Category: Android

HONOR View 30 Pro – Launch details

Let’s jump right in with this one – it’s got a massive 6.57″ 1080×2400 pixel 20:9 ratio screen (~400 ppi density) and there’s a rapid HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G processor. This is octa-core and runs up to 2.86GHz. So, very bloody quick. It measures 162.7 x 75.8 x …

HONOR 9X Pro announced

Announced in China last year, the 9X Global edition was launched in Barcelona last night. It’s the first Honor smartphone which is pre-installed with the Huawei AppGallery we discussed last month. It is, according to Honor “the start of an intelligent, mobile and interconnected ecosystem” away from Google …

MWC – Live from Barcelona, the Honor launch

Right now, right at this minute, we should be in Barcelona. We should, as in years past, be soaking up at least 5 minutes of sunshine as we queue to enter the Fira de Barcelona Gran Via. Sadly, it all got cancelled and we’re instead stood in the …

Grab £100 cash-back with giffgaff Samsung kit

If you’re looking at getting any of the following phones, it’s definitely worth looking at these giffgaff deals. Right now they’re giving up to £100 cashback, which is available online until March 31st. You can pay either by one up-front payment or pay monthly via RateSetter. Upfront payments …

Did someone try and find you last night?

This morning my wife jabbed me as I lay snoring. “Someone has tried to find my location. Someone knows where I am!” It had happened about 6AM and I just assumed that her Samsung or Google account had been hacked, with someone activating the “Find my phone” feature. …

realme prep the X50 Pro 5G

With Mobile World Congress now being cancelled, it’s left a lot of companies choosing to do “online launches” instead. On Monday the new boys on the block, realme, will be launching their first 5G flagship from Barcelona. The realme X50 Pro 5G. The theme of the launch is …

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip – Is that flexible glass really glass?

The people at JerryRigEverything have been taking an up-close look at the Galaxy Z Flip and they’ve come up with some very interesting results. Of course, let’s get over the immediate problem that here in the UK we call it the “Zed Flip” whilst in the USA it’s …

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip. Get yourself a bespoke micro bag!

The Galaxy Z Flip is, without doubt, a stunning handset. We took an up-close look at it on the launch day but we’ve not exactly been bombarded by case manufacturers selling covers for it. Step forward designer Ashley Williams, who’s launched an exclusive new Galaxy Z Flip accessory …

MWC 2020 – HMD Global now exits show

We’ve just updated our rolling Mobile World Congress update with yet another drop-out. This time it’s HMD Global. They’re the guys behind the current Nokia phones and they tell us that .. Our key focus has been to safeguard the health and well-being of employees and other stakeholders. …

Unpacked – The Samsung Galaxy S20 Series. All you need to know.

Let’s jump straight in. There’s three of these puppies. The Galaxy S20, S20+, and the S20 Ultra. You get some pretty astonishing filming (8K) and photography credentials here. Indeed, the entire Unpacked event was filmed and broadcast using Galaxy S20 Series handsets. There’s something called “8K Video Snap” …

Unpacked – The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip. All you need to know.

Fitted with a 6.7″ Full HD (2636×1080) 425ppi 21.9:9 Dynamic AMOLED screen, there’s also a 1.1″ Super AMOLED external display to show you information like incoming calls – that’s 303ppi and 300×112 pixels. Here’s a look.. That inner folding screen has some neat tricks, one of which is …

Samsung Unpacked – Watch it here and join in the fun!

With Mobile World Congress having a few teething problems, Samsung are keen for you to look their way for the next couple of hours. The big “Unpacked” event kicks off in 5 minutes, so settle down with a nice hot drink and watch with us…

Ambient Mode comes to OnePlus

Overnight OnePlus has announced that they’re to deploy the Google Assistant-powered Ambient Mode to OnePlus devices from the OnePlus 3 onwards. As you may know, Ambient Mode appears when your device is being charged and gives you access to a wide range of Google Assistant-powered information. To opt …

Making your smartphone child-friendly

Like most parents out there, you probably know how much kids love grabbing your phone to watch videos, take less-than-artful pics, randomly call people in your contacts, or generally drive you crazy. But, probably much to your relief, the phone acts as a quick and easy way to …

MWC – Samsung Galaxy Z Flip leakage

Twitter leaker @h0x0d has just given us a new look at the Z Flip and, well, you have to wonder about all these leaks. With a smaller MWC this year, phone manufacturers might be resorting to alternative methods to reveal their new handsets. Today it’s a rather weird …

Meet the moto G8 Power

Coming soon to a store near you, this is the G8 Power. It comes with a 5000mAh battery for a full two-day battery life plus an AI-powered quad camera setup. Powered by Android 10, there’s 64GB of storage built in and you can add up to another 512GB …

AGH! My eyes! Motorola RAZR tested to destruction!

Want a phone that looks a bit different? Check out the reborn Motorola RAZR. It’s available to pre-order now on EE and we’re still trying to borrow one to review. It folds guys. It actually folds.  Spec-wise this one has a main 6.2″ P-OLED capacitive 876 x 2142 pixel touchscreen …

MWC – LG V60 ThinQ Images leak out

Although LG is missing the big Barcelona bash this year, there’s still going to a flagship launch. It’s the V60, and leaks from the ever-brilliant @evleaks show four rear cameras… The quad-camera arrangement seems to be similar to the Samsung Galaxy S10, and it seems to be pushing …

Samsung Galaxy S20 Prices rumoured.

As we get closer and closer to the upcoming Galaxy Unpacked event, more and more leaks and rumours are flying around the interwebs. One thing we do know is that this new Samsung flagship isn’t going to be cheap. Trusted leaker Max Weinbach (of XDA Developers) has already …

MWC – LG pulls out. ZTE still to appear.

