “satisfied” all of its June 14 FCC obligations “including launching over 15,000 5G sites.”

Dish offers access to its network in a few ways. It owns a number of wireless brands including prepaid option Boost Mobile as well as its postpaid sibling Boost Infinite. It also has Project Genesis, another postpaid brand aimed towards early adopters that allows users to give feedback on Dish’s network.

Postpaid plans, where users pay their phone bill at the end of the month, are the common format of wireless plans offered by larger networks AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon.

In addition to being able to connect to Dish’s own 5G network, the Boost brands also are capable of tapping into AT&T and T-Mobile’s respective coverage when Dish’s service isn’t available or if a user’s device doesn’t have the right network support. The Genesis brand can also roam on AT&T’s network in areas where Dish’s network isn’t available.

For now, Project Genesis users will be able to connect to the new network whenever they are in the coverage area. Boost users are able to tap into Dish’s network in “over 50 markets,” with the company promising additional markets coming “throughout the year.”

While the network milestone is noteworthy, it is just another step in what remains a long road for the satellite TV provider. Dish still needs to get device manufacturers to include the proper bands that would allow phones, tablets and other devices to connect to its 5G offering.

As of today, only a handful of phones have proper support for Dish’s spectrum (with the primary band known as Band 70) including the 2022 and 2023 Moto Edge Plus, Samsung’s A23 and Boost’s own Celero 5G Plus. The iPhone 14 line technically has the hardware support for Dish’s 5G spectrum, but Band 70 has yet to be activated inside Apple’s phones.

Dish says in its press release that more devices with proper network support are also coming this year.

With this milestone reached Dish now faces its next FCC deadline of covering 75% of the US population with 5G service by June 2025. As Light Reading has reported, this may require another 15,000 cell sites to expand its network with the outlet saying that analysts expect Dish to also need to spend another $2 billion or $3 billion. The money could become a challenge for the company, which has seen its share price fall over 55% this year.

Whether you’re training for a major marathon or just looking to finally get off the couch, fitness apps can give you some great insights into how your training is going and how your body is responding to it.

The trade-off is that, in a lot of cases, everything from your heart rate data to where and when you run, bike and hike, won’t be private anymore. Apps including Strava, Nike Training Club and My Fitness Pal all collect your data and have varying practices as to who they share it with or sell it to.

As I explain in this deep dive, if your data ends up in the wrong hands, experts say that could put both your digital and physical security and privacy at risk. But there are a few simple things that you can do to protect yourself.

Whatever you do, don’t let the fear of being followed either online or on the street keep you from running. The “runner’s high” is real and so are the physical- and mental-health benefits that come with pounding the pavement on a regular basis.

Here are some tips to get you started.

How to stay safe online

For those too addicted to data crunching and kudos to say goodbye to Strava and other run-tracking apps, here are some ways to protect your data and for keeping online predators from crossing over into the physical world.

Think before you hand over personal info. There’s no reason you have to use your real name, birthday and other personal details, said Jeff Sizemore, chief governance office for the data security company Egnyte. Read your privacy policies. If an app or a piece of fitness hardware says it’s going to share your data with outside companies, don’t give them a way to connect it to you.

Lock down your account. Treat apps like Strava the same way you do your mainstream social media accounts. Don’t let people you don’t know follow you. These apps track and often post your activity and location, which could reveal where you live, work and run to potential attackers. Instead, require fellow runners to ask for permission to follow you, so you can pick and choose who has access to your information. In Strava, you can restrict who can see your profile page and your activities in the “privacy controls” section of your settings.

Hide the starts and ends of your runs. Strava maps can make it painfully obvious where you live. Protect your privacy through the “map visibility” section of your settings. It’ll let you hide the starts and stops of your runs, as well as give you the option of hiding your maps completely.

Disable “Flybys.” This is a Strava feature that lets you play back your run and see what other users, including complete strangers, you passed along the way and where you crossed paths with them. If that feels more than a little creepy, you can make yourself invisible to those using this feature by setting your privacy controls for flybys at “no one.”

