Table of contents for 96 in Android Advisor

The Galaxy S22 series is Samsung’s latest set of flagship smartphones, with three new models that sit at the top of the company’s non-foldable phone line-up. While the Galaxy S22 and S22+ are pretty much business as usual – which is no bad thing, to be fair – the S22 Ultra is a bit more radical, with a new design (and features) that are heavily inspired by Samsung’s now-defunct Galaxy Note line. With pre-orders for the three phones now live, here’s everything you need to know about every Galaxy S22 model. AVAILABILITY The S22 series is available to pre-order now and goes on sale on 11 March. PRICE While many had expected Samsung to raise prices for the phones this year, for the most part the prices of the S22 range are the…

Price: £699 from fave.co/3ss4qmC Phone delays are nothing unusual, but few phones have been as delayed as the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE. First tipped by leakers to launch as early as August 2021, the phone instead didn’t launch until January 2022, when Samsung unveiled the new handset at CES in Las Vegas – over 11 months after the other S21 phones arrived. That delay hasn’t had a direct impact on the phone itself, but does change where it sits in the market. The tech here is a few months older than it should be, the rivals it would have had last summer have since had price cuts (as has the regular S21, lest we forget). So while there’s nothing wrong with the S21 FE per se – it’s a pretty…

Price: £179 from fave.co/3sD9SmR The budget smartphone market is getting more competitive all the time, and it’s surprising what you can get for not a lot of money these days. A contender for your cash is Chinese company TCL, whose new model brings 5G technology to a device that’s comfortably under £200. DESIGN For a device with a low price point, the TCL 20 R 5G cuts a pretty refined aesthetic. The tall, slim design is obviously dominated by the 6.52in display, which features slim bezels and a ‘V-Notch’ area for the selfie camera (basically a small part of the bezel that curves down into the screen rather than a punch-hole opening). A metal band wraps around the chassis, providing a home for the volume controls, power button, SIM tray, USB-C…

Last issue we revealed our favourite time-saving tips in Chrome. This month we’re going to look at some of its secret settings, which will enhances your mobile browsing experience. The six settings in this article will make your Android-based web browsing more powerful, more efficient and generally just more pleasant. They’re all just sitting there waiting to be found, too – so really, why not take advantage of what they have to offer? Before we continue, though, one quick word of warning: all of these settings are part of Chrome’s flags system, which is a home for under-development options that are still actively being worked on and aren’t technically intended for mainstream use. The flags system is meant for expert users and other similarly informed users who want to get…

To say that Android tablets have been a let-down might be the understatement of the century. When you step back and think about it, the fact that Android tablets are such an under-emphasized afterthought is almost shocking. Android is the world’s most popular operating system, after all – by a pretty hefty margin. It’s easy to forget sometimes, but more humans carry Android-powered smartphones than any other type of device in the universe. And yet, for all of those advantages, Google has year after year failed to turn Android tablets into a compelling, sought-after type of technology that’s more than a mere blip on the mobile-tech radar. It’s reached the point where I tell friends to stay away from Android tablets and consider Chromebooks instead, because unlike the typical Android tablet,…

Not long ago, it felt like Samsung was the only Android tablet maker worth talking about. Such was the iPad’s dominance, few other phone companies dared make slates of their own. Unless you wanted a Surface tablet running Windows, picking up a Galaxy Tab was your main alternative to Apple. But that’s changed significantly in the past year or so. Competitive slates from the likes of Xiaomi, Realme and Nokia have all come to market – Samsung can no longer consider itself the default company for Android tablets. The company needed to respond, and it did so in style at its February 2022 Unpacked event. The Galaxy S22 Series might have been the star of the show (see page 4), but Samsung also revealed three new flagship tablets in the Tab…

