Motorola just launched the Edge 60 Stylus, and on paper, it looks like a decent budget-friendly phone with stylus support. But once you dig a little deeper, it starts to feel like déjà vu, because it kind of is. This phone is the Motorola Edge 50 Fusion with a stylus jammed into it.
There’s not much new here, and if you look past the marketing, you’ll see that this phone has more compromises than you’d expect in 2025. Here are five big reasons why the Motorola Edge 60 Stylus might not be worth your money.
1. Old Hardware, New Gimmick
Yes, the Motorola Edge 60 Stylus is a stylus phone, but that’s pretty much the only “new” thing about it. The Edge 60 Stylus is based on the Edge 50 Fusion, a phone that’s already been out there for a while. So essentially, you’re paying for one-year-old hardware with just a stylus slapped on top.
And the stylus is not even the proper kind. This is a basic capacitive stylus with no pressure sensitivity, no palm rejection, or Bluetooth controls. While they have managed to copy the quick menu from Samsung, capability-wise, this is nothing even close to Samsung’s S Pen.
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2. No HDR Support
The Motorola Edge 60 Stylus features a pOLED panel that, on paper, should be capable of delivering a high-quality viewing experience. However, it lacks proper HDR certification, meaning no HDR10, no Dolby Vision, and no HDR playback on apps like Netflix or YouTube.
This becomes a missed opportunity in 2025, where even budget phones offer some form of HDR support. You’re essentially looking at a screen that can’t fully utilize its potential, which is disappointing if you’re someone who watches a lot of video content.
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3. Weak Performance in Its Price Class
Motorola chose the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 for this phone, a mid-range chip that was already borderline when it launched in late 2023. Fast forward to 2025, and this SoC feels outdated. Phones like the OPPO K13 and realme P3 are shipping with better-performing chipsets like the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 or the 7s Gen 3, both of which offer better GPU and CPU efficiency, smoother gaming, and more future-proof headroom.
When it comes to the AnTuTu score, the Motorola Edge 60 Stylus scores 625462, which is significantly lower compared to the OPPO K13 at 711176, and the vivo T4, which scores even higher at 771901. This makes the Edge 60 Stylus one of the worst performers in its segment.
And then there’s storage. The Edge 60 Stylus uses UFS 2.2, while competitors in the same range are offering UFS 3.1 or faster. It may not seem like a huge deal, but this affects app load times, install speeds, and system performance. So yes, it’s slower, and you’ll feel it over time.
4. Poor Camera Processing and Weak Video
On paper, the Edge 60 Stylus uses a decent Sony Lytia 700C 50 MP sensor. But Motorola’s image processing holds it back. As per reviews, photos often look over-sharpened, with unnatural edges and overly boosted colors.
In the camera samples above, you can see significant overexposure issues, along with noticeable HDR problems. The camera is also very inconsistent with colors, often overboosting them. Subject detection isn’t very accurate either, and there’s a heavy amount of over-sharpening in the images, which is far from ideal, especially at this price point.
This is especially disappointing because competitors like the Nothing Phone (3a) and even the vivo T4 deliver much better consistency in both photos and video. If you’re someone who relies on your phone’s camera daily, this one’s not going to impress.
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5. Buggy Software and Slow Updates
The Edge 60 Stylus runs Motorola’s Hello UI based on Android 15 and promises two years of OS updates. That sounds okay until you realize how Motorola handles updates. Even when they do push them, they’re often light on fixes and rarely address bugs.
Look at the Edge 50 Pro from last year. It had persistent software issues, with a laggy camera app that would crash when taking multiple photos quickly. That’s not a one-off.
Motorola has a history of releasing updates that fix nothing and introduce new problems. So even though you get “stock-like” Android, the experience is far from smooth, and there’s no guarantee they’ll fix what’s broken.
Final Thoughts
The Motorola Edge 60 Stylus tries to fill a niche, affordable phones with a built-in stylus, but it doesn’t quite land. You’re getting outdated hardware, an average-at-best camera experience, a gimmicky stylus, and software that’s unreliable and inconsistent.
Unless you really want a stylus and absolutely can’t stretch your budget, you’re better off looking elsewhere. Phones like the Nothing Phone (3a), realme GT 6T, or even the iQOO Neo 10R offer far better value with fewer compromises.
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