Table of contents for 97 in Android Advisor

Price: £949 from fave.co/36aO0aJ On the surface, Samsung’s latest S22+ simply looks like another incremental upgrade with a familiar face, but is there more to this middle-child of a Galaxy S phone than the expected annual hardware updates and design revisions? While the ‘S’ branding within Samsung’s Galaxy naming convention has always been tied to the company’s flagship Android phones, the ‘+’ suffix is a relatively recent addition to the lineage whose function continues to change over time. The most obvious difference between the S22 and the S22+ – as is true of previous generations – is the larger size that the Plus model sports; not to mention the extra benefits that its additional volume brings. Moving from the standard to the Plus not only means a bigger screen but a…

Price: £529 from fave.co/3J98M97 Smartphones designed specifically for gaming still feel like a relatively new concept, but Nubia has been extremely prolific during that time. In the four years since the first Red Magic handset, the Chinese company has unveiled no fewer than 13 gaming phones. Not all of these have been released outside China, but that doesn’t apply to the Red Magic 7 Series. Both the regular and Pro models are getting a global launch, although the Pro won’t arrive until later in the year. As a result, it’s the standard Red Magic 7 that’s my focus here. On paper, there are only minor upgrades compared to 2021’s 6S Pro. But almost no-one will be upgrading every six months, so the bigger question is how it stacks up to the best gaming…

Getting around Android isn’t what it used to be. Google has made some serious changes to the Android navigation experience over the past few years, going from the old-style three-button set-up to a clunky early gesture model in Android 9, then a whole other new gesture system in Android 10, and finally some slightly refined versions of that same gesture model with Android 11, 12 and beyond. It’s enough to make anyone’s head spin – and whether you’re a card-carrying Android nerd or someone who’s just reluctantly trying to figure out the ins and outs of your phone’s ever-evolving navigation system, there’s almost certainly more you could be doing to make the most of Android’s current gesture arrangement. I’ve been fiddling around obsessively with Android gestures for what feels like…

Price: £299 from fave.co/3J9rOfG OnePlus has been on a roll recently with its affordable mid-range options, which have consistently delivered solid specs for the price even as the lustre of its flagships has arguably begun to wane. I’m pleased to report that the Nord CE 2 is no exception. Yes, eagle-eyed industry watchers may note that this is probably just a re-packaged and re-branded spin on the Reno 7 5G from parent company Oppo (comparing the spec sheets is an especially challenging game of spot-the-difference), but for anyone actually considering buying the phone this simply doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, the Nord CE 2 offers strong specs and a potent camera at a price that’s hard to beat – and looks the part too. DESIGN If you’ve seen any…

Price: £1,049 from fave.co/3CJ4hjy When Oppo unveiled the Find X3 Pro, its design was… a bit of a shock, to say the least. The single pane of mirrored glass on the rear that curved up, around, and over the camera module looked unlike anything else out there. There’s no such shock this time around, as the Find X5 Pro (no, there was no X4 – we’ll get to that) is a case of refinement rather than reinvention. And not just in the design – most of the phone’s specs are half-steps forward from Oppo’s 2021 flagship, but tweaked and improved just enough to justify the update. And yes, there was never a Find X4 series. Oppo says that this is down to the fact that last year’s Find N foldable was the series’…

A funny thing has happened over these past several years: our smartphones, by and large, have grown consistently bigger. And yet our hands have remained unchanged. The result, as you’ve probably noticed, is an awful lot of awkward interactions. The devices we carry can no longer be controlled with the stretch of a single thumb or the simple reach of a forefinger – and especially when you find yourself trying to use your phone with the same hand that’s carrying it, that can lead to some seriously challenging contortions. Fear not, though, for you don’t have to suffer from constant discomfort just to use a modern smartphone. A handful of simple adjustments can go a surprisingly long way in improving the ergonomics of any Android device and making even the largest screen…

Price: £699 from fave.co/34EeHnM Realme was among the first companies to reassure fans that it would be slipping the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor into its next flagship; after the silicon was unveiled at the end of 2021. Sure enough, the Realme GT 2 Pro was announced in China promptly afterwards sporting the chip, going on sale in the region at the turn of the new year. Fans in the rest of the world, however, were left waiting until the company made its Mobile World Congress debut in late February, where the GT 2 Pro’s international availability was confirmed for 8 March. Now that the phone is here, it’s a matter of understanding whether the Pro strikes the characteristic price/ performance balancing act that the company’s short lineage of…

Let’s face it, email is a bit of a pain. And while Google’s Gmail service is generally pleasant to use, it certainly has some room for improvement – especially on the mobile front. But as is so often the case with Google products, what you see isn’t entirely what you get. The Gmail Android app has some useful hidden touches you’ve probably never noticed lurking beneath its surface – easily overlooked features that can make your mobile email experience more powerful, productive, and effective. Here are 14 options worth uncovering – or maybe just remembering. 1. ADVANCED EMAIL FORMATTING COMMANDS The Gmail Android app’s email composing screen seems like a bare-bones affair, but long-press on any open space while writing a new email and you’ll see screen 1.Tap that ‘Format’…

Few things bring me as much geeky pleasure as uncovering clever new ways to save time with text input on Android. And for my money, no keyboard comes close to the level of consistency, quality, and calibre of features as Google’s own Gboard Android keyboard. This trick isn’t technically about text input, but it ties into the topic of tapping out thoughts and sharing important information on your phone. And it will save you steps and time. So here it is: the next time you encounter an image you want to attach to an email or maybe send in a messaging thread somewhere, you can simply copy it and then allow Gboard to keep the image on standby and ready to paste in practically anywhere you want – as an…