The massive mobile show that is Mobile World Congress is now just days away. This year it kicks off on February 24th, with over 109,000 attendees and the best of the mobile industry displaying their latest phones, gadgets and accessories. Trouble is, two big companies have already cancelled. …

No more BlackBerry handsets from TCL

I vividly remember rushing across the Mobile World Congress halls to see the rebirth of BlackBerry. Chinese firm TCL had a agreed a deal back in 2016 to make BlackBerry-branded phones, which ran on Android. In 2017 the KEYone appeared on the Barcelona stands. There was a definite …

How to make a traffic jam without a car

Google Maps, without doubt, is fantastic. After the company bought Waze for a huge amount of money seven years ago, it’s integrated a lot of the Waze crowdsourced driving features into Google Maps. The result is definitely beneficial for Google Maps users and we’re now used to seeing …

MWC – Let the rumours commence. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip

Each year the entire mobile industry gets together in Barcelona to meet, eat and launch. It’s in Barcelona and we’ve been on the ground every year since it first landed in Spain. In 2018 our HQ was a boat and the year before that it was a van …

Get Gapps-exit done. Huawei says, “No going back”

The mighty Huawei and Honor have been properly stuck over the last few months. The delightful and totally sane Donald Trump has put the company into the USB security bad books, and has banned them from working with any US company. That means that upcoming Huawei and Honor …

Motorola RAZR up for pre-order on EE

With so many similar-looking phones available on the market, it’s good to see EE picking up the new Motorola RAZR. It’s a classic-but-seriously-modern flip-phone, with 128GB of storage, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 CPU (octa-core with 2×2.2 GHz and 6×1.7 Ghz), 6GB RAM and a dual 16 megapixel rear …

Which is the best Android TV box?

If you’re looking to turn your TV into a smart interactive device but don’t want to have to spend money on a whole new TV, a set-top box running Android TV is just what you need. You can easily watch videos online and media from external storage. In …

The Nokia 800 Tough. A durable, rugged phone designed for hard work.

Every now and then it’s really quite refreshing to get a press release which isn’t about a smartphone. This one is a bit smart, granted. It has an on-board (non Android) app store and there’s WhatsApp and Facebook pre-loaded, plus there’s WiFi and 4G too. It’s a mere £109.99 on Amazon and …

How mobile gaming is taking over

It’s 2020 and today our mobile modern  technology plays a massive part in our day to day lives. However, what many don’t realise is that there’s been a huge amount of attention in this area. Not just the hardware, not just the operating system or the networks, but …

Huawei to use TomTom maps

Following the embargo placed on Huawei, the Chinese phone company can no longer trade with US companies. It’s effectively received a closed door from Google and all its associated services. To be honest most of the Google services can be replaced – in fact most phone manufacturers have …

BT Broadband packages now come with Google Stadia

BT (British Telecom) has announced that it is partnering with Google to launch a range of broadband plans that come with the Stadia cloud gaming service bundled in the package. BT, which is the biggest Internet Service Provider (ISP) in the UK, is planning to offer the free …

Getting a career in games 

Like gaming ? Well yes, so do I. But how do you fancy earning some money out of it? If you want to learn more, there’s a set of interactive workshops and sessions coming up on February 1st. The industry is looking to recruit more women in, as …

Planning your summer holiday? Try these companion apps

With Christmas and the entire festive season just a dim and distant memory now, people are planning to escape the dark, cold and wet winter nights by booking a summer holiday. After getting the right deal, you’ve got to consider saving the money to pay for it all …

Huawei – Who needs Google Play?

Well, if you’ve been around these parts for a while, you’ll know that Huawei (and therefore Honor) have had a rough time of late. America really doesn’t like Huawei right now, and they’re of the opinion that Huawei are bad in every way. It’s all cobblers of course …

Board games without the boredom

Well, Christmas is over now but, it there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that board games are making a big come-back. In our house at least. Monopoly seems to be a favourite right now, and we’ve ended up with three different Monopoly boards which are themed around different …

Huawei in the spotlight again, for all the wrong reasons.

The US imposed a trade block on Huawei and stopped US companies doing anything with the company. This prevented Google from delivering Gmail, YouTube and Google Play plus many other apps to about-to-appear Huawei and Honor Android handsets. In short, all the Honor and Huawei handsets on sale …

OnePlus goes 120 Hz

So, you thought the super-slick screen on the OnePlus 7T was smooth ? That’s 90 Hz and slides along like butter on a hotplate, but now OnePlus want to go further. The company have just finished off a 120 Hz Fluid Display and they’ll be introducing it this …

Getting your mobile app design right

What I loved most about the old BBC iPlayer Radio app was the GUI. The design of the interface was straightforward, easy-to-understand and worked well. Whether you were sat still or going for a jog – you had a natural and simple interface that did exactly what you …

Asus ROG Phone II – Review

Gaming phones have now become a thing and manufacturers are standing up and taking attention. This all kicked off back in 2017 when Razer released their first Razer Phone. I reviewed it shortly after it arrived on our shores and was very impressed. At the time it was …

Nokia 7.1 to join the Android 10 deployment

People do tend to overlook Nokia when looking for a new phone, however – it should be noted that they’re continuing to update a lot of their phones. The people behind Nokia phones – HMD Global – have announced that the Nokia 7.1 will also be joining the …

Honor phones drop in price during January

If you’re after a cheap phone, Honor have reduced the price of many handsets in their range this January. Their Honor 8A smartphone (which has an octa-core 2.3GHz CPU, minimalistic dewdrop display and great power-saving) is now down to just £119.99 from Argos, but you’ve got to be …