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All Posts by Alex Dobie

Google Pixel 2 + Pixel 2 XL video review

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 17 Oct 2017 3:22 pm
How do you follow up on two of the best Android phones ever made? That's the conundrum facing Google to answer with its new Pixel phones, which, understandably, have an awful lot to live up to. Aside from anything else, these are the flagship devices from the people who make Android. Expectations are high, especially with the super-expensive price tags these phones will carry. So...

Watch our Huawei Mate 10 + Mate 10 Pro video preview!

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 17 Oct 2017 7:22 am
If you look at the heritage of the Huawei Mate series over the years, one thing stands out: These are big, beastly tank-like phones — and with enormous screens and huge batteries inside, they needed to be. The latest Mate phones have pivoted slightly, though. Along with all the generational improvements that come in any new flagship, the Mate 10 packs all the technology we'd expect...

Behold, the Porsche Design Huawei Mate 10!

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 16 Oct 2017 9:54 am
Mate 10 Porsche Design
Porsche Design and Huawei's latest partnership makes the iPhone X look positively affordable. Last year we got the Porsche Design Huawei Mate 9, a rebadged version of the Mate 9 Pro, with a fancy new paint job, a weird custom theme, and a ludicrous 256GB of internal storage. Oh, and a $1500 price tag.

Huawei Mate 10 + Mate 10 Pro hands-on preview

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 16 Oct 2017 9:03 am
Huawei's latest Oreo-powered flagship phones combine AI smarts with dual f/1.6 cameras and, of course, enormous batteries. If you look at the heritage of the Huawei Mate series, going all the way back to 2013's Ascend Mate one thing stands out: These are big, beastly, sturdy phones. Unapologetically gigantic screens are paired with equally hefty batteries, signifying a phone that means...

Huawei Mate 10 + Mate 10 Pro announced: AI-focused flagships with dual f/1.6 cameras, giant batteries + Oreo

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 16 Oct 2017 9:01 am
Huawei unveils two new flagship phones — but only one will be coming to the U.S. and UK. At a special event in Munich, Germany, Huawei has just taken the wraps off its new flagship smartphones, the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro. Following on from last year's Mate 9, the new model comes in two different flavors: A vanilla Mate 9 with a 5.9-inch 16:9 screen, and a 6-inch Mate 10 Pro with a taller 18:9...

Huawei Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro specs

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 16 Oct 2017 9:01 am
See how Huawei's two new flagship phones measure up. The Huawei Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro are official, bringing Android 8.0 Oreo, a new AI-equipped CPU and a promising dual f/1.6 camera setup. But in addition to the really obvious differences between these two new flagships — like the taller 18:9 aspect ratio of the Pro — there are a handful of other hardware differences worth noting. Check...

Huawei doubles down on software with fast Mate 9 Oreo update, monthly security patch goal

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 16 Oct 2017 9:01 am
Huawei Mate 9
Huawei's software boss confirms Mate 9 Oreo update scheduled for four weeks after the Mate 10 launch. Huawei will target monthly security updates for its new flagships. And the company is already working with Android P. The newly-announced Huawei Mate 10 ships with Android 8.0 Oreo and the new EMUI 8 interface, but Huawei isn't limiting its latest software to just the new releases. At a...

Best Android Phones with Expandable Storage

Posted by Alex Dobie on 10 Oct 2017 2:00 pm
Best overall Best smaller phone Other alternatives Best mid-range option Best budget pick Best overall Samsung Galaxy Note 8 See at Best Buy See at T-Mobile See at Verizon See at AT&T See at Sprint See at Samsung Samsung's Galaxy Note series is back in style, with an enormous near bezelless display, new S Pen features and Samsung's first dual camera system in a smartphone. The Note 8...

LG V30: Everything you need to know

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 7 Oct 2017 12:00 pm
LG V30
A primer on LG's best Android smartphone to date, the V30. Sometime around late 2016, LG decided to stop trying to win smartphone market share with gimmickry, instead concentrating on just making good products. The LG G6 was the first product of this new approach from the Korean company, winning praise from critics, but not really moving the needle against local rival Samsung's Galaxy S8. For...

Google Lens: Everything you need to know

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 6 Oct 2017 9:00 am
Google's big data advantage might help Lens succeed where others have failed. Google Lens was one of the major announcements of the Google I/O 2017 keynote, and an important part of Google's Pixel 2 phone plans. For Google, a company with a long history in visual search, Lens is the latest step in an ongoing journey around computer vision. This is an endeavor which can be traced back to Google...