Price: £219 from fave.co/3JgZNmc Since its acquisition by Lenovo in 2014, the Motorola brand has been releasing new phones at an alarming rate. In 2021 alone, we’ve seen a total of 35 Moto handsets announced, and there could be even more before the year is out. That’s despite Motorola focusing almost exclusively on more affordable devices. It’s easy for individual releases to get lost in the sea of similarly-priced Moto phones – that’s before you even consider other companies. One device seeking to avoid this fate is the Moto G60s. At £219, it’s towards the more expensive end of Motorola’s 2021 line-up, but remains in contention for our budget phone chart. The headlining feature is 50-watt fast wired charging, something you don’t often get at this price point, but is there…

Android 12 is truly a tale of two different Android updates – at least, from a practical perspective. On the one hand, if you own a Pixel phone, Google’s latest and greatest software is easily the most significant Android release since 2014’s Android 5.0 Lollipop era. Android 12 introduces a whole new interface and design language that’s much more than just a fresh coat of paint. It reimagines Android’s identity and transforms practically every part of the operating system – extending even into an ever-increasing number of third-party apps. If you own a Samsung device, on the other hand, Android 12 probably doesn’t feel that earth-shattering. As is often the case, Samsung has omitted many of Google’s most meaningful design changes and skipped over some of the software’s core feature elements. As…

We’ve seen lots of significant changes to Android over the past decade. For the first time in a long time, though, Android 12 feels like a whole new smartphone experience. That’s because Android 12 is the first Android version in years to introduce sweeping changes to the software’s front-facing appearance. The new Material You design standard represents a big evolution for the way Android looks and what a device running the operating system is like to use. By and large, that evolution is a good thing. But with any progression comes certain quirks that don’t always jibe with your day-to-day desires. For lots of users, one such element is Android 12’s adjusted approach to Quick Settings: the panel of fast-access tiles you can reach by swiping down from the top…

As we’ve already seen, Samsung used its event to announce new phones and tablets. But that wasn’t all: the company also said it would provide longer software support, and that will apply not just to the new devices but also to 2021 flagship and foldable phones. The S22 and Tab S8 ranges will receive operating system updates for four years and security updates for five years. This is great news for buyers, as it means they can keep their devices for longer. What’s surprising is that this will also apply retrospectively to a large number of older Samsung phones: the Galaxy S21 range (S21, S21+, S21 Ultra and S21 FE), Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Galaxy Z Fold 3. No other smartphone maker offers software support for longer. Even Google’s…

Price: £766 from fave.co/3pMVR5A For one of the biggest phone manufacturers in the world, Vivo remains remarkably unknown in the UK. That’s never felt more true than with the X70 Pro+ – a phenomenal flagship, with a credible claim to being the best camera phone in the world. Those lucky enough to be able to buy an X70 Pro+ will find a fantastic phone that fixes most of the problems that have plagued Vivo’s flagships so far. I’ve got my hesitations over aspects of the design, and Vivo’s Android skin can get in the bin, but in terms of pure performance this phone is nearly flawless. DESIGN Vivo has been steadily evolving the design language of its X-series flagship phones. In many ways the X70 Pro+ feels like a natural next…

I do love a good time-saver, and sometimes the best time-savers of all are the ones that are right under the surface of our favourite apps and services, just waiting to be seen. I’ll admit it. Even as someone who uses and thinks about Android almost constantly, as part of both my life and my job, I frequently find myself surprised by how often I stumble onto something that I knew about at some point but long ago forgot to keep using. It happened to me with some of the Android Assistant tricks we talked about a couple months ago, and it’s happened to me yet again now with a powerful shortcut system built right into Android and supported by oodles of different apps. The system is called, rather fittingly,…

Google Assistant has plenty of tucked away tricks for anyone using Android. The problem is that, like most typical voice commands (and plenty of other Android features), the Pixel-exclusive Assistant extras are virtually invisible – and that means it’s up to you to realize they exist and then remember to use them. Here are our favorite Pixel-specific voice commands that’ll save you time, make it easier to get around your device, and make it easier to get stuff done. All you’ve got to do is say “Hey Google” – or use whichever other Assistant-summoning tactic you like –  and then start talking. 1. TEXT INPUT Okay, one quick caveat. Our first section of Pixel-exclusive voice commands is relevant only for Google’s latest Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro phones, specifically.…