Moto G Stylus review - Moto G Stylus (Moto G Pro) Real Life Review

In hindsight, my Moto G Stylus wasn't worth buying, primarily because Moto (Lenovo's) implementaiton of Android is just deeply flawed, to put it nicely. It seems like the device is underpowered, although I have older devices running Android fine with much slower processors. They appear to have something built into the software that turns down my volume when I'm listening to a podcast over a speaker. I've tried every way possible to stop this, but it continues to do it on this device and no other device I own.
The #1 downside is Moto (Lenovo) provides updates for such a short period of time. The device was announced in February 2020 and the security updates stopped in April 2022. That's a ridiculously short support period for a $299 device. Samsung's similarly priced A-models now provide security updates for 5 years. I will probably go with them in the future instead. The lack of available ROMs in July 2022 for the Moto G Stylus is an example of how you should not rely on the goodwill of volunteer developers to keep your phone running in place of a vendor not willing to give you at least 3 or 4 years of updates. Android ROMs are not in the same position as Linux, which supports every PC made in the last 15 years.
I will never buy another Moto again. It's a shame Lenovo has done this to the brand. I hope someone else buys Moto soon to restore them to what they used to be.

My Moto G Stylus 2020 is the best phone I've ever owned. And I've owned at least a dozen Androids. And I only paid $132 otd new for mine with that wild Amazon/Tracfone promo a couple years ago. Motorola gave me so much control over the software I felt no need to Root it. All I needed was NetGuard from Github.

You can't even install LineageOS on the 2020 Moto G Stylus. It's not one of the supported models. I don't see any other ROMs either for it. It's basically a paperweight now that the 2 years of security updates are up. Hard pass on anything from Moto in the future.
My Google Pixel XL made by HTC in 2016 is a much better phone. I paid $70 for it a few years ago and get LineageOS Android updates every month. That's what I "upgraded" to from the Moto, since I'm not one to gamble security away. Once the security updates get cut off, I stop using it.

I use BitDefender. More than I need.

Related

Update or unlock!

What can we expect when we buy from moto ? A device that is no longer supported 3 months after release. A locked bootloader insuring that we will be left with a $350 paper weight when we buy our next tablet so we can run the next os that comes out. Its time for consumers to take a stand and say enough is enough . Support your devices or our next device will come from a company that does. Stop trying to make your customers pay for a new device every 3 months and support the devices that are already out .
UPGRADE OR UNLOCK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No longer supported after 3 months? They just released ICS for the Xoom and it's been unlocked since day one...and it's been out for nearly a year.
He is talking about the xoom fe. Which sucks, you can't even get to fast boot on this thing.
brandogg said:
No longer supported after 3 months? They just released ICS for the Xoom and it's been unlocked since day one...and it's been out for nearly a year.
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Click to collapse
It's a Google Experience Device. Other than that one Moto product, the OP is right....
But Moto has "promised" (take that w/ a grain of salt as we know how well Moto keeps their promises) to release less products this year and therefore the products already released should gain more support time.
I don't understand why this thread was posted here.