Opt out of info sharing. Strava charges subscription fees, but it still wants to share your personal data with outside companies so they can send you targeted ads. If that irks you, turn it off. Strava’s “personal information sharing” setting is buried at the very bottom of your “privacy controls,” but it includes a toggle switch that will let you revoke permission.

How to stay safe on the streets

Here are a few tips from the New York Road Runners, organizers of the famed New York City Marathon, and others along with some product recommendations from my running team and me for staying safe.

Vary your routes. Running the same routes, the same days at the same times will make it less likely that you’ll sleep in and skip a day or fail to meet your mileage goals. But routines can also make it easier for bad people to find and follow you. Instead, change it up and make yourself harder to track.

Running is better with friends. There’s more fun and safety in numbers. Lone runners are far more likely to be attacked than any size group. In addition, accidents do happen. If you get hit by a car, run into some aggressive wildlife or just twist your ankle by stepping in a pothole, you’ll have someone with you to call for help.

Bring your phone. Yes, they are heavy, but you never know when you’re going to need to call for help, said Gene Fay, CEO of the cybersecurity company ThreatX and a 59-time marathoner. Cash and ID are musts too. That said, keep all of it concealed to avoid making yourself a target. Somehow I manage to cram all of that, plus my keys, gels and other running snacks, and a tiny water flask into this stretchy belt.

Leave the headphones at home. A great playlist may help you keep up the pace, but you’re also less likely to hear an approaching car or attacker. Opt instead for a clip-on bluetooth speaker that will let you hear everything going on around you.

Lights are a must. If you’re running at night, make sure you take along lights and reflective gear. Fay notes that lights that flash are more likely to be noticed. My favorite rechargeable vest features multicolored LED lights and reflective straps that will make it easy for cars to spot you, as well as a super-bright, flashing chest lamp that will make sure you see everything from cracks in the sidewalk to piles of dog poop, icy patches and yes, here in NYC, the occasional rat. Some of my teammates also like these rechargeable shoe lights, though you’re going to need reflective gear and body lights to go with them.

Tracking isn’t always a bad thing. If you do run alone, stick to well-light, populated areas. Tell someone where you’re going, so they know where to look if you go missing. Apps and devices that let friends and family track you, without sharing that data with the world, can be good ideas, Fay said. Be extra aware of your surroundings.

As a pet parent, you may know that classical music isn’t the only sound that can soothe a savage beast. Settling a new puppy can be a challenge, and some pets don’t do great with being left home alone. Fireworks, car rides, thunderstorms, trips to the vet or grooming sessions may cause your pet to feel uneasy. Relaxing sounds from a musical playlist can help.

A 2017 study conducted by the University of Glasgow and Scottish SPCA highlighted how kenneled dogs’ stress levels drop when they listen to reggae or soft rock. Over the years, other studies have examined how music affects boredom, stress and emotional responses in felines, dogs, pigs and other animals.

Whether you have a dog, kitten, lizard or bird, you can set them up with their own music streaming playlist. Use these apps to help put your pawed or feathered friends in chill — or party — mode.

Read more: The Best Dog Toys, According to the Experts (Our Dogs)

Spotify

Multiple options for pet music streaming

See at Spotify

Spotify’s Pet Playlists launched in 2020, but have you taken advantage of this feature yet? The lists are curated based on your pet’s personality and your personal music tastes. Choose your animal type, then share your pet’s name and Spotify walks you through a series of questions so its algorithm can tailor a custom listening experience with music pulled from your own streaming habits.

You can also stream its This is Pets Music playlist — which has 50 tracks — or press play on Pets Music Radio. Each song is geared toward helping animals relax. Additionally, there are full albums devoted to the genre, and all you need to do is search for something like “puppy music” or “bird music” under albums and add them to your library. Of course, you can always handpick songs for your pet according to their temperament, needs or species. We’re not sure if your pet snake would appreciate Nicki Minaj’s Anaconda, however.

