Is your smartphone eavesdropping on you? It's a question that will never go away because it's easy to envision hackers or malicious apps taking over your device to spy on conversations, snap photos, or even record video. But fewer people will be asking it, thanks to Android 12, which has a new privacy feature that visually warns you of possible invasive surveillance.
Whether it's a short road trip or an 18-hour flight, our phones are now essential travel companions. No longer do we need a GPS unit, maps, cameras, camcorders, or even boarding passes. However, not all phones are created equal in this regard. Some are more suited for traveling, no matter the duration.
Amazon Prime Day is nearly here, but that doesn't mean the deals are a mystery. Sure, most of Amazon's best sales and discounts won't be announced until Prime Day itself, but we already know some awesome smartphone deals thanks to a handful of early sneak-peeks.
Great news if you're looking to upgrade to either the S10e, S10, or S10+. Samsung has a trade-in program that's offering potentially massive discounts of up to $550 if you preorder one of their flagships right now — but only for certain phones.
One of the best features on Pixel phones is the new call screening. Any call received on your Pixel device can now be answered by your Google Assistant, allowing you avoid spam calls, wrong numbers, or even exes. But what many don't know is that you can listen to the caller during the screening process.
To combat their poor coverage in rural areas, T-Mobile spent nearly $8 billion on 600 MHz spectrum in 2017, which was converted to LTE Band 71. With such a low frequency, the signal can travel further, providing LTE speeds to more Americans. But your phone also has to support this frequency, and so far, only a handful do.
In 2017, Google introduced a new feature called Fast Pair. This made discovering and pairing Bluetooth devices completely stress-free, as it eliminated the need to fumble through settings. Google has now made it even easier, so Fast Pair is a must-have feature for your next headphones.
After the limited initial release of the massively popular game on the Android platform, many users have been stuck waiting to play Fortnite. That's because, initially, Epic Games only released the game to Samsung Galaxy devices, and asked non-Samsung users to join an invite list. Well, the wait is finally over.
The headphone jack is becoming outdated technology in smartphones — that's what many manufacturers would have you believe. For the convenience of the audiophiles out there, we recently published our list of all phones that have removed the 3.5 mm jack. But what did each company gain inside their flagship phones by removing this supposedly antiquated port?
Android 11 is officially out. With Google's continuous work on the update process, it is expected that more smartphones will receive the latest update in a timely fashion. However, exactly when the update is expected isn't always known.
For many of us, our work phone and our personal phone are one and the same. Just any old phone isn't going to cut it when you need to meet a deadline — a phone with built-in features that make it easier to get things done is almost a must.
In a bold move, Samsung has decided to forgo the Galaxy S11 moniker and jump straight to the S20. Perhaps it's marketing for the new 20:9 aspect ratio and 120 Hz display, or maybe it's just the fact that it's releasing in 2020.
It was only a few years ago when the idea of a 5+ inch display on a smartphone was unreal. With most hovering around four inches at the time, a phone that big seemed impossible to hold. We've come a long way since then, but it appears another wave of large displays will soon hit us, and they are all at least six inches.
It just keeps getting harder to enjoy all of the benefits of root without sacrificing features. Thanks to SafetyNet, we've lost the ability to use Android Pay, Pokémon GO, and even Snapchat to an extent. But the most recent news on this front is perhaps worst of all: Netflix has already stopped showing up on the Play Store for rooted users, and soon, it may refuse to run even if you've sideloaded the app.
Google's new Project Fi cellular carrier has been making waves across the mobile industry, so we decided to put it to the test against T-Mobile, one of the more established networks. For the actual testing, we slapped a SIM card from each carrier into two identical Pixel XL phones, which offer full compatibility with both networks.
Android 12 comes with new features and upgrades that any mobile gamer can appreciate, including Instant Play, which lets you play games instantly without downloading them first. Even better, there's Game Dashboard, which adds shortcuts for screenshots, screen recordings, and more in whatever game you play. The only problems are that it's not enabled by default, and it's a little hard to find.
Let's say you gave your Wi-Fi password to your neighbor a while back, under the assumption that they'd only use it while they were at your house sharing stuff via Chromecast. But now, your connection is slower than it normally should be, and you have this sneaking suspicion that the dude in apartment 3C is flat-out piggybacking off of your home network.
Smartphones are inherently bad for privacy. You've basically got a tracking device in your pocket, pinging off cell towers and locking onto GPS satellites. All the while, tracking cookies, advertising IDs, and usage stats follow you around the internet.
Most Android phones don't even have an Oreo beta yet, but that's not stopping Google from releasing the preview to their next big update. Android Pie is here for developers to test, and with it, one of the more controversial additions in the Android world today — the notch.
If you're in the market for a new smartphone and want nothing but the best of the best, now's the time to act. Some of the greatest phones money can buy are being released as we speak, while others are still in their prime and will continue to be for most of 2024. Whether you want an iPhone or Android, we've rounded up the best picks you have to choose from for top-of-the-line specs and advanced features.
