Table of contents for Issue 44 in Android Advisor

£1,199 inc VAT fave.co/2gTh5KM The Pixelbook is Google’s latest attempt to make the Chromebook cool. Despite two prior generations of flagship Chromebook Pixels and a handful of high-end copycats from other manufacturers, the Chromebook category remains in a rut. Typecast as cheap, disposable browsing machines or easily locked-down classroom computers, Google hasn’t figured out how to make the Chromebook essential in the same way the smartphone is for most people. Google’s answer is to make the Pixelbook more like a smartphone. It joins the growing list of Chromebook models that support Android apps. It’s also the first Chromebook to support Google Assistant, formerly available only on Android devices. As you might guess from the Pixelbook’s name, some of its features work specifically with Google’s flagship Android phones. In the absence…

£427 inc VAT from fave.co/2yNdMNE Despite being introduced as a concept phone, Xiaomi’s Mi Mix was the most interesting smartphone we saw in 2016. It was the phone that inspired Samsung, LG and Apple to feature 18:9 full-screen displays in their latest flagships, and it garnered so much attention in the consumer tech industry that today I have no fewer than six Chinese copycat phones sitting on my desk waiting to be reviewed, all with the product name ‘Mix’. Producing a successor to that revolutionary handset was always going to be a tough job for Xiaomi, but in the Mi Mix 2 it has returned a gorgeous flagship that is more manageable in the hand and significantly faster. It also features the same primary camera as the company’s Mi6, which…

Android viruses are rare, but they exist. Almost exclusively installed via dodgy apps, the best way to avoid an Android virus is to keep to the secured confines of the Google Play store. Should your device get lumbered with some malware, we will explain how to put it into Safe mode, if necessary remove the malicious app’s administrator status and then uninstall the app. If this fails a factory reset should remove the bug once and for all, though you would prefer not to have to do so if your Android isn’t backed up. Before we begin, it’s worth pointing out that your Android phone or tablet probably doesn’t have a virus. What you’re more likely to be seeing is an ad that wants to convince you the device is…

£799 inc VAT from fave.co/2yKBhqq Expectations were high for the second-generation Pixel phones, and Google hasn’t disappointed. This year’s flagship – the 2 XL – is better in almost every way, but it does come at a higher price. Price Prices of top-end phones have risen dramatically in the last year, and the Pixel 2 XL is more expensive than its predecessor. The base model – with 64GB of storage – costs £799, but you’ll pay £899 for the 128GB version. As with the original, there’s no microSD slot for expanding the storage of either model. You’ve got one other choice: colour. The Pixel 2 XL comes in Just Black or Black and White. If you want to get the phone on contract, EE has the exclusive in the UK.…

£49 inc VAT from fave.co/2yKJ5IH If you’ve not decided what you want for Christmas this year, let us help you with that: a Google Home Mini. (Or multiple such devices if your loved ones are feeling generous.) Why? Because it’s awesome. We love the standard Google Home, but the Mini offers the same functionality at a fraction of the price. It offers a fraction of the audio quality, too, of course, but that doesn’t make us love it any less. Available now for £49 direct from Google or third-party vendors such as John Lewis, Currys, Argos and Maplin, Google Home Mini is sufficiently affordable to gift, and cheap enough that you can dip your toes into the new world of smart home voice assistants without a significant outlay. Better still,…

Both standard adverts and pop-up adverts are not only intrusive on a mobile device, but they can do serious damage to your phone bill if you’re on a limited data plan. Downloading heavy web-pages takes enough data: you don’t need the additional cost of paying to load up an ad man’s marketing message. Blocking these adverts is easy enough, but you may need to change your choice of web browser to do so. Choose Opera or the Ad-block browser, for example, and you can block all ads from displaying on your phone, but even if you wish to stick with Chrome you can banish pop-up ads. Here are tricks to try to get yourself a much happier, ad-free browsing experience. You can also check out the best mobile browsers there…

£699 inc VAT from fave.co/2xQGdsN Huawei is the biggest telecoms company on the planet, but the brand is still relatively unknown in the UK. Although other phone makers such as Samsung and Apple only very recently launched bezel-less phones, Huawei has quietly been doing this since 2014. Its Mate series has always had practically zero side bezels so although some will think that Huawei is just copying the big boys with the Mate 10, it’s actually the other way around. The past few Mates have all looked pretty much the same, but Huawei has shaken things up for 2017 and it’s no overstatement to say this is one of the best-looking phones around. It’s also one of the most powerful and longest-lasting, attributes which should ensure its place on your…

Samsung has come back from last year’s Note 7 disaster with the Galaxy Note8, a phone so jam-packed with features, you might still be learning things about it when the time comes for your next upgrade. The Note8 includes all the cool stuff Samsung bakes into all its phones, and then adds all the S Pen stuff. So why not accelerate your learning process? Here are 10 tips that will guide you to the very best features the Note8 offers. 1. Display adjustments The Galaxy Note8 has one of the best displays available on a smartphone, and you can make a few adjustments to tweak it just right for your eyes. Head into settings and find Display > Screen mode. There are four different modes from which to choose, including…

You might have missed the Apple references during the recent Google Pixel 2 event, but they were there. There was VP of Product Management Mario Queiroz telling the crowd, “We don’t set aside better features for the larger devices.” Or pointing out that “even iMessages” would be transferred over when you decide to switch. And let’s not forget the woman taking a big bite out of an apple during the Pixel 2’s intro video. In fact, it seemed like every new Google product released last month had a singular message seemingly aimed squarely at Apple. Google might have a long way to go before it starts selling iPhone-like numbers of Pixel phones, but there is one important area where it’s firmly in the lead, and it has nothing to do…