See at Spotify

YouTube

Stream free playlists as live feeds or extended loops

See at YouTube

YouTube is home to millions of hours of free content, and when it comes to streaming music for your cat or dog, there are plenty of options. Tune in for a 24-hour livestream from a channel like Relax My Dog, which plays music along with a video to help your pup calm down — or stay entertained. If you prefer to skip the livestream, this channel also features soothing music videos that run anywhere from eight to 15 hours, or you can choose one of its themed playlists. And there’s a sister channel called Relax My Cat, not to be confused with the uber-popular video game, Stray.

You’ll also find other YouTube pet music channels such as PetTunes or Calm Your Cat, and a few that cater to rabbits, hamsters and even ferrets. But you can also go the classical music route and play hours of songs from Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin or Bach. After you dig around YouTube to find your selections, you can always create special playlists for your pets, or stream music on your TV, iPhone, iPad or Android.

See at YouTube

Amazon Music

Choose from premade or DIY playlists

See at Amazon Music

Amazon Music offers curated playlists with music that eases your dog or cat into a chill state. You can check out the Calming Music for Dogs playlist, a nearly three-hour session that’s compiled by Amazon staff. The company’s music division prepared a seven-hour collection titled “Classical for Pets” for its playlist lineup.

Outside of Amazon Music’s own roster, there are also songs, albums and artists that fall squarely into the pet music category. Shape your own playlist. Comb through tunes from Pet Care Club or Pet Music Academy that feature bells, pianos and sounds of nature for pooches, kitties, birds and more. Or tap into white noise or pink noise if it works better for your dog or cat. If you search Amazon Music by typing in terms like “dog anxiety” or “pet relaxation,” an abundance of songs and albums will pop up for you to draw from for a special playlist. You can also take a shortcut by using voice commands with an Alexa-enabled device like Echo to tee up playlists for your pet.

See at Amazon Music

Apple Music

Variety of pet-friendly sounds

See at Apple Music

Like Spotify and Amazon Music, Apple Music has full albums that you can add to your playlists from artists such as Pet Music World and Pet Therapy. Most of the pet-centric music on the service is geared toward either cats or dogs, but if you want to lean toward genres like classical, ambient music, Hz frequency or jazz, it’s all available on the platform.

Apple Music also has white noise and animal reiki selections to choose from to help your pet feel blissed out. Make your playlists stand apart by naming them after your furbaby or according to your pet’s mood, character or need (like sleep).

See at Apple Music

Services such as Tidal and Pandora also allow you to create playlists or stream pet-themed albums on repeat. They each give you the ability to collate music based on genre or artist, with the latter enabling you to stream a pet relaxation radio station. No matter where you stream, you could certainly play Beethoven or Beyoncé on a loop. But puppy lullabies, jazz and sounds of nature like falling rain seem to be among the most popular types of playlist music for our fur-bearing or feathered family members.

If you’re still running Windows 10 and are looking to upgrade your current computer to Windows 11 — the latest Windows operating system — you may want to go ahead and spring for the Pro version. Downloading it directly from Microsoft will cost you $200. However, if you’re looking for a bargain you can get it — along with lifetime access to top productivity apps via Microsoft Office Pro Plus 2021 — for just $60 at StackSocial for a limited time with a bundle that saves you 85%. There’s no expiry listed for this offer, so we recommend making your purchase sooner rather than later.

Windows 11 Pro offers some additional features that you won’t find on the base version, including Microsoft Remote Desktop, BitLocker device encryption, Windows Sandbox, Hyper-V, Azure Active Directory and much more. You’ll receive an activation key that you can use on up to three devices. Not all computers are compatible, so if you’re considering upgrading, be sure to check out the system requirements before you purchase.

Your purchase comes with a lifetime license to Office Professional 2021 as well, which includes popular programs like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher, OneNote and more. With a single one-time payment, you’ll retain lifetime access on the installed PC, which will save you a ton over the recurring charges you’ll accrue via a Microsoft 365 subscription and offers you more than the free online version of Microsoft Office. However, it’s worth noting that you’ll be limited to installing Office on just one computer and the “lifetime” part of the license refers to the lifetime of the machine you install it on.

