All Posts by Alex Dobie | Android Central

Order Samsung Galaxy S8: AT&T | Verizon | T-Mobile | Sprint | Unlocked

All Posts by Alex Dobie

Galaxy S8 leak reveals gold model + U.S. branding

28 Comments
Posted by Alex Dobie on 23 Mar 2017 4:44 am
Galaxy S8 gold
It says 'Galaxy S8' on the back. Prominent leaker Evan Blass continues to lay bare the Samsung Galaxy S8 ahead of next week's announcement. This morning we're getting a look at the GS8 in gold, in addition to a fresh perspective on the grey and black models. Behold! Blass also reveals the branding for the U.S. versions of the phone which — surprise! — has additional Galaxy branding in...

Galaxy S8 screen resolution confirmed in latest leak

1 Comment
Posted by Alex Dobie on 22 Mar 2017 7:41 am
Galaxy S8 resolution
But will the GS8 default to lower than its native res? More Samsung Galaxy S8 details continue to trickle out onto the web, and today's late-breaking info — via Chinese leaker Ice Universe — appears to confirm the phone's rumored "18.5:9" aspect ratio, with a native screen resolution of 2960x1440 pixels. Like the Galaxy S7 on Nougat, there's a resolution slider, letting you scale down to "HD+"...

Android O hands-on preview: Top 10 features!

14 Comments
Posted by Alex Dobie on 21 Mar 2017 7:19 pm
Surprise! Google just took the wraps off a new version of Android in developer preview form. Say hello to Android O! It's still early days for Android O, and Google will be adding new features over the course of four developer previews before it's all finalized later in the summer. For now, what we have is a very early sneak peek at some of the new features — including notification...

What will Android O be called?

194 Comments
Posted by Alex Dobie on 21 Mar 2017 1:30 pm
Bugdroid
Android O is coming — and with it a confectionary reckoning. Android O is now available in Developer Preview, but Google isn't divulging its true name — and won't until much later in the summer. But as hard as Google's job was finding a decent N-related dessert, that's nothing compared to the dilemma Android will face this year. There's a real shortage of desserts starting with the letter O,...

Galaxy S8 pre-orders may ship as early as Apr 18

19 Comments
Posted by Alex Dobie on 21 Mar 2017 5:02 am
Galaxy S8
Expect a big pre-order push in Samsung's home market. As it looks to draw a line under last year's Note 7 unpleasantness, Samsung is reportedly betting big on Galaxy S8 pre-orders. South Korean outlet The Investor reports that subsidized deals for the new flagship will be unveiled from April 7, with pre-orders shipping out to customers as soon as April 18. It's worth noting that this likely...

Essential Accessories For Google Pixel and Pixel XL

58 Comments
Posted by Alex Dobie on 20 Mar 2017 2:00 pm
Perfect partners for your Pixel. So you've just dropped a chunk of cash on a shiny new Pixel or Pixel XL, and it'll soon be heading your way. But what about accessories for your shiny new Google phone? Google has a wide range of first-party accessories for its first own-branded handset, and we've also rounded up some top essentials from elsewhere. Take a look!

Huawei P10 vs. P10 Plus camera comparison: Tiny improvements

7 Comments
Posted by Alex Dobie on 20 Mar 2017 7:00 am
Huawei P10 + P10 Plus
Just how much difference does the P10 Plus's f/1.8 lens make? In addition to a bigger, higher-res screen and the ability to max out your RAM and storage, the jump from the Huawei P10 to P10 Plus gets you Huawei's most advanced Leica camera to date. The trusty f/2.2 Summarit-branded lens, used in the past a generation of Huawei flagships, makes way for a brighter f/1.8 Summilux aperture. On...

Galaxy S8 breaks cover in blue, white and silver

25 Comments
Posted by Alex Dobie on 20 Mar 2017 5:26 am
Galaxy S8 leak
Some GS8 models may have colored front panels, if latest leak is to be believed. The most recent Galaxy S8 render leaks may have given us the impression that Samsung's next major phone will use black front panels, even if the rest of the phone is silver, grey or some other color. However fresh live photos of the phone, scooped up from Chinese social network Weibo by Dutch outlet Techtastic,...

New Galaxy S8 leak reveals colors and pricing

165 Comments
Posted by Alex Dobie on 19 Mar 2017 9:56 am
GS8 colors
Three colors shown by veteran leaker, alongside euro pricing for phones, desktop dock, 360 camera and new Gear VR. Veteran leaker Evan Blass has kicked off what might otherwise have been a lazy Sunday with fresh revelations surrounding Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus. First, Blass gives us a closer look at three of the GS8's color options — "black sky, orchid grey and arctic silver...

Huawei P10 Lite is official — launching Mar. 31 for £299

4 Comments
Posted by Alex Dobie on 17 Mar 2017 6:32 am
Huawei P10 Lite
Affordable version of Huawei's latest flagship will arrive on EE, Vodafone and at Carphone Warehouse. Huawei has today expanded its P10 series with a new mid-priced model, the P10 Lite. Pre-orders kick off today at Vodafone, EE and Carphone Warehouse ahead of the March 31 street date.

