Table of contents for 101 in Android Advisor

REVIEWS Price: £1,099 from fave.co/3yKpMPp Gaming phones are a relatively modern concept, with the first handsets arriving just five years ago. Several brands have been vying for your attention since then, including Razer, Black Shark and Red Magic. But it's Asus that has emerged as the market leader, going above and beyond what you'd expect from any phone. However, ROG (Republic of Gamers) Phones are typically more expensive than rival handsets, so it's not always an obvious choice. When it comes to the ROG Phone 6 Series, things get even more complicated. There are regular and Pro models to choose from, with the latter reviewed here. Does it do enough to justify the premium price tag, or would paying less still get you everything you want from a gaming phone?…

REVIEWS Price: £729 from fave.co/3ajwrYF I considered writing this review on the miniature keyboard of the Astro Slide, but thought better of it. Even though the Astro Slide looks like a tiny laptop, with its angled screen on a hinge and small mechanical keyboard, it's not actually trying to be one. This is a device designed by and made for computing enthusiasts. It's a secondary device, even though it can be used as a phone. The Slide is best thought of in this way, similar to how it's best to approach the Microsoft Surface Duo 2. It's for composing emails on the train or fixing a line of code without turning on your PC. As a phone for phone calls, it is cumbersome. As a smartphone, it is awkward. But…

AUDIO Noise-cancelling headphones are one of the most popular types of cans, and for good reason. They block out ambient noise that can distract from you enjoying your favourite tunes. While they're particularly useful for air travel and daily commutes especially via public transport - they're also great at isolating you from at-home noise pollution, whether that be the whoosh of your HVAC system, the whir of your computer's cooling fans, or your neighbour's lawn mower. WHAT TO LOOK FOR Headphones with active noise cancellation (ANC) identify sound waves associated with noise and electronically generate an inverse sound wave that cancels it out. Here's what we mean: a sound wave is similar to the ripples in a pond. Toss a pebble in the pond, then introduce ripples of the opposite…

REVIEWS Price: £1,199 from fave.co/3RjfTAw Vivo's flagship phones have slowly earned a reputation for excellent camera performance, culminating in last year's X70 Pro+ being widely named one of - if not the - best camera phones on the market. With no X80 Pro+, it falls on the X80 Pro to take up the mantle. And indeed, its camera system is strikingly similar to the X70 Pro+'s, albeit with a few key tweaks - especially to the company's trademark gimbal stabilization. Factor in faster charging and an upgraded chipset and the X80 Pro is certainly a worthy successor, if not a clear-cut upgrade, and by any measure is an exceptional Android flagship. DESIGN From the front, the Vivo X80 Pro looks like any other high-end Android flagship. It's big a slab,…

AUDIO Price: £399 from fave.co/3nqVcos To my ears, Edifier's Stax Spirit S3 is the best planar magnetic headphone I've tested-and that's saying something: The Drop THX Panda (Bluetooth issues aside) and the mammoth Monoprice BT600ANC competition I'm using for comparison are hardly chopped liver. I should mention that saying 'best planar' is tantamount to saying 'best headphone'. At least in terms of accurate reproduction. The Stax Spirit S3 is also less bulky than its rivals, although the technology inside requires that they be powered on even when you're using a cable. They also lack active noise cancellation, but not everyone will consider that to be a demerit. If you do, check our Sony WH-1000XM5 review (see page 58). DESIGN The Stax Spirit S3 is a standard headphone design done exceptionally…

FEATURE Psst: come close. Your Android phone has a little-known superpower - a futuristic system for bridging the physical world around you and the digital universe on your device. It's one of Google's best-kept secrets. And it can save you tons of time. It's called Google Lens, and it's been lurking around on Android and quietly getting more and more capable for years. Google doesn't make a big deal about it, weirdly enough, and you really have to go out of your way to even realize it exists. At its core, Google Lens is best described as a search engine for the real world. It uses artificial intelligence to identify text and objects both within images and in a live view from your phone's camera, and it then lets you…

REVIEWS Price: £709 from fave.co/3uyCG1j How often do you use your selfie camera? If the answer lies somewhere between 'never' and 'not often', then the ZTE Axon 40 Ultra might just be the perfect phone for you. Otherwise, well… You see, the Axon 40 Ultra is ZTE's latest flagship to hide its selfie camera under the screen itself. This is ZTE's third generation of the tech, and certainly its best yet - and miles beyond rivals including Samsung. But just because it's the best around doesn't mean it's good enough, and while ZTE has managed to make its camera essentially invisible, it hasn't solved the trickier physics problem of making sure the camera itself is actually worth a damn. Like I said though, if you don't use it much anyway,…

AUDIO Price: £379 from fave.co/3NtO1r6 Sony's over-ear noise-cancelling headphone, the WH-1000XM4 has ruled the roost as our top pick in noise-cancelling headphones. Well, I have news: The king is dead. Sony has an all-new noise-cancelling headphone-the £379 WH-1000XM5 - and it's nothing short of spectacular. Sony's WH-1000XM5 isn't a minor revision of the WH-1000XM4, it represents a clear rethinking of the product from top to bottom. And the results are overwhelmingly positive. Everything starts with Sony's plasticfree packaging. This new model comes in your choice of black (the colour or my review sample) or silver. The latter is more accurately described as a light cream colour, and it's a stunning improvement over the previous generation's palette. When I first lifted the WH1000XM5 at a private Sony event, I was immediately…

FEATURE Google Calendar is a core part of the Android productivity package - but if all you're using is what you see on the app's surface, you're missing out on some pretty powerful possibilities. Just like so many of our modern digital tools, there's more to Google Calendar than meets the eye. And while the majority of the service's advanced options revolve around the Calendar website, the Calendar Android app has its share of handy out-of-sight options that are specific to the mobile experience. From time-saving shortcuts to efficiency-boosting options, they're all things that have the potential to make your life easier in small but significant ways. 1. THE EVENT CREATION QUICK-PEEK Tell me if you can relate to this. You head into the Calendar app on your phone to…