Motorola has substantially increased the US prices of the full Moto G (2026) family all of a sudden

What were previously three very affordable Android mid-rangers are now... much harder to recommend for US-based bargain hunters.

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Motorola Moto G Power (2026)
The Moto G Power (2026) is no longer very affordable. | Image by PhoneArena
If the Moto G Stylus (2026) caught your attention yesterday with its vastly improved pen, robust construction, and hefty battery... before losing you with a $499.99 recommended price, Motorola might have an unconventional way of recapturing your interest today.

Taking a page from its parent company's playbook, the American brand seems to have made at least three of its most compelling handsets more expensive overnight, which may indirectly boost the appeal of the newest Moto G Stylus generation, as well as that of Samsung's recently unveiled Galaxy A37 and Galaxy A57.

Those are some massive price hikes!


  • Moto G Play (2026) - from $179.99 to $249.99;
  • Moto G (2026) - from $199.99 to $299.99;
  • Moto G Power (2026) - from $299.99 to $399.99.

I'll be honest with you, I had a distinct feeling something like this was in the works ever since I laid my eyes on the Moto G Stylus (2026) press release confirming the new handset's $499.99 price tag. After all, it didn't make a lot of sense to have a $200 gap between that and the Moto G Power (2026) for an active pen, a slightly faster processor, slightly better camera system, and slightly thinner profile.

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That being said, it's also not easy to tolerate the idea that the latest Moto G Power edition is 33 percent costlier all of a sudden, especially if you look back at its modest upgrades over the 2025 generation.

The "regular" Moto G (2026) appears to have received an even heftier 50 percent (!!!) price increase out of nowhere, while the entry-level Moto G Play (2026) is "only" around 39 percent more expensive today than when it made its US commercial debut back in November 2025.

Why is this happening?


It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out these changes probably have a little something to do with the rising memory chip costs that are wreaking havoc across the entire mobile industry. At the same time, however, it's hard to stomach (and understand) such drastic price hikes when Lenovo, for instance, recently made the mid-range Idea Tab just $60 more expensive than before while only adding 30 bucks to the list price of the high-end Yoga Tab Plus.

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Similarly, Samsung very lightly increased the regular prices of a few super-premium handsets in its domestic market last week, so it's really unclear what Motorola is thinking here and what it hopes to achieve at a time of steady growth in presence and brand recognition across key global markets (including the US).

What should you do?


Well, you should definitely not buy the Moto G Play (2026), Moto G (2026), or Moto G Power (2026) at their new prices from their manufacturer's official US e-store. For what it's worth, Motorola is throwing in various gifts to sweeten the three deals, but at least for the time being, it's a lot wiser to go to a third-party retailer like Amazon and take advantage of the old prices (sans freebies)... while they're still valid.

Do you still plan to buy a member of the Moto G (2026) family soon?
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Alternatively, you could wait and see if Motorola knocks the prices back down to $179.99, $199.99, and $299.99 as part of some "super-exclusive" promotions... or opt for a nice budget 5G phone from a different brand. Like last year's $499.99 Samsung Galaxy A56 5G, which is frequently marked down to $399.99 or less. Or last year's Google Pixel 9a, which is also relatively easy to come by at a lower price than $499. Or even the Galaxy A36 5G, which normally costs only $399.99.

Are other price hikes in the pipeline?


Obviously, I can't predict the future of the smartphone market as a whole or Motorola devices in particular, but I'm afraid there's a very good chance the Razr (2025) and Razr Ultra (2025) will also become costlier before long.


Worse still, the Razr (2026), Razr Plus (2026), Razr Ultra (2026), and the non-foldable Edge (2026) mid-ranger are all virtually guaranteed (in my opinion, at least) to carry higher price tags in the US than their 2025 predecessors, which will undoubtedly make it more difficult for Motorola to continue challenging Samsung in regional (not to mention global) sales numbers.
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