Watch our Huawei P10 + P10 Plus video review!

2 Comments
Posted by Alex Dobie on 17 Mar 2017 6:01 am
Huawei is big in China, and growing the West. In the past twelve months, it's gone from being that one company that made great hardware but could never seem to get the software right, to being able to legitimately compete with more established brands in Europe. So in 2017, the new P10 phones are tasked with building on that momentum, while also competing with what's to come from...

Android Pay on Android Wear 2.0 just isn't that good

24 Comments
Posted by Alex Dobie on 16 Mar 2017 9:00 am
I can't quite decide whether being able to pay with my Android watch is good or bad. (And that probably means it's the latter.) I was relatively late coming to Android Pay on phones, mainly because my bank was one of the last in the UK to adopt the payment service. But I've gotten in on the ground floor with Pay on Android Wear, and I return with tales from an almost-convenient future where it...

Huawei P10 up for pre-order at Vodafone UK

1 Comment
Posted by Alex Dobie on 16 Mar 2017 6:40 am
Huawei P10
On-contract prices start at £28 per month for Huawei's latest flagship. Vodafone is the first UK network operator to open up pre-orders for the new Huawei P10. The Chinese company's latest flagship is available to pre-order in white or black (sadly not the eye-catching "dazzling blue" we've been using lately), with on-contract prices starting at £28 per month. (That's for 500MB, with a £200...

Nexus 6 owners facing Android 7.1.1 to 7.0 downgrade

49 Comments
Posted by Alex Dobie on 16 Mar 2017 6:12 am
Nexus 6
Downgrade required 'to guarantee future OTA updates.' The Android 7.1.1 Nougat update for the Nexus 6 hasn't gone entirely smoothly so far, with the most recent March 2017 security patch breaking Android Pay on the device. And now in another bizarre development, Nexus 6 owners who updated to 7.1.1 are seeing an over-the-air update back to Android 7.0. Worse still, some are reporting that the...

Huawei P10 + P10 Plus review: Great phones, with one fatal flaw

53 Comments
Posted by Alex Dobie on 15 Mar 2017 9:18 am
Huawei P10 + P10 Plus
Huawei puts in a strong showing in two different form factors — but the P10 and P10 Plus are diminished by a couple of baffling design decisions. The quick take Huawei's mainstream flagships for 2017 don't necessarily look flashy — unless you opt for the exclusive "dazzling" color options — but they do deliver just about everything you could ask for in a modern Android phone. There's one big...

Galaxy S8 could have pressure-sensitive on-screen keys

33 Comments
Posted by Alex Dobie on 15 Mar 2017 5:54 am
Galaxy S8
Report from Korea suggests GS8's virtual home key will be pressure-sensitive — and the Note 8 may take things even further. Tucked away in an iPhone-related report from Korean outlet The Investor are a few interesting details about how Samsung will handle the transition from physical buttons to virtual keys in its own upcoming flagship. The site reports that, as the sole supplier of OLED panels...

Which Android tablets have the best camera?

8 Comments
Posted by Alex Dobie on 14 Mar 2017 11:00 am
Galaxy Tab S2
If you want an Android slate with a camera that's not a total afterthought, your only real option is Samsung's Tab S line. The Android tablet space is kinda weird right now, ahead of major changes expected later in the year in the world of Google laptops, tablets, and convertibles. If you need an Android tablet right this second, the best options are Google's Pixel C and Samsung's Galaxy Tab...

Samsung's Galaxy Tab S3 won't be cheap

70 Comments
Posted by Alex Dobie on 14 Mar 2017 5:40 am
Galaxy Tab S3
U.S. pricing starts at $600, and other countries are equally pricey. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 is being pitched as a premium tablet, with iPad-like pricing to match. A Best Buy pre-order page for the device, in Wi-Fi-only flavor, lists it with a $599.99 price tag. The LTE-capable Tab S3 isn't listed by the retailer, but typically you'd be looking at a premium of $100 or more to add cellular...

In an 18:9 world, we need a new way to quantify screen size

71 Comments
Posted by Alex Dobie on 13 Mar 2017 8:00 am
HTC U Ultra + LG G6
As the aspect ratio of phone screens changes this year, trusted diagonal measurements are becoming misleading. With the arrival of the 5.7-inch LG G6, we have entered the era of 18:9 smartphones. Taller displays are set to become a major trend in phones in 2017, with Samsung rumored to use an even taller "18.5:9" configuration in its upcoming Galaxy S8, which looks set to come in 5.8- and 6.2-...

Galaxy S8 Plus: 3,500mAh battery from larger model pictured

31 Comments
Posted by Alex Dobie on 13 Mar 2017 6:36 am
Galaxy S8 Plus battery
Photo appears to corroborate rumored cell size for 6.2-inch handset. After the Galaxy Note 7's battery-related woes, there's been understandable interest in the cells used in Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S8 series. Recent rumors have pegged the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus as having 3,000mAh and 3,500mAh cells respectively, in what would be a small reduction in battery capacity compared to the GS7 edge....

Pages