If you don’t need the Office apps in this bundle, you can currently make the most of a Windows 11 Pro deal offering just the operating system upgrade for $30.

Relying on Google or Alexa to let you know when new seasons of shows like Outlander and Yellowstone premiere is fairly common. You probably do the same for streaming new movies like John Wick 4. However, it can be time-consuming to look up upcoming release dates for Netflix, Disney Plus, Max and any other streaming services.

So what’s the best way to hunt for which titles will be available on a streaming platform? Write it on a sticky note? Add it to your phone’s calendar? Use the streaming app’s reminder feature? All these techniques are useful, but there are apps that can do it better.

Here are my suggestions for free apps that help you track streaming TV shows and films you plan to watch, ones you’re already immersed in and titles you may be curious about but need solid recommendations. They can alert you when new episodes are set to drop or remind you where you left off in a show. I should mention that some apps below are integrated with Trakt, a web-based platform that syncs with your PC, phone or home media center, but its native app is still pretty clunky, so we left it off this list.

Read more: Max: The 34 Absolute Best TV Shows to Watch

TV Time

See at TV Time

TV Time tracks TV shows and movies, pitches recommendations and connects you with fellow fans on social media. The app is available for Android and Apple users and you can sign up for an account using Google, Apple, Twitter, Facebook or email. To get started, choose what shows you’ve watched on which streaming service (or network). Interestingly, when scrolling through Hulu’s selections, only its originals are listed but the app tells you that you can add more later.

With TV Time, you can choose from multiple lineups, including Trending Shows like Ted Lasso, Demon Slayer or Grey’s Anatomy. There are also categories for genres, a “Most Added” section with titles such as You and even a “Most Added Animation Series” row.

Once you lock in your choices, TV Time collates a Watch List and suggests which episodes of your chosen shows you should watch next. There’s a separate tab labeled “Upcoming” that outlines the day and time that new episodes drop. Thanks to TV Time, I now know the exact premiere dates for The Witcher season 3 on Netflix and the new season of Reservation Dogs on Hulu.

The app also prompts you to check off which movies you’ve watched, and the list spans decades, platforms and genres. Once you’ve completed that step, TV Time then asks what movies you want to watch. Here is where you search for specific titles or pick from TV Time’s trending list to add them to a calendar.

Additionally, you can filter your TV Time display by progress — including what you finished, shows and movies you stopped midway or what you’re currently watching.

See at TV Time

JustWatch

See at JustWatch

You may already be familiar with JustWatch as an app that curates where a title is streaming, but you can also make a watchlist, track upcoming releases, and watch a show with a single click. Once you open the app, you can select each streaming service you use — including Disney Plus, Crunchyroll and Fubo — to watch shows and films. There are 100-plus providers listed on JustWatch, and the app recently added a streaming guide for sports.

Use the app to search for TV shows and movies or click Discover to go on a scrolling adventure. Narrow your search by platform, genre, year or rating. When you click a show tile, you can tap “Track” to keep up with every episode and season. JustWatch will ask which episodes you’ve watched, and you can check off entire seasons or individual installments. Where this app stands out is when you navigate to “Watch Now” to click a streaming service’s logo, and you’re immediately taken to the show’s landing page to begin watching. Talk about convenience.

Add a title to your watch list, and JustWatch tells you which episode to watch next or you can check off when you’re caught up. It also displays the dates for upcoming episodes.

For sports fans, JustWatch Sports directs you to where you can stream football (NFL and NCAA), basketball (NBA), baseball (MLB), soccer (MLS, Liga MX and all major European leagues), tennis and Formula 1 legally online.

The app also has a personal recommendation feature and displays the price of each streaming platform. You can use JustWatch on a web browser, on Fire TV devices or on iOS and Android mobile devices. Sign up directly on the app or with your Google or Facebook account.