Next Phone for us on the 2 year upgrade cycle

Well, it's coming up on that time to think about our next phone. It seems that Samsung and Verizon is hell bent to keep us from flashing our phones. I've been looking around here and it seems that most of the developers have gone to Nexus and LG devices. From what I've seen so far I might go to the LG G4+ I recently heard rumor about.
What phones do you think is going to be popular among developers?
For sure, it isn't going to be the note 5, we all know why. The note 4 will still be with developers I'm guessing. The lg g4+ (lg g4 pro) is probably being announced at Berlin IFA and will be supported, look at the lg g4 devs.
The new nexus device will obviously be a powerhouse for a lot of people looking for an unlocked bootloader and stock vanilla android .
Anyways more devices might have support like the moto x series and sony's Xperia lines are good devices too compared to Samsung's insane pricing on their devices.
Definitely the new Nexus devices will be on the top of that list. I'm also looking @, for my use come Feb '16, a GSM G4 as well as the M9.
I'm interested in seeing what others have to say. This is what I want - removable battery, SD card slot, IR blaster, easy root and unlocked bootloader.
This is what I need - all of the above (or, if not a replaceable battery, then a battery case that allows on the fly recharging...)
I'm looking forward to Christmas and seeing what comes of it - that's the season (well, just prior to it) for all the new goodies...
What are others looking @?
I know I'm done with Samsung (iron fisted, whore mongers... No offense!) - they and Verizon have made it apparent who they believe owns my phone. Top it off with the lobotomized phones they now offer and they've gone from "smart" phone to "not-so-smart" phone...
I'm happy with my Note3 on Jasmine, but I don't see it getting an upgrade to Marshmallow. The note 5 is out of the question, I'd like a Note4(but the Verizon retail version doesn't appear to be rootable). I've got time, the Nexus on the Verizon site seems to be a bit light in the hardware side, the LG looks nice. Of course, there's always leaving Verizon, if I can convince the wife.
I just made the jump to TMO. I was afraid they'd not have the network I need here in Georgia, but they're comparable thus far to Big Red, with a greatly reduced cost structure and a heap more data for the $$$.
I was able to set my Note 3 (CDMA) up to work on TMO's GSM network and have awesome data speeds. It's a game changer - if I don't like them, I can move to AT&T and, when the time comes, root whatever I buy outright without the runaround that Verizon offers.
I thought about the Note 4 on TMO - it's an easy root but it's just not that much of an upgrade over the 3 and certainly not a $500+ upgrade. So, I'll stay put with the N3 and move to something else when this old daily driver don't drive no more... (That'll likely be Android "Zebra cake....")

