For some time now, the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G has been easy to recommend to anyone looking to buy a great mid-range smartphone in the US. But the arrival of Motorola’s stylus-equipped Moto G Stylus 5G (2022) has shaken up things in the sub-$500 smartphone segment. Both phones are similarly priced and offer an enticing hardware package. The Galaxy A53 has a beautiful design, a high refresh rate AMOLED display, and capable cameras. The Moto G Stylus 5G has a large display, a built-in stylus, a triple camera setup, and a clean software experience. But which one is the best mid-ranger? We find out in this Galaxy A53 vs Moto G Stylus 5G face-off.

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Samsung Galaxy A53 5G Vs Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G: Specifications

Samsung Galaxy A53 5G

Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G

Build

  • Plastic body
  • Gorilla Glass 5 front panel
  • IP67 water/dust resistance
  • Plastic body
  • Glass front panel
  • Water-repellent coating

Dimensions and Weight

  • 159.6 x 74.8 x 8.1mm
  • 189 g
  • 168.9 x 75.8 x 9.3 mm
  • 215g

Display

  • 6.5-inch Super AMOLED
  • 120Hz refresh rate
  • 1080 x 2400 pixels
  • 6.8-inch LCD
  • 120Hz refresh rate
  • FHD+ (1080 x 2460)
  • 450 nits (typ) max brightness

SoC

Samsung Exynos 1280

Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G

RAM and Storage

  • 6GB/8GB RAM
  • 128GB/256GB internal storage
  • microSD card slot (up to 1TB)
  • 8GB RAM
  • 256GB internal storage

Battery and Charging

  • 5,000mAh battery
  • 25W Super Fast Charging
  • No charger in the box
  • No wireless charging
  • 5,000mAh
  • 10W wired charger in the box
  • Max Charging:
    • Unlocked variant: 15W
    • Verizon variant: 18W

Security

Optical in-display fingerprint sensor

Side-mounted fingerprint scanner

Rear Camera(s)

  • 64MP ƒ/1.8 main camera (with OIS)
  • 12MP ƒ/2.2 Ultra-wide
  • 5MP ƒ/2.4 Depth sensor
  • 5MP ƒ/2.4 Macro
  • 50MP main camera with OIS
  • 8MP ultra-wide 118° FoV
  • 2MP depth sensor

Front Camera(s)

  • 32MP ƒ/2.2
  • 8MP, f/2.0, 1.12µm pixel size

Ports

  • USB Type-C
  • No headphone jack
  • USB-C
  • 3.5mm headphone jack

Connectivity

  • 5G
  • LTE
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4G+5GHz)
  • Bluetooth 5.1
  • NFC (market dependent)
  • 5G
  • LTE
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4G+5GHz)
  • Bluetooth 5.1
  • NFC

Software

  • One UI 4.1 (Android 12)
    • 4 years of Android OS updates
    • 5 years of security updates
  • Android 12
    • One major OS update
    • 3 years of bi-monthly Android security patch updates

Price

$449.99

$449.99

Design & Display

The Galaxy A53 and the Moto G Stylus 5G share some design similarities. Both phones have a plastic frame and plastic back that’s coated to look like glass. They also have a hole-punch display. Speaking of the Galaxy A53, it opts for a boxy design with flat chassis and a flat back. It has a large camera module that protrudes slightly from the back, though not as much as its predecessor.

Galaxy A53

By comparison, the Moto G Stylus 5G is more curvy and rounded. Its camera bump is also more discreet than the Galaxy A53.

The Moto G stylus rests on a table with words written on the screen.

The Galaxy A53 flaunts a 6.5-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. Meanwhile, the Moto G Stylus 5G has a 6.8-inch IPS LCD with FHD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. Although both panels offer similar resolution and refresh rate, the Galaxy A53’s panel is superior. Being an AMOLED panel, it offers more vivid colors and better contrast than the LCD panel of the Moto G Stylus 5G. It also fares better under direct sunlight as it can reach up to 800 nits of brightness compared to 562 nits of the Moto G Stylus 5G.

Cameras

The camera module of the Moto G Stylus 5G on a table.

Moving to the cameras, the Galaxy A53 comes equipped with a quad-camera setup, which is headlined by a 64MP main camera with OIS. The other three shooters include a 12MP ultra-wide camera and two 2MP macro and depth sensors. The Moto G Stylus has a triple camera system, comprising a 50MP main shooter, an 8MP ultra-wide camera, and a 2MP depth sensor. As for selfies and video calls, the Galaxy A53 has a 32MP camera while the Moto G Stylus 5G has a 16MP shooter. On technical merits, the Galaxy A53 has a better camera system. In good lighting, both phones are capable of producing decent shots with rich colors and ample details from their main camera. However, in low-light and dark conditions, the Galaxy A53 produces better results. And it also has a dedicated night mode for pulling in more light when shooting dark scenes.

As we noted in our review, the Moto G Stylus' ultra-wide camera is a bit of a miss and hit. In many situations, it appears a lot darker than the main camera. The ultra-wide camera on the Galaxy A53 is also okay at best. It produces soft images in the daytime and exhibits quite a bit of noise at night.