See at JustWatch

Hobi

See at Hobi

Available on iOS and Android, Hobi is one of the most popular and comprehensive tracking apps out there. When you open it, you can select the shows you plan to watch or have watched, and Hobi indicates where you left off. The titles are added to your watch list. If it’s an old show, Hobi lets you know the series ended but still reminds you which episodes are next for you. The Discover feature highlights trending shows, series returning in the current week, new ones airing for the month, and recommendations across genres and networks, including HBO and Netflix.

In addition to monitoring your watch list and new episode release dates, Hobi provides personal viewing stats on how much TV you’ve watched. It also estimates your favorite genres based on those statistics. The app can be integrated with Trakt.

See at Hobi

SeriesGuide

See at SeriesGuide

SeriesGuide is available on Android and Amazon Fire TV, and touts that it has no ads and doesn’t track your personal information.

When you first sign on to SeriesGuide, it gives you the option to block spoilers for show episodes you haven’t watched yet. You can either search for a title or click Discover and scroll through a lengthy list of content. Like Hobi and TV Time, the app lets you know which platform houses the series or movie you’d like to watch or track. It also integrates with Trakt.

Once you select your shows, SeriesGuide provides upcoming or recent release dates and times. For example, the display shows that episode 10 of Succession dropped on Max at 9 p.m. ET on May 28, and Power Book IV season 2 debuts on Starz on Friday, Sept. 1. I’ve been able to glean tracking information for content on Netflix, Disney Plus, Prime Video, Max, Paramount (Yellowstone) and more.

Its movie listings are pulled from TMDB and JustWatch, and you’ll find the release date, run time, cast credits and synopsis on the page. You can add films to your personal watchlist, click on the trailer link or tap the Stream/Purchase option if the digital version is available.

Among its features, there’s a notification system that alerts you when new episodes are available, a favorites list and a catalog of how many episodes remain unwatched per season. With SeriesGuide, you can click “Skip” and the app will consider an episode watched. The user interface is very easy to navigate, and you can sync alerts to your device’s calendar, rate content or check out your viewing statistics for movies and shows.

See at SeriesGuide

Cinetrak

See at Cinetrak

Cinetrak allows you to track both TV shows and movies, but you have to set up a Trakt log-in in order to create watch lists. You will see ads at the bottom of the screen, but the interface is clean and intuitive. Under the TV Shows menu, you can find titles under several categories: Genres, Trending, Popular and Top Watched. Click on a series and Cinetrak pulls up general information about the show and the seasons. Tap the plus sign to add a show by title, episode or season.

The calendar feature allows you to see episodes that have been watched, added to collections or added to your watch lists. Basic access is free, but you can upgrade your account for additional features such as creating “Liked” lists, curated collections or sharing with friends.

See at Cinetrak

Exciting updates to Apple’s Messages are coming, but you’ll have to wait a little to get your hands on them (unless you’re in the company’s developer program). Apple revealed its iOS 17 software update on June 5, but it won’t arrive until the fall. The iOS 17 update makes some major changes to Messages, adding abilities like turning pictures into stickers, transcribing voice memos, keeping your friends and family notified on your way home, and more.

News about the iOS 17 Messages update came during the keynote address at the Worldwide Developers Conference at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, California. Apple traditionally uses the annual event to give developers a preview of updates to its desktop and mobile software, and sometimes it introduces new hardware too. At the conference the company unveiled its first mixed reality headset, the Vision Pro.

Live Stickers coming to iOS 17

With the update to Messages in iOS 17, people will be able to take their photos and turn them into stickers they use in text conversations, alongside standard emoji, which can also be used as stickers. People can customize their stickers with effects — like shiny, puffy, comic and outline — and keep them in a new drawer in the keyboard for streamlined access, Apple said in a press release. Stickers will be available systemwide, including in third-party apps.

To make a photo into a sticker, you’ll touch and hold an object in a photo. Then you can style your object with various effects, outline it or create animated Live Stickers with Live Photos. To use the sticker in Messages, you’ll add them in the bubble from the Tapback menu.