Nexus 6 - Trash Or Treasure

The end of Motorola has been announced.
Will the Nexus 6 become a prized possession, reminiscent of Motorola's accomplishments? Or maybe it will be forgotten, collecting dust alongside other phones that fell victim to the expansive mobile industry.
For me personally, the Nexus 6 is perhaps the best Motorola phone made. Call it nostalgia, but I will always love my n6. Goodbye Motorola, and thanks for the memories.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Didnt know about the announcement but me an motorola go way back. People didn't even know what smartphone was back in the day (aside from tech people of course) and i was rocking Motorola mp200 windows smartphone edition, one of the best phones made. This is a sad day.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
So all products of Motorola are going away? It says they are still keeping the branding which makes it sound like they are removing the official name but still making the products under Levano
Lenovo isn't really ending Motorola Mobility. They are rebranding some phones like the Moto X and the budget devices will become Lenovo vibe phones.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Treasure.
I bought this stuff recently.
And I'm sure it's worth for 200$ disregarding its low quality.
Not worried about it. They are still keeping the Moto name though.
What`s in a name?
I don't see anything special with Nexus 6 except motorola's collabration with Google. Otherwise It is just a beefed up moto x. There were devices made and engineered by motorola once in a time and that era ended with the Droid Razr.
dryfy said:
The end of Motorola has been announced.
Will the Nexus 6 become a prized possession, reminiscent of Motorola's accomplishments? Or maybe it will be forgotten, collecting dust alongside other phones that fell victim to the expansive mobile industry.
For me personally, the Nexus 6 is perhaps the best Motorola phone made. Call it nostalgia, but I will always love my n6. Goodbye Motorola, and thanks for the memories.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Either you misread the article you read on it, or the author of that article misread the press release from Lenovo.
What is happening, is they are redefining the Motorola BRAND as exclusively premium, and merging all of the non-premium offerings in with Lenovo.
In other words, Lenovo = low/mid tier products, Motorola = high.
This move is to prevent product duplication. There is no point in having a high-end motorola competing with a high-end lenovo and a low end motorola competing with a low end lenovo.
Nexus 6 is a premium device, and a similar product would still carry the Motorola branding. So for us, nothing to see here.
TREASURE
Nexus 6 on sale for $249-$299
AMAZON.com running brand new 32G and 64G Nexus 6 sale again, until February 1st.
doitright said:
Either you misread the article you read on it, or the author of that article misread the press release from Lenovo.
What is happening, is they are redefining the Motorola BRAND as exclusively premium, and merging all of the non-premium offerings in with Lenovo.
In other words, Lenovo = low/mid tier products, Motorola = high.
This move is to prevent product duplication. There is no point in having a high-end motorola competing with a high-end lenovo and a low end motorola competing with a low end lenovo.
Nexus 6 is a premium device, and a similar product would still carry the Motorola branding. So for us, nothing to see here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The thing that sucks is that they actually aren't using the full name "Motorola". The products will be just "MOTO" and they're keeping the "M" logo. You're right about the plan though:
Lenovo, which bought Motorola Mobility from Google in 2014, is unifying its two phone businesses under the Lenovo name. It's going to use Motorola's Moto brand for high-end products and its homegrown Vibe brand for budget devices. The Motorola name isn't completely gone. It will live on from a corporate perspective as a division of the Chinese consumer-electronics giant, said Motorola Chief Operating Officer Rick Osterloh... his business group will soon take over all mobile operations at Lenovo. This means bringing Vibe phones into markets where Moto exists, and vice versa.
In markets where the Lenovo name is strong, the company intends to introduce the Moto line as an upscale product.
- CNet
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Click to collapse
Dusty Rhodes said:
The thing that sucks is that they actually aren't using the full name "Motorola". The products will be just "MOTO" and they're keeping the "M" logo. You're right about the plan though:
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Click to collapse
I wasn't aware of that aspect of it.
Well, what else could you expect from China?
Treasure
Trash for sure. The Motorola Nexus 6 is the biggest piece of junk garbage phone I've ever owned. I take my phone out to take a photo of something and I'm waiting for the camera app to open so I can take the photo, my wife takes her iPhone out and takes the photo before my Nexus 6 will respond. I'm on my 2nd Nexus 6 and about to ask for another RMA because of the garbled/distorted notification sounds issue that so many others have. What really pisses me off is that I used to enjoy flashing custom ROMs and all that fun stuff - now I stick to only the Google images or Android N previews and I'm afraid to root the phone because it's so damned buggy. This phone undoubtedly has been the worst android phone experience I've had. I used to love flashing the custom ROMs and having all the new features - now I just want a phone that I can reliably use. I can't wait for my 2 year contract with Project Fi to end so I can get a different phone.
Treasure...love my N6.
Treasure. Though it was a toss-up between the Nexus 6 and the Moto X Pure 2015, the Nexus won out. My roommate got the Pure.
Treasure of course .
Definitely treasure. I've had my N6 since December and couldn't be happier. Huge screen, good build quality, wireless and turbo charging, excellent front speakers, great battery life (6+ hrs SOT) good enough camera and lots of custom ROMs.
Treasure of course. I have been using it for 3 months and it's the best Android I have ever owned. And i have not experienced any lags or hiccups whatsoever. Everything is smooth, battery timing is great. Couldn't be happier.

Is it to late to buy a S7 Edge with only a year left on guaranteed security updates?

Getting tired of my iPhone 6S+ & fancied a change & wondered if it was to late to buy an Edge as Samsung will only guarantee another year of security updates.
Super Chimp said:
Getting tired of my iPhone 6S+ & fancied a change & wondered if it was to late to buy an Edge as Samsung will only guarantee another year of security updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. It s gr8 phone But now you can think about Galaxy S8 or other phones like Xperia XZ Or LGG6
but if you want to taste something totally different go for s8
:good:
The nice part about a model such as the S7 edge is that, for the most part, most of the hardware issues should already be solved. (think the Note 7 batteries blowing up and causing fires, microphone issues with the Pixel, Battery issues with the iPhone 6 & 7).
Security patches and such can be an issue, but with nougat out on the S7's, and that it's been out on other devices well before this model, hopefully by the time that Samsung no longer provides security patches, most of the major problems may already be corrected.
The S8 looks like it's going to be one hell of a phone, it will receive updates / android upgrades long after the S7 will.
But, once the S8 becomes available, that is usually the best time to get the older model.
Stores will be trying to dump as much of the previous generation as fast as they can, to get more room for the new, shiny toy.
Tapatalk for Android - Works awesome on my Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
I'm on the fence too and am getting tired of my iPhone 6S Plus as well. I'd probably wait and see if stores try to bundle a SD card, wireless charger and the VR headset together if you're buying brand new. Or you may just find someone desperate trying to dump their phone for a dirt cheap price once the S8 is announced.
There's a difference between os upgrades (aka feature enhancements) and security updates. I'm confident you will get the later one still for some time as e.g. the S5 still receives security updates despite being already a bit more than three years on the market.
andiling said:
There's a difference between os upgrades (aka feature enhancements) and security updates. I'm confident you will get the later one still for some time as e.g. the S5 still receives security updates despite being already a bit more than three years on the market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for that. Not doubting your word I thought Samsung only guaranteed security updates for two years?
You can check here by yourself: Firmware for Galaxy S5
Just if something is not guaranteed it does not mean they stop providing updates exactly after two years. I guess for this part it is at least two years after end of sale of the product and (former) flagships may be preferred regarding such policy.

