All Posts by Alex Dobie | Android Central

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All Posts by Alex Dobie

Two years on, the original Huawei Watch is still one of the best Android wearables

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 23 Jun 2017 8:00 am
Huawei Watch
If you don't want LTE — and let's be honest, you don't want LTE — Huawei's original Android watch remains a fantastic option. Android Wear is kind of all over the place right now. All the watches released in the past few months have either been ridiculously huge — hi there LG Watch Sport and Huawei Watch 2 — or underwhelming for other reasons — sup LG Watch Style, with sub-24-hour battery life...

HTC U11 in solar red now available in the UK

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 23 Jun 2017 4:12 am
HTC U11 red
Dual-SIM red U11 launches via HTC's online store, priced £649. Just a few days after its launch in the U.S., HTC has announced that the vibrant "solar red" version of its U11 flagship is now available to pre-order in the UK.

Where to buy the OnePlus 5 in the UK

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 21 Jun 2017 6:59 am
OnePlus 5
OnePlus continues its exclusivity deal with O2 — but you can still buy unlocked directly from the manufacturer. The OnePlus 5 is now available to order in the UK, with prices starting at £449 for the 6GB RAM + 64GB storage version, rising to £499 for a whopping 8GB + 128GB. As usual, you'll be able to order an unlocked 3T directly from OnePlus.net. And OnePlus has continued its exclusive...

Download the official OnePlus 5 wallpapers in 4K

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 21 Jun 2017 5:30 am
OnePlus 5 wallpaper
Abstract wallpapers from the latest OnePlus flagship. With the OnePlus 5 announced and about to go on general release, the man behind the stock wallpapers from the new phone has stepped forward. Artist Hampus Olsson has taken to his personal blog to tell the story of these new abstract wallpapers, which draw inspiration from macro photography.

OnePlus 5 vs. OnePlus 3: Should you upgrade?

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 20 Jun 2017 3:30 pm
OnePlus 5 vs OP3
If you've been holding onto a OnePlus 3 for the past year, is now the time to upgrade? After a barnstorming 2016, OnePlus is back with its most anticipated smartphone yet, the OnePlus 5. It's slimmer, with improvements to build quality and battery life, and a new dual camera system. But if you're rocking the year-old predecessor, the OnePlus 3 — or its upgraded cousin the 3T — is the new model...

The two OnePlus 5 colors are almost identical

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 20 Jun 2017 3:51 pm
Chances are you won't be able to tell the difference between 'slate grey' and 'midnight black.' The new OnePlus 5 comes in two color options, and damned if they're not almost identical. Should you opt for the $479 6GB / 64GB OnePlus 5, you'll get a "slate grey" chassis. Crank your purchase up to 8GB / 128GB for a cheeky $60 extra, and it's "midnight black" — similar to the murdered-out hue of...

OnePlus 5 vs. OnePlus 3T vs. OnePlus 3: Spec comparison

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 20 Jun 2017 12:46 pm
OnePlus 5 vs. OnePlus 3T vs. OnePlus 3: Spec comparison
A year of OnePlus phones at a glance. In the past 12 months, OnePlus has announced, promoted, launched, released, and discontinued two flagship smartphones. The OnePlus 3 and 3T each lasted just 6 months on store shelves — which speaks not to any lack of quality but to the reality of OnePlus's fast-moving product refresh cycle. So here we are with the OnePlus 5, the new hotness from OnePlus...

Galaxy Note 8 could debut in late August without in-display fingerprint

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 20 Jun 2017 10:03 am
Samsung logo
August 26 could be Note 8 day — but the phone may miss out on the much anticipated in-display fingerprint sensor. According to two separate reports, Samsung looks set to unveil the Galaxy Note 8 at a late August event. Reuters says a Note 8 with a display "marginally larger" than the 6.2-inch Galaxy S8 Plus will break cover towards the end of August in New York City. Korean outlet Naver pins...

Samsung Pay support comes to more banks in the UK

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 20 Jun 2017 10:18 am
Samsung Pay UK
Samsung Pay now available for HSBC, First Direct and M&S Bank customers. Samsung Pay's UK rollout continues today, with the addition of three new banks for Samsung's mobile payment service. From today, customers of HSBC, First Direct and M&S Bank can use Samsung Pay on supported devices, in addition to launch partners MBNA, Nationwide, and Santander.

HTC U11 vs Google Pixel XL: Which should you buy?

