Table of contents for 124 in Android Advisor

REVIEWS Google is back with another edition of its mid-range A-series smartphones and the Pixel 8a has been under the microscope for many reasons. For starters, Google pushed the price up by £50 to £499 in the UK meaning it's positioned closer to the flagship Pixel 8. It's one of the four reasons I said I might find it hard to recommend the Pixel 8a when it was announced, also citing the new colours, a storage issue and a lack of innovation in the charging department. Are these still problems now I've been testing the Pixel 8a as my daily driver for a few weeks? Let's find out. DESIGN The design language of the Pixel phones has stayed largely unchanged for a few years now and the 8a is no…

REVIEWS Less than a year on from the OnePlus Pad, which introduced the brand to the cut-throat world of Android tablets, the ‘Never Settle’ firm is back with the OnePlus Pad Go. Interestingly, this isn't a direct followon from the original Pad, and it doesn't seem to be trying to do anything massively different to the OnePlus Pad. Rather, the OnePlus Pad Go tries to do a similar at a cheaper price. It's another full-sized media-focused tablet, but one that makes judicious cuts to the core specs in order to hit a sub-£300 price tag. DESIGN OnePlus has broadly stuck to a similar design language as the OnePlus Pad for the Pad Go. This is another sagegreen (‘Twin Mint’, in fact) tablet with rounded corners and a centrally placed camera…

AUDIO The Beats Solo 3 were released in late 2016, and 7.5 years is definitely too long to wait for a refresh of the ‘affordable’ on-ear model of one of the world's most popular headphone brands. As you would expect, a lot has changed. Gone is the ancient Apple W1 chip in favour of a proprietary technology platform that supports lots of modern features for both Apple and Android devices. Sound quality is improved and the battery lasts 25 percent longer. But they still look like Beats, and sound like Beats, and do very little to move the brand or category forward. There's nothing wrong with the Solo 4 headphones – they're good. But with such a long gap from the prior model, they only just meet expectations rather than…

ANDROID TIPS & TRICKS Your Android phone's home screen is your window to the world and, unlike iOS, you can make it look and work any way you want. That can mean replacing your stock home screen interface with something completely customized for your own style of getting stuff done or even supplementing the standard Android app drawer with one that's accessible from anywhere. But it can also mean tapping into interesting tools for adding important information into whatever manner of home screen set-up you're using – because Android makes it possible for developers to pull off some crafty and creative feats that other smartphone ecosystems simply don't allow. And that's precisely where the idea I'd like to share with you here comes into play. AN INFORMATION-DENSE ANDROID HOME SCREEN…

REVIEWS If you've never heard of Poco, you're certainly not alone. The Chinese company began life as a subbrand of Xiaomi back in 2018, before becoming an independent firm two years later. However, it retains deep ties to its former parent company, including using the same HyperOS software on its phones. Poco has never released what most people would define as a flagship smartphone, choosing instead to offer the best possible experience on a more affordable device. The F6 Pro continues that tradition, offering several high-end features yet retaining a mid-range price. Does that make it a no-brainer if you're shopping around this price point? Yes, but only if you have a specific set of requirements. DESIGN The Poco F6 Pro is one of the bestlooking phones I've ever tested.…

REVIEWS How much should you spend on a smartwatch? There are tons of cheap options out there, but if you want Android compatibility and access to third-party apps, the answer is usually a lot. Samsung's Galaxy Watch 6 is one of the cheapest Wear OS watches out there with a £289 starting price, while the Pixel Watch 2 (£349), Galaxy Watch 6 Classic (£369), OnePlus Watch 2 (£299) and Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 (£329) are all more expensive. Currently, the best affordable option is Xiaomi's Watch 2 Pro, which starts at just £239.99. But the non-Pro version takes things to the next level. For just £169.99, the only things you really need to give up are a stainless-steel frame and cellular connectivity. Does that make the Xiaomi Watch 2 a…

ANDROID TIPS & TRICKS It may or may not have hit you yet, but brace yourself: It's coming. As we speak, Google's in the midst of bringing its Gemini-powered generative-AI obsession into its most prominent and powerful product – and that's search. Soon, anytime you search for something within Google, whether on your phone or on a computer and whether at the office or on the go, you'll get AI-powered answers in place of the familiar blue links. That's all well and good in theory, but unless you like your search results to be unreliable and littered with shoddily sourced inaccuracies, it isn't the most practical pivot. (And that's to say nothing of the broader impact on publishers, content creators, and the very idea of an open web in general…

ANDROID TIPS & TRICKS Every now and then, I come across an Android customization concept so clever and useful that I just can't wait to share it with you. Today is one of those days. The concept in question is a hefty and exceptionally practical upgrade for your Android audio experience. It brings a boost to the way you interact with sound on whatever Android device you're using, no matter who made it or how old it may be. And it'll take you less than a minute to set up. MEET YOUR ANDROID AUDIO ENHANCEMENT The upgrade of which we speak may seem simple on the surface, but don't be fooled. This nifty tip will affect all aspects of your Android-using experience and make your life easier – even saving…

REVIEWS Modern flip phones have never appealed to me for one simple reason: the price. I never saw the point of spending flagship money on a foldable that often has camera downgrades compared to similarly priced classic slab handsets. At long last, there's a flip phone on sale for a mid-range price. Sure, it doesn't have all the bells and whistles like the latest Galaxy Z Flip phone. But if you're simply after that folding technology but have been held back by those eye-watering costs, the Nubia Flip 5G may just be enough to convert you to the flip side. DESIGN If you're a big fan of 2000s tech, the Nubia Flip 5G will be right up your street. It folds in half, meaning it's smaller to hold and put…

BUYING GUIDE When buying a tablet, which operating system it runs will probably be your first choice. And while there are a few Windows 11 tablets, it's probably a straight fight between iPadOS and Android. Traditionally, Android tablets have been seen as inferior to the iPad and its wide range of dedicated apps. And while truly optimized software is still an issue on Android, the situation is much better than it once was. If you own an Android phone, there's really no reason not to pair it with an Android tablet in 2024. This article proves it, with 10 great tablets that we've tested and can actually recommend. Samsung devices are the obvious choice, but you'll also find slates here from the likes of Google, Xiaomi, OnePlus and Lenovo. Oppo,…

ANDROID TIPS & TRICKS The six settings on this page will make your Android-based web browsing more powerful, more efficient, and more pleasant. Before we go any further, though, one quick word of warning: all of these settings are connected to 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 people who want to get an early look at advanced items. It also evolves pretty regularly, so it's entirely possible some of the settings mentioned here may look different from what I've described or even be gone entirely at some point in the not-so-distant future. What's more, Chrome's flags system has loads of…