My video review
Pros:
- Has a great HD display with a 2160 x 1080 resolution
- The stylus is great for people who will use it
- Metro and Boost users will be happy to find 3 GB of RAM, which for them, is an upgrade from the Stylo 4
- The performance was better than expected for a phone with a Snapdragon 450
- The Metro by T-Mobile version of this phone has NFC (other carriers may also carry models with NFC. I have not verified)
- A 3,500 mAh battery is 200 mAh larger than the Stylo 4 from last year
Cons:
- This phone is pretty much a Stylo 4 clone with very little improvements
- This phone comes with a Snapdragon 450 processor, which is a little slow compared to $300 phones like the Moto G7
- The camera is not anything to get excited about and is not upgraded from the Stylo 4
Review summary:
This phone is a pretty good phone for the money. $300 phones have a faster processor, but none of those $300 phones comes with a stylus. If you are good at finding deals, you might find a faster phone for $230, but that phone won’t be much faster, and it won’t come with a stylus.
The display is really good for the money on this device, and currently, it is the only Galaxy Note alternative on the market outside of previous Stylos.
If you really want a phone with a built-in stylus and you can’t afford the Galaxy Note, this is one of your best options. You can pick up a used Galaxy Note 8 or a used Galaxy Note 9 on eBay, but those phones will have older used batteries. This phone has a great display and it performs well for most people in most situations. As long as your expectations are set right and you don’t expect Galaxy Note speed, you should enjoy this phone. For $230, this phone is worth your money if you want a phone with a stylus, but if you don’t need a stylus, I recommend spending just a little more to get a phone with a faster processor and a better camera.
Specs, design, and build quality
The LG Stylo 5 is pretty much a Stylo 4 2.0.
The Stylo 5 has an HD display with 2160 x 1080 resolution, a Snapdragon 450 processor, 3 GB of RAM, and a 3,500 mAh battery.
This device does come with a headphone jack and a USB-C charging port, which is always good to see.
This device seems to use the same materials as the Stylo 4, and I don’t see much of a difference between them.
The fingerprint is in the same exact spot as it was on the Stylo 4, the bezels are only slightly smaller than the Stylo 4, the stylus is virtually the same as the Stylo 4, and the camera is virtually the same as the Stylo 4.
What’s the difference between the Stylo 5 and the Stylo 4?
Simply put, there aren’t a lot of differences between the Stylo 5 and the Stylo 4.
I only noticed a few differences:
- The Metro by T-Mobile version and the Boost Mobile version of this phone both have 3 GB of RAM, which is an upgrade compared to last years Stylo 4’s.
- The Stylo 5 has a 3,500 mAh battery compared to a 3,300 mAh battery in the Stylo 4.
- The Stylo 5 has Android Pie (Android 9), and the Stylo 4 has Android Oreo (Android 8).
- The Metro by T-Mobile version has NFC, which is the same as the Metro version of the Stylo 4, but this may indicate other versions also have NFC (no other version of the Stylo 4 has NFC outside of the Metro version).
Outside of these differences, there are no other differences to report.
Screen and display quality
When we talk about finding a great display for under $300, this is it.
Phones like the Moto G7 Power might have a faster processor for nearly the same money, but the Moto G7 Power only has a display with a 1520 x 720 resolution.
The Stylo 5 has a great HD display with 2160 x 1080 resolution. In my experience, it is a very bright display and even got brighter than my Pixel 3a.
Performance
No matter how many reviews I do, I am always leery of praising a device for performance or crushing it, simply because everyone will come to this tablet with different expectations.
This phone has a Snapdragon 450 processor, which is the same processor found in the Moto G6 and the LG Stylo 4.
This phone did perform well in my tests and it surprised me. It could have just been pure luck, but it seemed to perform relatively fast for a Snapdragon 450.
Still, you shouldn’t expect this phone to perform like a $300 phone. Yes, you are paying about $230 for the phone, but you will find faster performance in a $300 phone like the Moto G7, or even the Moto G7 Power.
Don’t get me wrong, if you are coming from an older LG Stylo or a slower phone you will be very happy with this device.
In my opinion, you might be able to spend an extra $20 on a device and get a slightly faster device, but you may sacrifice display quality and you won’t get the stylus functionality that you get with the LG Stylo.
For that reason, the stylus and the big display are the two big selling points for the Stylo. You will get adequate performance, but it definitely won’t compare to a Galaxy Note 8, Note 9, or Note 10.
Battery life
The LG Stylo 5 comes with a 3,500 mAh battery, which is a very good size. Most phones, even $800 phones, come with batteries around 3,000 mAh so you should get above-average battery life with this phone.
In my experience, most people will be very happy with the battery life of this phone.
If you are wanting the best battery life of nearly any phone around, the Moto G7 Power has a huge 5,000 mAh battery for nearly the same price, with a better processor. You will get a little bit of a worse display, and the phone will have a smaller screen. If you are okay with those trade-offs, you should consider the Moto G7 Power, but the LG Stylo 5 has a better battery life than the Stylo 4, and a better battery than most phones.
Other features
This phone has decent speakers for that can get decently loud. The sound only comes out of the bottom of the device, but you shouldn’t have too much to worry about.
Good bang for your buck?
So is the LG Stylo 5 a good deal? It really depends on who you are.
If you get the phone at Metro for free with a port-in, or you find a cheap port in dea to get the phone for under $100, this phone is a no brainer. This phone has a great display, great stylus capabilities, and it performs well for $200 or less.
If you are wanting to get a phone with a stylus, this is also one of your only options. For $230, you can get a phone that has a better display than many options at that price point, and a phone with a stylus. The performance should be fairly similar to other phones at the price point, so if you want a stylus and you can’t afford a Galaxy Note, this phone is a pretty good option.
If you don’t really need a Stylus, this phone isn’t a bad option, but you might want to spend a little more money and get a phone like the Moto G7. The Moto G7 has a faster processor and 4 GB of RAM. You should also see a bit of a camera improvement with a phone like the Moto G7. If you don’t care about the stylus, spending $70 more to get those features may be worth it to you.
But the LG Stylo has a bigger display than the Moto G7 and a stylus, so if either of those things appeal to you, you still might be better off with the Stylo.
Overall, even at $230, it is a pretty good buy for most people, and as long as you aren’t expecting the performance of a Note or the camera quality of a Google Pixel, you should really enjoy this phone.
Have any thoughts? Feel free to share them and comment below!
You can also like us on Facebook by clicking here and pressing “like” on our page!