It's official — the newest version of Google's mobile operating system is called Android 8.0 Oreo, and it's in the process of rolling out to many different devices. Oreo has plenty of changes in store, ranging from revamped looks to under-the-hood improvements, so there's tons of cool new stuff to explore.
|Choose Your View: Quick Bullet Points | Detailed Descriptions Android's newest major update is a special one — it's the tenth full version of the world's most commonly used operating system. The latest release, dubbed simply Android 10 (codename Android Q), was first showcased as a beta back in March 2019, so we've been digging around in it for several months. There's one dramatic visual change, plus there are a lot of goodies in general.
Facebook added a new feature that lets you post 3D versions of your portrait mode photos for all your family and friends to see on their smartphones, computers, and virtual reality goggles. These new 3D photos add a whole new dimension to your images with movement and more depth.
Over the past week, we've had a number of important launches take place in the Android community. Samsung is in the middle of their rollout of the Galaxy S9, with preorders in the US shipping this week. Google also rolled out the first Android P developer preview last week. While these may seem unrelated, there are actually a number of Android P features inspired by Samsung software.
In the battle for best stock Android flagships, there are really only two choices: Google Pixel phones and OnePlus phones. Although the latter isn't true stock Android, it is impressively close and usually paired with more impressive hardware than the Pixel lineup. The latest is the OnePlus 6T, which will be a bit controversial for fans this year.
It is safe to say 2020 sucks. With the coronavirus pandemic and civil unrest, things haven't been great. But beyond impacting your emotional state, that upcoming phone you've been waiting for has likely had its release date pushed back.
For Android smartphones, the latest craze is high refresh rate displays, and many popular flagships have them. But until now, there has been no way to confirm it is, in fact, running at higher hertz besides a menu option. Android 11 changes this.
We all got a little jealous of the iPhone 7 Plus's dual-lens camera during the Apple Keynote in September. It's okay, you can admit it. But just because your Android doesn't have two lenses doesn't mean you can't recreate the fun bokeh effect of the iPhone's now wildly popular Portrait Mode.
Google's Pixel phones have a feature that lets you swipe down on the fingerprint scanner to open your notification shade and Quick Settings panel. It's one of those features that make you wonder why it wasn't there in the first place, since it gives you another way to interact with your device, and your fingerprint scanner isn't being used while you're screen is on anyway.
One of my favorite perks of this job is the opportunity to try out all the big flagship phones each year. Whether it's rating their suitability for a particular use-case or just entering their specs into our comparison tool, we have to get our hands on all major phones released in the US. We pride ourselves on being fair in our reviews and roundups, but that doesn't mean we don't have preferences.
Android 12 was released to the Google Pixel devices on Oct. 19, 2021, so anyone with a Pixel 3 or newer model can install the new operating system with an over-the-air update. The AOSP version of Android 12 was released a few weeks earlier on Oct. 4, so OEMs could use or modify the source code on their smartphones. So, what devices have or will have Android 12 then?
Spam calls are one of the most annoying things to happen in the world of smartphones for more than one reason. Not only are they bothersome, but they can also be dangerous to people who don't know any better. Google has come up with a crafty solution known as "Call Screen" to let the Google Assistant handle the call for you while you listen in on the caller like a stealth ninja.
Already a dominant force at the box office, Marvel Studios appears intent on establishing itself as the ruler of augmented reality media as well.
Update February 25: The Nokia 9 PureView was announced at Mobile World Congress! Read all of the official specs and details at our full rundown of Nokia's latest flagship.
Following in iOS 11's footsteps, Android 9.0 Pie will include a security feature that lets you immediately disable the fingerprint scanner as well as extended Smart Lock features. After initiating the feature, you will be required to insert your PIN, pattern, or password before any other unlock methods will work again.
With the recent launch of the LG V30 and the Pixel 2 XL, LG has reintroduced the world to POLED. This display tech was showcased at CES 2015 and billed as a rival to Samsung's AMOLED displays, then promptly disappeared from the market for two years. But now that two of the biggest flagship phones this year are using the technology, many folks will be wondering what makes POLED different.
The OnePlus 3T was released about five months after the OnePlus 3 with several noticeable upgrades. Firstly, it has a new processor, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821, which is the same one that the Pixel and Pixel XL sport. Second is the 16 MP front-facing camera with a different sensor. And the next big change was a slightly larger 3,400 mAh capacity battery.
The new Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ phones were announced on March 29 at the Samsung UNPACKED 2017 event. Preorders start on March 30 for the Korean tech giant's latest flagships, and sales officially begin in the US on April 21. Samsung will need a smooth release to win back consumer trust after the Note7 mess, and it's already looking like the S8 won't disappoint.
Alongside the launch of Android 11, Google has gifted Pixel users with several exclusive features, including App Suggestions on the home screen. Another exclusive feature involves Live View, the augmented reality walking navigation feature in Google Maps and one of the more useful implementations of AR for the average consumer.
Motorola is a shell of its former self. In 2010, it had just released the Motorola Droid, a phone so popular it led to all Android phones being called "Droids" by non-techies. But there have been some rough years between then and now, and Motorola's latest "flagship" doesn't look like it will help get them off this path.
