Table of contents for Issue 20 in Android Advisor

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 models are the successors to 2014’s original Galaxy Tab S range, which featured the S 8.4 and the S 10.5. We thought they were the firm’s best tablets, so we had been looking forward to the arrival of the second generation, and we’re pleased to say that they don’t disappoint. Design There are two sizes of the Galaxy Tab S2 available, in a similar move to Apple’s iPad range. Here, we’re talking about the smaller 8in model, but there’s also a 9.7in option if you want a larger tablet. If you’re an Apple fan, those sizes might sound familiar, as the iPad mini 4 is 7.9in, while the iPad Air 2 is 9.7in. We’ll talk a bit more about the screen later, but first let’s…

It costs less than £100 and comes with dual-SIM 4G LTE connectivity, an octa-core processor and a 5in HD screen, but is this Android phone a good buy? UK availability The Ulefone Paris was sent to us by Coolicool.com, which is currently selling the budget phone on its site for £88.39. Note that this phone is shipped from China, so you may have to pay additional charges for import duty. Design For a budget smartphone, the Ulefone Paris has a very slight and inoffensive build. It weighs a tiny 128g, and is just 8mm thick, making it easy to operate in a single hand. Although it looks plastic, the frame is a very lightweight metal, which adds durability, while the 5in fully laminated HD IPS screen is protected with tough…

The Galaxy Core Prime is one of Samsung’s cheapest smartphones and is often the cheapest big brand phone you’ll find when you walk into Tesco, Carphone Warehouse or even Argos. But is it a good phone and a good deal? Here’s our Galaxy Core Prime review to help you decide if it’s right for you. Some people buy phones SIM free and if you want an unlocked Galaxy Core Prime it will cost £109. However, on a 24-month contract the phone is free and costs as little as £12.50 per month.Mobilefun.co.uk supplied this phone for review. Design and features Available in black, grey or white, the Galaxy Core Prime is an all-plastic phone that looks more expensive than it really is. It shares its styling with some of Samsung’s bigger,…

With technology in smartphones hitting something of a ceiling, it’s hard to differentiate in a crowded and fierce market. Sony, like HTC and others, is finding it hard to compete with the likes of Samsung and Apple, but hopes the £549 Xperia Z5 will give it a boost. In terms of design, Sony hasn’t really changed its formula, which has been in place since the original Xperia Z. The Xperia Z5 has that square industrial style, look and feel that makes it instantly recognisable as a Sony handset. That said, there are some tweaks, which are nice. In our opinion, the Z5 looks more desirable than previous models. This is largely due to the new frosted glass rear cover that gives it a matt finish, and the graded metal frame,…

Huawei has announced its latest smartphone: the Mate S (£469). It looks gorgeous, and offers some pretty interesting features. Design Huawei has concentrated heavily on the design of this handset, which is reflected in its gorgeous metal unibody (dual diamond cut for precision). The phone has a slight curve at the back, which makes using it over long periods of time more comfortable. Dimensions wise, the Mate S is just 2.65mm at its thinnest point, widening to 7.2mm at the thickest point of the device. It comes in at 149.9x75.3mm, which is surprisingly smaller than the dimensions of the iPhone 6s Plus (158.2x77.9x7.3mm). Why is this surprising? Because the S Mate has the same size display as the iPhone 6s Plus (5.5in), but is smaller and a lot more comfortable…

The Hammer S is a larger phablet version of the UMI Hammer, the wallet-friendly Chinese phone that was billed as virtually unbreakable. It’s not just the size and weight that’s changed here, however. UK availability We received our review sample of the Hammer S from Coolicool.com. It’s available from its Chinese warehouse for £88.39, or the European warehouse for £108.79. It’s up to you which outlet you choose to use, but if you take the cheaper option you could end up paying more if your parcel is picked up by Customs (no charges are applicable when shipped within Europe). Read our advice on buying grey-market tech before you make that decision. Design For a cheap phone, the Hammer S has a really nice design. Ours came in white, but the…

There’s not a lot new in Android 6.0 Marshmallow, which is now slowly making its way on to Android smartphones and tablets. Google characterises it more as an under-the-hood effort to improve system performance and stability. But one of the key new features for users is the ability to manage the privacy settings of applications. For several versions, Android has shown users what data and services an app wants to use when it is installed, but you could only accept or reject them all. Also, you weren’t able to deactivate permissions (such as to your contacts or camera) later. By contrast, iOS has for several versions let you manage specifically what data and services each app can use after you install it. iOS 9 continues to work the same way.…

Which is the best large-screen Android tablet? We compare the specifications of market-leading Android tablets, including the Amazon Fire HD 10, Google Nexus 9, Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.7 and Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet. Price The Amazon Fire HD 10 is the cheapest, and right now you can buy either the 16GB or 32GB model from Amazon for £169.99. Made by HTC, Google’s Nexus 9 is now a year old and the second cheapest. It’s currently on sale at Amazon, and you’ll pick up the 16GB model for £224.99, 32GB for £284, and the 4G model for £400.55. Also see our full Nexus 9 review. The cheapest price we could find for Samsung’s 9.7in Galaxy Tab S2 at the time of writing was £320.85 from Amazon. That’s for the 32GB…

Honor, the brand backed by Huawei, has impressed us with its flagship phones at low prices, so we had high hopes for this. Design Although the Honor 7 (£249) looks similar to its predecessor, it actually looks more like the Huawei Mate S – thanks to its metal rear cover. It’s a bit bigger than the Honor 6 though, so you’ll need to bear this in mind if you’re thinking of upgrading. It’s by no means the most svelte 5.2in phone on the market, and it’s more the 157g weight than the 8.5mm thickness that bothers us. The front of this handset has a plain appearance – all the styling is found on the rear. The metal body looks like phones that cost twice the price, although we couldn’t tell…

The Vodafone Smart Speed 6 (£50) is the little brother to the Smart Ultra 6 and Smart Prime 6, two of our favourite budget smartphones on the market at the moment – they are first and third in our best budget smartphone charts on page 130. With these two previous handsets surprising us in terms of value for money, we were expecting great things from the Smart Speed 6. Design The Vodafone Smart Speed 6 is a budget smartphone, so you can’t expect it to be as sleek as, for example, the Samsung Galaxy S6 or the LG G4, but it can still hold its own against other budget smartphones on the market. It has a plastic body that feels cheap in the hand, but when you consider it costs…

Technology is great but devices like tablet go wrong in various ways. Here we’ve compiled a list of the most commonly asked questions about tablets and answered them all. Why is my tablet so slow? Pretty much any tablet will feel fast when you first take it out of the box and set it up – unless you bought a really rubbish one (in which case you should try and take it back). However, like a lot of tech gadgets, they can get slow over time. This can happen for a number of reasons but the most common is simply filling it up with apps, media, temporary files and other general digital junk. You should try and delete any apps you’re not using or that movie which you’re probably not…