Watch this: Apple Reveals iOS 17

16:43

Search in Messages, Check In and more

Also coming is a refined search feature. People will be able to apply additional filters to their Messages search to more quickly find the exact conversation they’re looking for. Plus, when you’ve received lots of texts in a group chat, you’ll be able to use the catch-up arrow to locate where the conversation left off last.

iOS 17 Messages will also transcribe voice memos you receive, if you don’t have the time to listen to them. Apple also announced a new feature that will let you keep track of your friends by viewing their location in your text conversation.

Another new location sharing feature is Check In. If you want to keep a friend or family member updated on your journey home, for example, you’ll be able to use Check In, which notifies the person of your whereabouts and lets them know if you’re having trouble getting home. “If they are not making progress toward their destination, useful information will be temporarily shared with the selected contact, such as the device’s location, battery level, and cell service status,” Apple said in the press release. Check In will be end-to-end encrypted, so only you and the person you’re sharing this information with is privy to your location.

Developers can try out iOS 17 today, and everyone can try out the public beta in a month. These iPhones will be able to run the update.

Other iOS 17 updates

The iOS 17 updates don’t stop at Messages. Apple also introduced Live Voicemail, which will give people the ability to see the message a person is leaving you as it is being recorded. This could help with deciphering between important calls that unknown numbers leave and spam.

The iOS 17 update for FaceTime includes audio and video messages, so people can leave their friends and families a FaceTime voicemail of sorts.

Also, if people want to share a contact with one another, they can use the new feature NameDrop. By bringing two iPhones or one iPhone and one Apple Watch close together, contact information can be transferred from one device to the next.

Apple kicked off WWDC by unveiling a 15-inch MacBook Air and offering details on its latest desktop software, MacOS 14 Sonoma. Also at WWDC, Apple revealed its brainiest Mac chip yet and upgraded its Mac Pro to M2 Ultra Silicon. There are new features coming in Watch OS 10 too.

Motorola’s new version of its Moto G Stylus 5G has one intriguing advantage over other phones: It’s the most affordable stylus-packing handset that can connect to 5G. This year’s Moto G Stylus 5G retails for $400 (down from last year’s $500), which could make it more appealing to anyone who wants an affordable phone with added functionality. Having a gimmick has become increasingly important, both for Motorola’s own lineup and for how the Stylus 5G stacks up to the likes of rivals from Google and Samsung.

International pricing wasn’t immediately available, but $400 converts to roughly 320 or AU$590.

On the Motorola side of things, the 4G-only Moto G Stylus comes in at $200. After around a week of testing, I’ve found it to be a great value, but there are some reasons you’d want to pay double the price for a 5G version of the phone. The Stylus 5G gets potentially faster download speeds with 5G connectivity (though it only supports sub-6 5G) and it has better specs and a nicer display.

This is the best of Motorola’s cheap phones coming out in 2023, but it’s tough to recommend over the $500 just-launched Google Pixel 7A, or the newly discounted $350 Pixel 6A from last year (which can get even cheaper when price drops down to $300). The $450 Samsung Galaxy A54 5G makes the field even more crowded.

7.5

Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G (2023)

Like

• Bright display
• Good specs and speakers
• Long battery life Stylus is a fun addition

Don’t like

• 10W charging is slow
• Night photos are blurry
• Not many stylus apps

What the Stylus 5G offers over its competitors is, yes, the stylus — which I found novel but not essential — and a decent 1,080p display alongside good battery life. Its stereo speakers and 3.5mm headphone jack make it great for watching videos or listening to music.

The Stylus 5G should be prized for its value, in fact, rather than for offering an accessory that feels like a novelty without many uses.

Like the stylus, love the media experience

The Moto G Stylus 5G is among the rare few phones that still have a stylus, and is the best option for folks who don’t want to pay $1,200 for a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.

While you won’t get a button on the stylus or a robust suite of stylus-related features compared to Samsung’s flagship, the Stylus 5G has a small array of apps designed to use its accessory. Pop out the stylus from its slot on the right side of the bottom edge, and the phone opens the Notes app (by default, though you can set any app to open) for you to start writing or drawing. There are a few other apps that are meant to use the stylus, like categorizing entries and sending live-written notes, as well as transcribing written words to text — a very notes-heavy experience.

