What you need to know

• A new leak provides almost all of the information we need to know about the upcoming Moto G Stylus (2022).
• The device will most likely come pre-installed with Android 11 and will receive bi-monthly security updates for the next two years.
• After upgrading to Android 12, Motorola may not release another major software update for the phone.

Motorola was previously rumored to be planning a mid-year release of the upcoming Moto G Stylus (2022). While some of the phone's specifications were leaked late last year, indicating some improvements, a new report reveals a potentially significant drawback.

According to XDA Developers, the mid-range phone will run Android 11 out of the box. This means it will be one Android version behind some of the best Android phones under $200 such as the Moto G10 Power and the Moto G Fast (2021) by the time it launches. Motorola is set to roll out Android 12 to these devices beginning next month.

However, the phone's planned OS upgrade may add insult to injury. According to the report, the Moto G Stylus (2022) will only receive a single software upgrade, implying that it will stick with Android 12 for good. Nonetheless, the phone may receive bi-monthly security updates for the next two years.

It is, however, not entirely unexpected. Last year's Moto G Stylus, which shipped with Android 10, is also due for only one major software upgrade, so this pattern appears to be standard for Motorola's stylus-equipped handset.

That said, more details in the leak give us a glimpse of what upgrades we might expect to see in the upcoming Moto G Stylus (2021) successor. It will supposedly be powered by a MediaTek Helio G85 SoC, which contradicts a previous rumor. The chipset has eight cores and a Mali-G52 GPU.

According to XDA, the phone will have a 6.78-inch full HD display with a refresh rate of 90Hz. A 5,000mAh battery with 10W charging support and a 3.5mm headphone jack could also be included in the device. Unfortunately, it may ditch NFC and dual SIM support.

Optics-wise, the device could feature a 50MP Samsung ISOCELL S5KJN1 sensor, an 8MP Samsung ISOCELL S5K4H7 ultra-wide camera, and a 2MP GalaxyCore GC02M1 depth sensor. A 16MP selfie camera may be found in the screen's centered cutout.

A previous report claimed that the smartphone may be a minor upgrade over its predecessor, with a largely unchanged design. And the latest leak appears to back it up.