On the moto g stylus (2025), the built-in pen opens quick note and capture tools. You can write notes in Moto Note, capture a document page or other screen, then draw or add labels to the resulting screenshot. That screenshot workflow marks up an image—not the original PDF or document file.
Open the stylus shortcuts
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Press the end of the built-in stylus inward to release it, then slide the stylus out.
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With the phone unlocked, tap a shortcut in the stylus menu. With the phone locked, removing the stylus opens Moto Note’s drawing and image tools for a quick note.
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The 2025 guide lists Write a note, Moto Note, Screen shot, and Free-form crop. The shortcuts can be customized, so the menu on your phone may differ. See Motorola’s moto g stylus (2025) User Guide and its instructions for using the stylus.
#1 Best Overall
- Unlocked: Compatible with all major U.S. carriers, including Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and other major carriers.
- Premium built-in stylus. Effortlessly jot notes, edit photos, sketch artwork, and navigate on the only phone in its class with a built-in stylus***.
- Striking design with advanced protection. Make a statement with an ultrathin design, modern colors, and a vegan leather finish plus outstanding water and drop protection*.
- 6.7" pOLED Super HD display + Dolby Atmos. Experience cinema-quality entertainment with over a billion shades of color and multidimensional sound.
- Networks + Bands - 5G: sub-6, 4G: LTE, 3G: WCDMA, 2G: GSM 2G: GSM band 2/3/5/8 3G: WCDMA band 1/2/4/5/8 4G: LTE band 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/14/17/18/19/20/25/26/28/29/30/38/39/40/41/42/48/66/71 5G: NR n1/2/3/5/7/12/14/20/25/26/28/29/30/38/40/41/48/66/70/71/77/78
Take and save a note
Start from the stylus menu
Tap Write a note to write or draw in Moto Note. Motorola describes this quick note as being saved in Moto Note.
Open Moto Note from Home
Swipe up from Home, open Moto, then tap Moto Note to create, edit, or share notes. The stylus can also write into text fields in apps that accept text; what appears may depend on handwriting settings and keyboard support.
Rank #2
- Unlocked: Compatible with all major U.S. carriers, including Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and other major carriers.
- Premium built-in stylus. Effortlessly jot notes, edit photos, sketch artwork, and navigate on the only phone in its class with a built-in stylus***.
- Striking design with advanced protection. Make a statement with an ultrathin design, modern colors, and a vegan leather finish plus outstanding water and drop protection*.
- 6.7" pOLED Super HD display + Dolby Atmos. Experience cinema-quality entertainment with over a billion shades of color and multidimensional sound.
- Sony - LYTIA camera with OIS. Capture brighter, more vibrant photos at night with the 50MP camera featuring Optical Image Stabilization and moto ai.
Capture a screen and mark up the screenshot
Capture the page
To use the pen shortcut, display the page and tap Screen shot in the stylus menu. Motorola also documents holding Power + Volume Down, taking a capture from Quick Settings, or using three-finger capture when enabled. Scrolling capture can include content beyond the visible screen. See Motorola’s screenshot instructions for the moto g stylus (2025).
Edit and save the image
Open the screenshot editor to crop, draw, highlight, add a text box, blur an area with a mosaic effect, undo or redo, save, delete, or share the image. To select an irregular area, choose Free-form crop and trace it with the stylus. This crops the screenshot; it does not change the document underneath.
Rank #3
- 6.7" Super HD, 1220x2712px, 446ppi, AMOLED, 10-bit, 120Hz Refresh rate, 3000nits Peak brightness, 5000mAh Battery
- 128GB ROM, 8GB RAM, Qualcomm SM6475-AB Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 (4nm), Octa-core, Adreno 710 GPU, Android 15, up to 2 major Android upgrades
- Rear Camera: 50MP, f/1.8 (wide) + 13MP, f/2.2 (ultrawide), Front Camera: 32MP, f/2.2 (wide), Bluetooth 5.4
- 3G UMTS: 850/900/1700/1900/2100MHz, 4G LTE: 1/2/3/5/7/8/12/14/25/26/29/30/38/40/41/48/66/70/71/77/78, 5G: 1/2/3/5/7/8/12/14/25/26/29/30/38/40/41/48/66/70/71/77/78 - Nano-SIM + eSIM
- Carrier unlocked US Model – Global Connectivity – Plug & Play with an ACTIVE SIM on AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and most U.S. carriers. New activations are only supported on T-Mobile, AT&T, & Verizon in the U.S., as many carriers may not recognize Carrier Unlocked IMEI's as Compatible. NOT compatible with Xfinity. Carrier unlocked device may retain original carrier logo on start up, while being fully unlocked
Saved screenshots are in Photos > Collections > Screenshots.
Screenshot markup versus annotating a document file
If you want to write over what is visible on a page, capture it, annotate the screenshot, then save or share the resulting image. This is useful for pointing out or labeling visible content, but the output is an image rather than a PDF with editable text and annotations.
Rank #4
- NEW built-in stylus. Jot notes, edit photos, sketch artwork, and navigate effortlessly with an improved stylus and updated software.
- 6.7" pOLED display and Dolby Atmos. Experience cinema-quality entertainment with over a billion shades of color and multidimensional sound*.
- 50MP Ultra Pixel camera + OIS. Capture sharper low-light photos and smoother videos with an unshakable camera system featuring Optical Image Stabilization.
- 30W TurboPower charging + over a day battery. Get hours of power in just minutes of charging, then work and play with unbelievable battery life**.
- Standout design. Make a statement with its stunning look, modern color, and soft, vegan leather finish.
If you need comments embedded in the original PDF, the 2025 Motorola materials cited here do not confirm a built-in tool for drawing on arbitrary PDF pages. A PDF app may support that task, but its workflow and compatibility depend on the app and version. Motorola’s pre-loaded apps information says Adobe Scan may be pre-loaded and describes scanning to formats such as PDF and Word; it does not document direct PDF markup.
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Choose the right route
| What you want | Use | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| A reusable freehand note | Write a note or Moto Note | A note saved in Moto Note, which you can edit or share. |
| A marked-up view of a document page or screen | Screen shot, then use the screenshot editor | An annotated image; the source document remains unchanged. |
| A cropped, irregular portion of a screen | Free-form crop | A screenshot cropped to the shape you trace. |
| Annotations inside the original PDF | Use a PDF app that supports the feature | The cited 2025 Motorola sources do not establish a particular app or workflow. |
Motorola’s instructions for the 2026 moto g stylus include a toolbar Annotate tool, but that is evidence for the 2026 model only. Do not assume the same control is present on the 2025 phone; check its current software and toolbar. The 2026 instructions are Use the pen — moto g stylus (2026).
Quick Recap
Best Value
- Unlocked: Compatible with all major U.S. carriers, including Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and other major carriers.
- Super-bright 6.7" display + Bass Boost: Take your entertainment to the next level with a fast-refreshing 120Hz display* and stereo sound with more powerful bass****.
- 50MP** Quad Pixel camera system: Capture sharper photos day or night with 4x the light sensitivity—and share beautiful selfies with a 16MP front camera.
- Superfast 5G performance*****: Unleash your entertainment at 5G speed with the MediaTek Dimensity 6300 chipset and up to 12GB of RAM with RAM Boost.******
- Long-lasting battery + TurboPower charging***: Work and play all day with a 5000mAh battery, then get hours of power in just minutes.
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