Table of contents for 104 in Android Advisor

GOOGLE PIXEL 7 The Pixel 7 range arrives at a time when smartphone innovation leaves a lot to be desired and many question the relevance of the Pixel's existence. Still, these are the benchmark for third-party Android phone makers and has plenty of fans around the world – including me. At the same prices as their predecessors, the Pixel 7 phones come with advancements such as Google's new Tensor G2 processor, more eco-friendly designs, better cameras, and more. RELEASE DATE Both phones are available to order now from fave.co/3RJtzno. PRICE Google has kept the pricing the same as last year's Pixel 6 range meaning prices start at £599. Here's the full pricing: Pixel 7 128GB: £599 256GB: £699 Pixel 7 Pro 128GB: £849 256GB: £949 512GB: $1,099 (US only) NEW…

REVIEWS Sony has nailed it with the Xperia 5 IV (mark four), even if that is a terribly confusing name for a phone. The company has decided its smartphones aren't going to be crowd pleasers anymore. It's got PlayStation for that. Instead, the Xperia phones are now extensions of the company's Alpha camera products, with bits of its Bravia TV and Walkman heritage thrown in for good measure. To some, that is very enticing. This direction won't appeal to everyone, and that's okay with Sony. It's not here to compete with Samsung or Apple, or even Oppo or Xiaomi. It's just here doing what it, and its hardcore fans, love. If you want a phone with a superb display, a headphone jack that supports hi-res audio, solid battery life, wireless…

AUDIO The Focal Bathys are the world's best-sounding wireless headphones. They're also among the most expensive and luxurious. But I can't say they're the best noise-cancelling headphones. And having said all that, I'm sure some audio purists will greet Focal's digital accomplishment with all the enthusiasm folk purists displayed the day Bob Dylan ‘went electric’ at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. But before we get too deep into this evaluation, let me answer the two questions I'm sure are at the front of your mind: First, how the heck did Focal come up with ‘Bathys’ as a name for a high-performance headphone? The company says the name is based on ‘bathyscaphe’, the first self-propelled, deep-diving submarine. It's an ironic choice, given that I never experienced that ‘underwater’ feeling that…

FEATURE No matter what you've seen with Android 13 so far or how much digging you've done to unearth its many buried treasures, you almost certainly haven't experienced the software's most significant and shape-shifting addition. And there's good reason for that: the addition isn't technically available on your device. Android 13, as you may know by now, is a tale of two different operating systems. And while the improvements on the standard Pixel phone front are certainly not insignificant, the advancement that has the potential to make the most meaningful difference in your day-to-day life isn't intended to be used in that environment. It's limited only to foldable phones and tablets (for now, at least). But get this: with about 30 seconds of tinkering, you can uncover that addition. And…

FEATURE With the official onset of autumn now just days away, there's never been a better time to clean up, freshen up, and make sure your own existing work spaces are perfectly primed for productivity. A handful of simple-seeming steps can go a long way in clearing out the virtual clutter and turning your Android phone back into the optimal work companion it ought to be. And best of all? It won't take you more than 20 minutes to pull off. 1. UNINSTALL UNNECESSARY APPS Time required: 2 minutes This first step may sound silly, but believe you me, it can make a world of difference. Whether they're apps that came preinstalled or programs you downloaded once upon a moon, there's a decent chance you've got at least some unused…

GOOGLE PIXEL 7 The thing that struck me most watching Google's launch of the Pixel 7 was just how much the phone is a repackaged Pixel 6. Sure, the design has been tweaked slightly, and the display is a smidge smaller at 6.3in rather than 6.4in, but otherwise this is an identical device to last year's. The Pixel 7 has Android 13 software, the same 128GB storage, same 8GB of RAM, and same camera hardware as the Pixel 6 down to the very last spec. The Pixel 7 Pro is a similar story, with the same screen size and core specs as the Pixel 6 Pro. A new macro mode is nice, but unremarkable. Google might tell you the Tensor G2 processor is a big upgrade, but it won't be…