Having a stylus is a novelty and makes the Stylus 5G stand out among competitors, but a more subtle combination of factors distinguish it, too. The 6.6-inch Full HD (2,400×1,080-pixel) display is sharp and shows good detail for an IPS LCD. Though in side by side comparisons, premium phones with OLED displays had (unsurprisingly) more true-to-life color balance and slightly sharper detail. The Stylus 5G’s screen tended toward brighter, overly vibrant levels of saturation.

But for a $400 phone, I found it’s a good screen for watching media, especially with its 120Hz maximum refresh rate that makes swiping through apps or scrolling across the web a buttery-smooth experience. Add to that top-and-bottom stereo speakers that feel truly balanced and the Stylus 5G is great to use for watching shows or playing games.
The Stylus 5G is also a respectably sleek phone for $400. At a distance, its matte rear cover looks metallic instead of plastic, as does its polished-looking plastic frame. The glass-covered square camera block on the back looks refined, and the lock button is large enough to double as a fingerprint scanner without being obnoxiously big.

Like most phones with a stylus, when locked in the end of the stylus slightly protrudes so that you can push it in to extend the endcap enough to get a fingernail underneath to pry it out.

Strong battery life, weak charging speeds

This year’s Stylus 5G has a 5,000-mAh battery which, in my testing, often lasted for a full day of use and even well into the second day. The phone can recharge at up to 20 watts, but you wouldn’t know that if you just used the basic 10-watt charger that came with the phone. In my tests, 30 minutes with the 10-watt charger juiced the phone up a measly 23% (from 5% to 28%). When I hooked it up to a charger supporting the phone’s 20-watt maximum and it recharged 38% (from 28% to 66%) in the same amount of time.

In my 45-minute usage test, the battery started at 96% and dropped to 93% after 10 minutes of gaming. It was at 91% after 10 minutes of watching video, 89% after 10 minutes of social media use, 87% after 10 minutes of video call and down to 86% after 5 minutes of varied use.

The Stylus 5G doesn’t support wireless charging, though that’s common among budget phones. The phone has a water-repellent design, according to Motorola, which is equivalent to IP52 resistance to light dust and sprayed water — but the phone has no official IP rating. That means that unlike with premium phones, which have IP68 ratings that allow them to survive prolonged drops in the pool and tumbles in beach sand, you should be careful with the Stylus 5G around liquids and dirt.

Good performance for a midrange phone

The Stylus 5G has respectable specs for its $400 price. The Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chipset puts the handset’s performance above its peers. Motorola did make some compromises in the specs compared to last year’s model to get to a cheaper price. It offers only 4 or 6 GB of RAM rather than up to 8GB.

I didn’t notice any slowdown when doing daily tasks like switching in and out of apps, watching media or playing games. There’s a momentary pause when opening the camera app, but nothing egregious. Even with the display set to a buttery-smooth 120Hz, I didn’t notice any hitching or lag while when I used the phone for basic tasks.

The phone handled gameplay without issue, running through PUBG matches and getting into shootouts with ease, whether I was playing at default settings or the graphics were bumped up (though the phone did feel warm with the latter).

This was impressive given the phone’s middling benchmarks, including a Geekbench 6 single-core score of 945 and multicore score of 2,753, which are just below the Samsung Galaxy A54’s scores but far below the Google Pixel 7A’s single-core score of 1,439 and multicore score of 3,560). But the phone does perform better than its cheaper Motorola siblings — a 3DMark Wild Life Extreme test resulted in a ho-hum score of 609 (3.7 fps), though that outperformed the 4G-only Moto G Stylus, which scored 191 (1.2 fps).

The phone comes with 128GB of built-in storage, which is the same as in last year’s Stylus 5G but is nonetheless a respectable amount of space to start for a lower-cost phone. The Stylus 5G will also be sold in configurations 6GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB of onboard storage, which is expandable up to 2TB via a microSD card.