Video: Google Pixel 2017 hardware event recap

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 5 Oct 2017 5:31 pm
Google's hardware loadout for late 2017 includes two new Pixel phones, the first Pixel laptop in years, new Google Homes, auto-translating earbuds and an AI-powered camera. At its event in San Francisco on Wednesday, the company unveiled a motherload of new gadgets across multiple categories, giving Google fans plenty to look forward to over the coming months. Google's full...

Best MicroSD Card For Android

Posted by Alex Dobie on 4 Oct 2017 2:00 pm
Best overall Best value — capacity Best value — speed Best balanced Best top-tier Samsung EVO+ 256GB See at Amazon Samsung's very-highest-of-the-high-end microSD card isn't cheap. In fact, it's the priciest on this list. But you're also getting a winning combination of performance and storage capacity, with 90MB/sec write speeds and 95MB/sec reads, and an enormous 256GB of space. That's...

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 review: A second opinion

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 4 Oct 2017 9:00 am
Galaxy Note 8
In a post-Galaxy S8 world, the Note 8 is safe, predictable and arguably overpriced. But it's still one of the very best Android phones you can buy right now. Until recently, the last Galaxy Note I could actually buy in the UK was a model released almost three years ago. 2015's Note 5 never reached European shores, and the Note 7 was canned just before the official Euro release could begin. It'...

Galaxy Note 8: Top 8 S Pen features!

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 3 Oct 2017 9:00 am
Iconic smartphone features are few and far between. Yet with the original Galaxy Note back in 2011, Samsung defined an entire category of phones. You can dismiss it as gimmickry, but the S Pen is unique — no-one has managed to do pen input on a phone as well as Samsung. The new Galaxy Note 8 takes the S Pen's capabilities to new levels, further refining features that Note owners...

This could be our first look at the Huawei Mate 10 Pro

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 1 Oct 2017 10:07 pm
Glass body, f/1.6 camera and minimal bezels confirmed by latest leak. The Huawei Mate 10 series will soon be with us, as the Chinese manufacturer prepares for its October 16 launch event. but if you don't want to wait that long, then long-time leaker Evan Blass, a.k.a. @evleaks, has offered up a sneak peek of what's expected to be the more premium of the two, the Huawei Mate 10 Pro. Huawei Mate...

From the Editor's Desk: Late-breaking Pixel predictions

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 1 Oct 2017 9:11 am
Editors Desk
Hunches, predictions and gut feelings about what's next from Google. Pixel season is upon us, as Google prepares to show off next-gen hardware across several categories this coming Wednesday, October 4. It'll also be the sixth Google fall hardware launch I've covered (either in person or remotely), the first being the venerable Samsung Galaxy Nexus back in 2011. Usually that'd give you a fair...

Best Large Android Phone

Posted by Alex Dobie on 23 Sep 2017 11:00 am
Best overall Best for battery Best for less Best 'almost a Note 8' Best Overall Samsung Galaxy Note 8 See at Verizon See at AT&T See at T-Mobile See at Sprint See at Best Buy See at Amazon Forget last year's missteps — the Samsung Galaxy Note line is back in style. This year's Note takes everything we loved about the Galaxy S8 Plus and adds even more display real estate, an...

Video: LG V30 vs. Samsung Galaxy Note 8

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 22 Sep 2017 4:56 pm
The LG V30 and Samsung Galaxy Note 8 are two of the biggest new Android flagships right now. Both offer beautiful designs, high-end specs and unique dual camera technologies. They're not exactly direct competitors though — if nothing else, there's a big price and size gap between them. The V30 is expected to retail a couple hundred U.S. dollars below the Note 8's lofty price point...

Top 5 LG V30 camera features

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 18 Sep 2017 3:07 pm
Even as phones become more homogenized and samey, there's one big area left for high-end flagships to stand out: the cameras. The new LG V30 has one of the most compelling photographic feature sets we've seen in an Android phone this year. LG's new flagship boasts dual cameras with bright lenses (in both regular and wide-angle flavors), in addition to new manual shooting...

Galaxy Note 8 region locking, explained

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Posted by Alex Dobie on 15 Sep 2017 4:22 pm
Galaxy Note 8 region lock
Picking up an unlocked Note 8 in Europe today? Here's what that ominous 'European SIM card only' sticker means. If you're picking up a shiny new, unlocked Samsung Galaxy Note 8 in Europe today, you'll notice a sticker sealing the box. We've been here before with countless other Samsung flagships, and once again, the Note 8, as sold unlocked in Europe, is region-locked out of the box. But it's...

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