Table of contents for 38 in Android Advisor

At the Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium Xiaomi officially unveiled the Mi 6. Significantly cheaper than the UK competition, Chinese Xiaomi phones offer amazing specs at a brilliant price. Headline new features include a high-performance Snapdragon 835 processor, which is paired with 6GB of RAM and either 64- or 128GB of storage, plus ‘four-sided 3D glass’ and a dual camera. You’ll also find dual speakers, a 3,350mAh battery that will last all day, an under-glass fingerprint sensor and a newly splashproof body with sealed SIM tray. As we saw with the Mi Mix last year, a ceramic model with 18k gold detailing is also available. Release date There is no official UK release date for the Mi 6 because it won’t be officially sold here. As always, however, you’ll be…

We’re used to hearing about new banks that have signed on to support Android Pay as Google ever-expands its mobile purchasing system. But an announcement this morning is looking to add even more value. Now you’ll be able to use Android Pay even if you don’t have a bank or credit card to add to your wallet. Google has announced a partnership with PayPal that allows you to use your account to buy things anywhere Android Pay is accepted. While PayPal users have long been able to access their accounts in the real world via PayPal Credit, the new Android Pay integration will open up mobile contactless payments to a wide array of people, allowing them to use the balances to pay for things in stores. The partnership is a…

£129 inc VAT from: tinyurl.com/mgz779g It’s amazing just how heavy an ultra-portable laptop becomes when you’re lugging it through airports, convention centres, and the streets of wherever you’re doing business. Even a thin laptop can become a 1kg problem, but now it’s a problem that could very well be solved by DeX, Samsung’s desktop-PC-in-a-dock for the Galaxy S8 (page 33) and S8+ smartphones. Drop your Galaxy phone into the DeX dock, then connect DeX to a desktop monitor or TV over HDMI. Boom: You now have a 1920x1080 PC desktop with resizable windows. Except all your programs are mobile apps. And, yes, your desktop is Android, not Windows. Once you get past the DeX pain points... The biggest pain point with DeX is Bluetooth pairing. If you intend to use…

£169 inc VAT from fave.co/2qEewPx Premium for All’ is Lenovo’s new motto for its G5 phones, the Moto G5 and G5 Plus, which aim to offer the build quality and feel of a flagship device at decidedly non-flagship prices. That’s especially true of the G5, which offers a metal body, rapid charging, and fingerprint sensor controls – all at a sub-£200 price. Design Design is where the G5 has seen the biggest overhaul from its predecessor. The phone features an aluminium body – instead of the G4’s plastic – which means it immediately feels like a more expensive phone than it is. The 5in display stretches most of the way to the sides of the body, though there’s still plenty of bezel at the top and bottom – it’s not…

Let’s face it, technology wouldn’t be technology without the occasional facepalm-inducing failure, and mobile devices are no exception. But an annoying Android error doesn’t have to send you scrambling to the nearest clueless carrier store or online help forum. We’ve been covering and using Android since its infancy, and we’re here to help. 1. What to do when your Android phone freezes or won’t start It’s one of the scariest feelings of our always-connected lives: glancing down at your phone and realizing it’s frozen on some screen and not responding to your touch. Worse yet is the heart-dropping sensation you experience when you try to turn your phone on and absolutely nothing happens. Before you launch into full-fledged CPR – which, in full disclosure, is more likely to result in…

Every time we see an update to Android Messages we get a little excited, hoping it will finally be the one that brings cross-device syncing to our phones, tablets, and computers. Sadly, the latest version doesn’t add that feature, but it does bring a couple tweaks that should make it easier to use. Most notably, the screen used to start a new conversation has been changed to eliminate some of the confusion. Previously, when you selected a contact to send a message to, it simply added the name to the ‘To’ line, as if it assumed you were adding more people. Then, you had to tap the tiny arrow to start typing. Now, picking a name will bring you straight to the conversation screen. So, naturally, group messaging is tweaked…

£599 inc VAT from tinyurl.com/n2t62an The tablet market may have petered-out somewhat but Samsung hasn’t give up on it, even if it seems the likes of Sony, HTC and Google have. The Korean firm’s latest offering is the Galaxy Tab S3. Price If you were hoping for a price of around £399, then we have bad news. The Galaxy Tab S3 is even more expensive than the iPad Pro at £599. That’s a heft amount for a tablet, although it’s worth pointing out that Samsung includes the new S Pen stylus in the box. If you want the 4G LTE model it will set you back £669. Design The Korean tech giant has become a master of design and build with its Galaxy products (and others), forming a distinct style…

£499 inc VAT from fave.co/2pMT5N3 There’s nothing to be gained from taking BlackBerry down any more pegs. It has had to siphon off its handset business to TCL, and the KEYone is a result of that partnership. But make no mistake; this isn’t just a BlackBerry in name, it’s a fully-fledged BlackBerry at heart too, and although to most people it is laughable, for a select few this may just be the best phone on the market. For the loyal few who still pine after a physical keyboard there has been a fair few years of hanging onto the Passport or the Classic as app support dropped at a rate of knots. Those people are finally rewarded with the KEYone, a phone that has been a long time coming. No…

It recently came to light that a new Amazon device was on the horizon when an image popped up on Amazon servers. Thought to be a security camera, turns out it’s actually the Echo Look. Design The Look is a new model in the Amazon Echo family that supports the Alexa digital assistant. A hands-free camera and style assistant, it can ensure you are always looking at your best. It can take full-length selfies and video at request, allowing you to show off your wardrobe to your heart’s content, or for personal use quickly and easily scroll through your outfits and pick out one to wear. The depth-sensing camera has built in LED lighting and computer vision-based background blur. A dedicated companion app lets you see yourself from every angle,…

Whether you have a new Android Wear 2.0 watch or a first-generation model that just received an update, they’re about to get a lot more buffed. We already know the new Google Fit app brings a bunch of new trackers and motivators for workout buffs, but in the latest update, Google is finally turning on the best new feature. Back when we reviewed the LG Sport and Style watches, we noted a strange difference between them regarding one of Google Fit’s better features. On the Sport, we were able to activate Strength Training, which used the watch’s sensors to automatically track what we were doing (sit-ups, weight lifting, and so on), and count our reps. But on the Style that option wasn’t present, and we couldn’t figure out why. Apparently…

£689 inc VAT from fave.co/2oTKDyF We’re huge fans of the Galaxy S7, so couldn’t wait to see if Samsung would produce a better phone with the S8. We weren’t disappointed. Design If the Galaxy S7 was stunning in design, then we’re not exactly sure how to describe the S8 apart from that it’s on another level. It makes its predecessor, and other phones, look rather dated. Samsung has brought its edge screen technology to both phones this year, so you don’t need to buy the larger S8+ to get the full experience. This not only looks great but has a big advantage when it comes to keeping the size of the phone from getting out of control. The S8 is pretty much the same width, thickness and weight compared to…

Google I/O is just around the corner, but we’ve already had a sneak peek at what Google is planning for Android O. To help developers make sure their apps are in tip-top shape for the public release later this year, Google has given them the first preview a little early, opening up a brand-new box of tricks and tools. While we’re not sure how many of these features will make it out of Developer options and the System UI tuner and into the main release, but there are a bunch of cool tricks we’ve found while exploring the new settings. Here are our 10 favourites. 1. Superior Settings The most obvious front-facing change in the first Android O Developer Preview is the Settings app. Not only does it have a…