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 19 Jun 2017 11:00 am
Pixel XL, HTC U11
Google still demands top dollar for its aging Pixel XL. So should you consider the latest phone from Pixel-maker HTC instead? They're both made by HTC, pack similar display sizes, high performance and phenomenal cameras. But there's a big price difference between the Google Pixel XL ($769), and HTC U11 ($649) — and you'll also be getting a significantly different software experience. So which...

The case for killing off the Bixby button

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 18 Jun 2017 1:49 pm
Bixby
Even when Bixby Voice eventually arrives, there's no reason to keep the annoying, user-hostile hardware button. This week there was at least some good news around Bixby, Samsung's maligned AI thing from the Galaxy S8. Two months after launch, Samsung announced that Bixby Voice would finally be arriving... in the form of a beta program, in one country, the United States. On one hand, the...

HTC U11 outselling HTC 10, M9

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 16 Jun 2017 5:18 am
HTC U11
Early demand makes the U11 the most sought-after HTC phone since the M8. After years of decline in the smartphone market, HTC needed the U11 to be a success, and it looks like the new flagship phone is off to a promising start. According to Focus Taiwan, HTC smartphone division head Chia-lin Chang told shareholders and local journalists that in its first month of availability, the U11 was...

Honor 9 is the sum of many incremental upgrades, and that's just fine

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 15 Jun 2017 6:00 am
Honor 9
The biggest upgrades in this year's Honor flagship will be software, camera, and audio. The Honor 9 won't be announced in Europe for another couple of weeks — a launch event is scheduled for June 27 — but thanks to the standard early Chinese launch, we have a pretty good idea of what to expect from the handset.

EU roaming fees are no more

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 15 Jun 2017 2:17 am
UK EU roaming
Roaming fees between operators in EU member states have been abolished — but future for UK customers + visitors remains unclear. European roaming fees, finally, are no more. The cost of roaming within Europe — using one EU country's SIM card in another — has been growing more affordable for the past three years. But now roaming charges have, for the most part, finally been abolished. "Roam...

LG Pixel XL 2017? Here's what it could mean

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 13 Jun 2017 8:32 am
Clues on Google issue tracker point to LG-made, Google-branded device being in the works. The codename "Taimen" has cropped up a few times over the past few months, apparently in reference to a new big-screened Google device — presumably carrying the premium Pixel branding. Droid-Life first reported the name back in March, with claims it was a "separate project" within Google. The company uses...

ASUS ZenPad 3s 8.0 hands-on

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 31 May 2017 11:32 pm
ASUS ZenPad 3s 8.0
ASUS hasn't given up on Android tablets — its latest ZenPad looks like a decent metal-clad slate, though you'll need have to contend with the company's typically odd software UI. Once upon a time it seemed like everyone wanted to release a cheap, small Android tablet. But unspectacular tablet sales — in part fuelled by the rise of larger phones — has cooled enthusiasm for the form factor among...

Watch our HTC U11 review video!

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 30 May 2017 12:00 pm
HTC needs a new and exciting phone to compete with the Samsung Galaxy S8, and the just-launched flagship could be just what the Taiwanese manufacturer needs. After the disappointment of the U Ultra, the HTC U11 refines the metal-and-glass build seen earlier in the year, adding water resistance, improved audio, significant spec upgrades and gorgeous new color options. In our video...

From the Editor's Desk: Where next for OnePlus

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 28 May 2017 2:38 pm
With the arrival of the OnePlus 5, the company graduates from 'startup' status. So where does it go from here? OnePlus had a great 2016. Last year, the company that made its name Never Settling settled into its groove. It gave us two of the best Android phones of the year at competitive price points and built vital carrier relationships while also catering to its core "unlocked" customer base...

6 things I learned traveling with the Galaxy S8+

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 27 May 2017 1:59 pm
Galaxy S8 travel
Travel revelations from Samsung's super-tall, super-specced flagship. It takes time to get to know a new phone and understand all of its various quirks, strengths and foibles. Traveling with a device can rapidly accelerate that process, though. Nothing pushes a phone to its limits like juggling airport navigation, boarding passes and in-flight antics — and that's before you start on however...

Video: Google's crazy experiments from I/O 2017

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 24 May 2017 12:00 pm
Google I/O is about more than just keynote presentations, big announcements, developer sessions and sunburn. Each year, Google also has a tent full of wacky computational "experiments" based around some of its most important products, platforms and technologies, and I/O 2017 was no exception. This year's "Experiments" tent combined everything from machine vision, with an AI-powered...

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