[Q] How is V20 support from LG?

Hi all,
I'm considering buying a used V20 for ~$150 for my teenage sister-in-law. That said, I have absolutely no experience with the phone. I've read plenty of reviews but those were all from when the phone was released. Would anybody mind giving me the down-low on update support and expectations with official LG firmware? I don't want to give her a rooted phone (mostly because I don't want to provide tech support for it).
Would I be wise to buy this for her at this price or should I look elsewhere, perhaps at a Moto G5 Plus or one of the newer budget phones coming out this spring? I'm probably looking for this to be a 2-3 year phone for her, even if security updates only last another 1-2 years.
Thanks!
This phone will not get security updates for another 2 years -- MAYBE a year, no matter the model.
It is a great phone if you root it, but you said you don't want to do that. The only way you are going to get really good battery life is either get a bigger battery (and deal with the bulge), or root it
-- Brian
runningnak3d said:
This phone will not get security updates for another 2 years -- MAYBE a year, no matter the model.
It is a great phone if you root it, but you said you don't want to do that. The only way you are going to get really good battery life is either get a bigger battery (and deal with the bulge), or root it
-- Brian
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude, the next security patches for our V20 will be available on late May. Or June. Or July at worst. What are you talking about. XD :silly:
And is May or June over a year away? Did I fall into some alternate dimension? It is close enough so let's call this April. This phone will not receive any more updates after April 2019. How do I know this -- history. LG just doesn't change.
-- Brian
Anyway, LG (or pretty much any manufacturer nowadays) has a record of releasing 2 major updates for its flagship devices. Since it came out with Nougat, I guess it should receive P next year (because LG )
Not much idea about security patches though, might last around 2-3 years. Then again, the amount of security patches you receive heavily depends on the variant you have. US carrier variants seem to be getting patches recently, while on the other hand, my unlocked US996 is still stuck on December 2016 patch (while my Galaxy Note 4 is on August 2017), and the lastest one is Dec 2017.......
---------- Post added at 04:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:59 PM ----------
runningnak3d said:
And is May or June over a year away? Did I fall into some alternate dimension? It is close enough so let's call this April. This phone will not receive any more updates after April 2019. How do I know this -- history. LG just doesn't change.
-- Brian
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I seriously don't know whether you are being sarcastic or not, really
The V20 will probably receive Oreo in May anyway, which is why I said that.
Although I can agree that LG is terrible when it comes to patches. I mean, from 2016 to 2017, I've only seen a single patches for my US996, which is Dec 2017, A.K.A the one I am downloading right now. Since mine is stuck on Dec 2016 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
If you think this phone is getting P you have not owned very many LG devices. The V10 got Nougat because a big stink was made, but it was a crap build, riddled with bugs.
The V10 was released on Oct. 2015 with Lollipop. Marshmallow was released on Oct. 5 2015. Most models got their update to MM on or around April 2016. Finally (after much community outrage) they released Nougat for some models in July 2017. BARELY two years of support.
The V20 was released on Sept. 6 2016 with Nougat. Oreo was released on Aug. 21 2017. Finally some V20 models will get Oreo around April 2018.
So let me get this straight, you really think that LG is going to give this phone three years of support and supply Android P?!? LOL
-- Brian
It Is going to get P probably(every flagship gets two major updates).
Although, I do agree that the amount of time they need to release it is just.. well, I should behave.
Then again, I am coming from Nexus line..
Sent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk

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