REVIEWS Cheaper phones are all the rage in modern times, and that's making the market much more competitive. Nokia, once the king of the mobile, is now making a play for the budget-conscious consumer that doesn't want their device to cut too many corners. The Nokia C21 Plus is almost that. It offers a big screen, solid everyday performance, and features like a fingerprint scanner and face unlocking for around £100. While there are compromises made to get there, it really is tough to argue with the £109 price tag given what's on offer here. DESIGN Larger phones are starting to homogenize a little bit, and Nokia's latest doesn't do a great deal to step away from the crowd here. The C21 Plus offers the almost all-screen front that you'd…

AUDIO Generally speaking, well-known vendors make attractive, sonorous audio products. Indeed, that's usually why they become well known. Well, if Anker keeps this up, it will be a name you may soon be very familiar with. DESIGN Let's face it - there's only so much variation in the basics of earbuds. They fit in your ear and make noise. Shopping is mostly about sound quality, comfort/ fit, and looks. Battery life also carries weight to some degree. Speaking to looks, though the £89 Anker Soundcore Space A40 don't sport a sexy brand name like Apple, Bose, or Beats, but they look like they do. The logo is first class by modern standards, not something you often see from lesser-known vendors. The earbuds we reviewed are rendered predominately in glossy black…

FEATURE Let's face it: the web sometimes be an endless-seeming series of nuisances and annoyances. And while you can take total control of most parts of your Android experience, the web itself is far more wily. From sites where the text is too tiny to ones that bombard you with audioblaring auto-playing videos, wiggling your way around the web can often feel like a frustrating exercise. Thankfully, the Chrome Android browser has some advanced options for making your experience more agreeable. They're out-of-the-way adjustments that'll get around some of the Internet's most nettlesome quirks and get you the information you need. 1. MORE LEGIBLE TEXT If you wish the web were a little easier to read, let the Chrome Android browser help: Tap the three-dot menu icon in Chrome's upper-right…

REVIEWS Asus is on a mission in 2022. Just weeks after the company announced its flagship ROG Phone 6 and 6 Pro, two new high-end handsets were revealed. The ROG Phone 6D and 6D Ultimate aren't being pitched as direct successors – just alternatives. That's because they both use MediaTek's Dimensity 9000+ chipset, rather than the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 found on the 6 and 6 Pro. How much of a difference does that actually make? And do the cooling upgrades on the 6D Ultimate justify the extra cost? I spent a few weeks with the most expensive gaming phone you can buy to find out. DESIGN From a quick glance at the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate, you could be forgiven for thinking that Asus has re-released the 6 Pro.…

REVIEWS Oppo recently brought its Reno8 line to the UK and Europe – a series of mid-range phones with a focus on night videography and fast charging. The line-up is led by the Reno8 Pro, which has the same camera tech found in Oppo's flagship Find X5 series. I've spent time with the Reno8 Pro to see how this £599 mid-range model holds up in day-to-day life. DESIGN The Oppo Reno8 Pro follows Oppo's typical design language of looking premium, clean and distinctive. The phone comes with a glass back and curved edges, so it feels premium and has a glossy sheen that catches the light from all angles. However, the material does have a few issues. Not only is it prone to picking up grubby fingerprints, but it's also…

AUDIO There'much innovation in the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II that these breakthrough buds deserve a new name - and demand serious consideration by anyone in the market for a new high-end mobile audio experience. But instant name recognition is hard to come by, so Bose is to be forgiven for merely attaching a Roman numeral to its best noise-cancelling in-ear headphones. After a week of serious workout in my ears, the QC Earbuds II have become my go-to, top-of-thepile favourites. Bose is celebrating a first-of-its-kind sound personalization technology here - the company calls it CustomTune that calibrates both these earbuds’ audio performance and their noise-cancellation prowess to each user's ears. Powered by a customized version of Qualcomm's QCC5171 Bluetooth chipset and Bose's decades of proprietary DSP algorithm development, CustomTune works…

FEATURE If there's one feeling we can all relate to, it's the sense of anxiety when that dreaded low-battery warning shows up on our screens. Both Android itself and Google's Pixel phones, specifically, have got much better at managing battery life over the years. But some of the Pixel's most intelligent systems for safeguarding your stamina are options in your phone's software – and that means it's up to you to find them. Google's Pixel software is overflowing with those sorts of outof-sight treasures, so to continue our ongoing Pixel settings explorations, I want to explore some of your device's most advanced options for stretching your battery life to the max. 1. SMARTER CHARGING First up is a way to make your Google-made phone especially optimized and efficient with its…