The Stylus 5G comes with a relatively clean version of Android 13 without too many add-ons or other modifications, though there are some annoying preinstalled apps and prompts to add ones from major shopping brands. Like other cheap phones, the Stylus 5G will only get one operating system upgrade — to Android 14, which is expected to come out later in 2023. The phone will get three years of security patches, but that still means owners will get left behind by next year’s Android update.

Respectable cameras for the price, but no zoom photography

The Moto G Stylus 5G comes with a pair of rear cameras that are largely capable of taking photos in and outdoors, with some decent landscape and portrait capability, though detail drops off with night photography and there’s no telephoto lens.

The phone’s dual rear cameras include a 50 megapixel f/1.88 main shooter, which captures plenty of detail in daylight photos and a wide range of colors. This year’s model has a bigger 2-micrometer light sensor (up from 0.64 micrometers in last year’s G Stylus), which captures a lot more detail and color, though the phone tends to lump adjacent hues together into a blended spread — this makes skyscapes look blown out as the cameras fail to render subtle cloud contours.

The other rear lens is an 8-megapixel ultrawide camera, which takes noticeably less sharp photos. It can also be used for close-up photos (via a macrophotography toggle), capturing an admirable amount of detail in subjects mere centimeters from the lens, though focusing on the right part of the subject can take some practice.

On the plus side, the cameras make food look tasty.

The Stylus 5G doesn’t have a telephoto lens, meaning I relied on digital zoom to get closer to subjects — though its maximum digital zoom doesn’t look much blurrier than an iPhone’s. Through software tricks, the phone can take portrait photos that look reasonable, but it can take some effort to frame the focus on the right subject.

The Stylus 5G captures respectable photos in low-light conditions, but nighttime pics are blurry, failing to capture much detail even with ambient streetlight. It’s the most major weakness of the phone’s photo capabilities.

The 16-megapixel front-facing camera tucked in a punch-hole in the center of the display captures good detail in daylight, and while it can take sharp photos in low-light conditions, it may take a few tries and some unwanted blurry extras. Photos tend toward blown-out patches of brightly white subjects (like, you know, me), but otherwise they’re reasonably crisp.

The phone shoots 4K video at 30fps, or 1080p at 60fps, with the option for 720p slow motion at 240fps.

Moto G Stylus 5G: Bottom line

Motorola made reasonable compromises with its 5G stylus phone to drop the price, which is crucial with the more expensive Pixel 7A leading the charge for best midrange phones and the Pixel 6A nipping at the Stylus 5G’s heels.

What separates the Stylus 5G from the pack is, yes, the stylus — and you really have to love its note-taking capabilities to prize it above the competition. The Pixel phones have better performance benchmarks and take arguably better photos than the Stylus 5G. Motorola’s phone does have one advantage in its battery, which lasts longer than other phones, though its recharge rate isn’t much to brag about. Getting up to 2TB of expandable storage could move the needle for users who like to store a ton of photos and media on their devices.

There’s lots to like about this year’s Stylus 5G, with its price and specs at the top of that list. It may be hard to compete with the Pixel 7A’s Tensor 2 chipset, but coming in at $100 or 20% cheaper is significant, and may make this the right phone for those who don’t want to compromise on phone features while sticking to a budget.

How we test phones

Every phone tested by CNET’s reviews team was actually used in the real world. We test a phone’s features, play games and take photos. We examine the display to see if it’s bright, sharp and vibrant. We analyze the design and build to see how it is to hold and whether it has an IP-rating for water resistance. We push the processor’s performance to the extremes using both standardized benchmark tools like GeekBench and 3DMark, along with our own anecdotal observations navigating the interface, recording high-resolution videos and playing graphically intense games at high refresh rates.

All the cameras are tested in a variety of conditions from bright sunlight to dark indoor scenes. We try out special features like night mode and portrait mode and compare our findings against similarly priced competing phones. We also check out the battery life by using it daily as well as running a series of battery drain tests.

We take into account additional features like support for 5G, satellite connectivity, fingerprint and face sensors, stylus support, fast charging speeds, foldable displays among others that can be useful. And we balance all of this against the price to give you the verdict on whether that phone, whatever price it is, actually represents good value.