In terms of video recording, the Moto G Stylus 5G lags behind the competition, topping out st 1080p 60fps. The Galaxy A53 can shoot 4K 30fps videos though you’ll need a tripod to get usable footage as there’s no stabilization at all when shooting at this resolution.

The Galaxy A53 wins the camera round, as it has a more versatile camera system and better low-light performance.

Galaxy A53: Camera samples

Moto G Stylus 5G (2022) camera samples

Moto G Stylus 5G (2022)

Performance

The Galaxy A53 packs the home-brewed Exynos 1280 chipset, featuring two Cortex-A78 performance cores clocked at 2.4GHz, and six Cortex-A55 efficiency cores running at 2.0GHz speed. The Moto G Stylus 5G is powered by Qualcomm’s mid-range Snapdragon 695 5G SoC, employing two Cortex-A78 derivatives cores clocked at 2.2GHz and six Kryo 660 Silver cores (Cortex-A55) clocked at 1.7GHz. On the face of it, the Exynos 1280 is better as it has faster clock speeds, though this difference is small and unlikely to make a huge difference in real-world performance.

In day-to-day tasks, both phones perform just fine though they’re obviously not as fast or fluid as expensive flagships.

Neither phone is a gaming champion. Graphics-intensive games such as Call of Duty: Mobile and Genshin Impact run fine at low settings but become choppy when you pushed to medium or high settings.

The Moto G Stylus 5G comes in a single variant with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The Galaxy A53 gives you multiple configurations to choose from: 6GB/8GB RAM and 128GB/256GB storage.

Battery, software, and misc.

The Galaxy A53 and the Moto G Stylus 5G both pack 5,000mAh batteries and should easily last you a full day on a single charger. However, both phones differ when it comes to the charging speed. The Galaxy A53 supports 25W fast charging though it doesn’t come with the charger inside the box. The charging speed on the Moto G Stylus 5G tops out at 15W. But for some strange reason, Motorola bundles a super-slow 10W charger inside the box. We can only imagine how much time it will take to charge a 5,000mAh battery using a 10W charger.

Galaxy A53's all screen design.

On the software front, the Galaxy A53 and Moto G Stylus 5G both run Android 12. However, the software experience on both phones is night and day. The Galaxy A53 runs the company’s highly customized One UI 4 skin while the Moto G Stylus 5G offers a near-stock version of Android with only a handful of tweaks on top.

The Moto G Stylus 5G stands on a table with two lego minifigs.

In terms of software support, the Galaxy A53 is leagues ahead of the Moto G Stylus 5G. It’s guaranteed to receive major OS updates for four years and five years of monthly security updates. This even beats Google’s top flagships which are promised to get three years of OS updates. The Moto G Stylus 5G, on the other hand, only promises 1 major OS update and three years of bi-monthly security updates. In other words, it won’t get any new OS updates beyond Android 13. The Galaxy A53 though should get OS updates till Android 16.

One major advantage the Moto G Stylus 5G has over the Galaxy A53 is stylus support. It comes with a built-in passive stylus and can be used to draw, take notes, annotate screenshots, or open an app. However, it’s not impressive and feature-packed as S-Pen, and as Adam Doud noted in his review “feels less intentional and polished.” But still, if you wanted a phone with stylus support without having to spend $1,200, the Moto G Stylus 5G is one of the few options on the market.

Galaxy A53 5G vs Moto G Stylus 5G: Which one should you buy?

Galaxy A53

The Galaxy A53 5G and the Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G are currently two of the best mid-range smartphones in the US. The Galaxy A53 was launched at $499 but it has come down to $449. And you can bring it down even further using deals. The Moto G Stylus 5G also has a maximum retail price of $499, but as of writing this article, it’s currently available on Amazon for $349.

The Galaxy A53 is one of the best mid-range phones, delivering high-quality smartphone experience at a great price.
Samsung Galaxy A53 5G

The Galaxy A53 offers a beautiful 120Hz AMOLED display, Exynos 1280 SoC, and a large 5,000mAh battery.

The Moto G Stylus 5G packs plenty of modern technologies for a reasonable price. It runs Android 12, and will receive major updates for a year.
Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G (2022)

The Moto G Stylus 5G comes with a built-in passive stylus, a triple camera system, and a large 5,000mAh battery.

While both are great mid-range smartphones, we think the Galaxy A53 5G is a better smartphone overall. It has a superior display, a more versatile camera and better l0w-light camera performance, and significantly better software support. If you have the budget for it, the Galaxy A53 is what you should ideally be purchasing.

However, if you can snag the Moto G Stylus 5G at $349 and don't mind just 1 year of OS updates, then it's a much better value than the Galaxy A53. It's also a no-brainer if you're specifically looking for a phone with stylus support under $500. Not to mention the Moto G Stylus offers 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage while the base model of the Galaxy A53 gives you 6GB RAM and 128GB of storage, making the deal even more enticing.