Table of contents for 121 in Android Advisor

MWC 2024 Mobile World Congress (MWC) returned last month and hosted some of the world’s biggest tech brands. As ever, our team of intrepid editors hit the show floor to find the best gadgets. Although the trade show, held annually in Barcelona, is primarily focused on smartphones, there were plenty of other interesting devices to be found. We’ve searched high and low to create something of a wish list of gadgets you’ll want to own this year. 1. XIAOMI 14 SERIES Two of the best phones to launch at MWC this year were the Xiaomi 14 (£849 from fave.co/49IJcW0) and its bigger brother, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra £1,299 from fave.co/4a46HZj). Both phones are highly specified starting with Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processors and 12- or 16GB of RAM respectively. They…

REVIEWS Price: £149 from fave.co/3TrOZts Motorola has always been a great brand for those looking to pick up an inexpensive but quality smartphone. Now, the company is offering a new model that costs less than most of its rivals but boasts some decent specifications. Can anything this cheap, just £149, be any good? I take the Moto G34 5G for a field test to find out. DESIGN When you first pick up the Moto G34 5G it’s surprising how light and comfortable it feels in the hand. The 162.7×74.6×8mm dimensions make it compact rather than small, with the power button on the right flank sitting just under the thumb as you hold it in your hand. This is good as it also houses the fingerprint sensor to unlock the phone,…

AUDIO Price: £299 from fave.co/3TeRnT3 Bose is one of the biggest players in the headphone market and is known for its very impressive noise cancelling cans. However, the brand is going for something a little different with its latest launch, the Ultra Open earbuds. The Bose Ultra Open earbuds are designed to leave your ear canal free so you can be aware of your surroundings without compromising on the audio. However, they don’t use bone conduction or a hooked build as we’ve seen on previous devices of this nature like the H20 Audio Tri Pro Multi-Sport. They’re classy yet unique, and the audio is vastly more impressive than I anticipated - but they’re not flawless. Disclaimer: During testing I encountered some software bugs with app connection and audio popping, which…

ANDROID TIPS & TRICKS File management isn’t the sexiest subject surrounding smartphone ownership, but if you use your device for productivity, it’s an important area to consider. Your phone, after all, is your on-the-go connection to the world. It’s the always-available PC of our modern computing era. And whether your work involves presentations, PDFs, documents, or images, you’re bound to find yourself fumbling around with files on your pocket-sized screen sooner or later. With the right tools, though, dealing with files from your phone doesn’t have to be a hassle. And the good news? Android has plenty of outstanding options. These are the best, organized by what they’ll help you accomplish. THE BEST ALL-AROUND ANDROID FILE MANAGER FOR MOST BUSINESS USERS Files by Google Price: Free from fave.co/3I1JcSB Google’s own…

REVIEWS Price: £319 from fave.co/43aF7Yi For a company that was only founded in 2020, Nothing has generated a huge amount of interest. The firm has made a few pairs of earbuds, but its smartphones get most of the attention. The original Phone (1) made a real splash, though the follow-up Phone (2) was a very small upgrade. However, for Nothing’s third smartphone, the company is doing something a little different. The Phone (2a) is significantly more affordable than both previous handsets, though Nothing says it’s technically a Phone (1) successor. On paper, it’s a noteworthy upgrade over the original that still manages to reduce the price. But does that make it the best phone you can buy for under £350? I used the Phone (2a) as my main smartphone for…

REVIEWS Price: £339 from fave.co/3T6MNWH Xiaomi is back once again with another set of cheap Redmi phones to tempt budget” conscious buyers. There are five Redmi Note 13 handsets in total: the 13 4G, 13 5G, 13 Pro 4G, 13 Pro and 13 Pro+. Overall, it’s more of the same from Xiaomi which means impressive design and specs for budget or mid-range prices. I’m reviewing the Pro model here which is similar to its predecessor, the Redmi Note 12 Pro, but arrives with a switch from MediaTek to a Qualcomm processor as well as a 200Mp main camera and double the storage. The phone is yours for £339, so let’s see if it’s worth your money. DESIGN On the design front, it’s more of the same from Xiaomi but that’s…

AUDIO Price: £19 from fave.co/4cdsHD8 Belkin sells a range of affordable earbuds, from the entry-level SoundForm Bolt (£19) to the SoundForm Pulse (£69.99), so even its top-of-the-range pair are more affordable than most. I’ve tried out the Bolt earbuds to see what you get for a very small cash outlay and I’m impressed with the results. You will certainly find finer audio quality by spending more, of course, but what you get at this price point is impressive. The Bolt buds come in a protective charging case, and in three colours: black, white, lavender and teal. You don’t get active noise cancelling (ANC) as with more expensive earbuds, but sound quality is clear, and the battery life is decent for a very attractive price tag. DESIGN The Bolt buds are…

ANDROID TIPS & TRICKS If there’s one thing I’ve learned about my fellow Android users in recent years, it’s that those who are into Android’s dark mode are often passionate about that preference. Unfortunately, for all the progress Android’s made with its dark mode over the years, one core area of the interface remains decidedly light. For some strange reason, Google’s Chrome Android browser doesn’t respect the device-wide, system-level switch for dark mode by default. Luckily, with about 20 seconds of effort, you can make an enhancement to Chrome on your phone and/or tablet that’ll empower it to follow your system setting for dark mode on Android and adjust every website you open to match. And best of all? Once you make this change, you’ll never have to think about…

REVIEWS Price: £199 from fave.co/3TporJ1 The Samsung Galaxy A15 5G is the successor to last year’s A14, which sat atop our list of the best budget phones. It therefore has its work cut out if it wants to maintain its grip on the budget market, which every year seems to add new entrants able to squeeze more valuable features into affordable frames. Fortunately, the A15 5G succeeds on almost all fronts, combining deceptively stylish looks with a 90Hz display, a long-lasting battery, user-friendly software and a solid main camera. Just how much value-for-money does it offer, and does it compare to more mid-range and expensive alternatives? DESIGN It may carry the ‘budget’ tag, but the Galaxy A15 5G looks like a more expensive phone than it really is. Aside from…

BUYING GUIDE For almost as long as mobile phones have been around, mobile gaming has been popular. We’ve come a long way from the early days of Snake and Tetris, but sinking a few minutes (or hours) into a game on your phone is still a popular way to pass the time. But for some demanding titles, a budget or mid-range phone simply isn’t up to the task. You might need something a little more powerful, but even some flagship phones won’t be suitable. That’s where this article comes in. Each of the phones below deliver a great mobile gaming experience, but they’re not all dedicated gaming handsets. While you will find Asus ROG, Redmagic and Black Shark devices here, Samsung, Motorola and Poco all make phones that have made…

ANDROID TIPS & TRICKS When you think about your smartphone, apps and interfaces are probably the first things that come to mind. Beneath all that surface-level stuff, though, our modern mobile devices are filled with files - folders upon folders of them. We may not come face to face with our phones’ file systems too often, but it’s valuable to know they are there - and to know how they can work for us when the need arises. After all, your Android device is a productivity powerhouse. It can juggle everything from PDFs and PSDs to presentations and podcasts. It can even act as a portable hard drive and house any sort of important files you might need in your pocket (and not just on some far-away cloud). Your mobile…