HMD Global has been particularly aggressive within the budget segment in 2019 — the Nokia 2.2 is one such affordable smartphone aimed at the low-end and emerging markets.
If you picked up a Pixel 4 over the holiday sales and you’re looking for a case to go with it, products with the “Made for Google” badge are a great place to start. Tech21 is one of the biggest names in that collection, and over the past couple of weeks I’ve spent some time with the company’s Pixel 4 XL accessories.
For the past two years, Google’s high-end Pixelbook has helped inspire a trend of “mid-range” Chromebooks that offer premium build and specs on the lightweight Chrome OS platform. Now, the Pixelbook Go is coming in to compete in that market, and it’s a truly excellent machine, but it might be a little overpriced.
When Google announced Stadia, it was met with excitement and trepidation. A fully formed game-streaming service with no real reliance on hardware. Stadia is now available and the good thing is: It works.
Smart TVs are just about everywhere at this point and slowly but surely, Google’s Android TV is also breaking into that market. Hisense has been putting out Android TV models for a little while now and for the past few weeks, I’ve been using the Hisense H9F – here’s what you need to know.
The problem with many Bluetooth earbuds is that they lack that real style and end up taking far too many design cues from AirPods. The Urbanista Paris earbuds skirt a fine line between homage and straight-up copy but end up being pretty solid for the price.
While Wear OS isn’t in the strong position it probably should be, there is no doubt that the solid selection of styles you can choose from makes the smartwatch OS an enticing prospect — and now entering the fray is the Emporio Armani Smartwatch 3.
I’ve been a Pixel user since the first generation, and every year I end up picking up an assortment of cases over the period of a few months. However, I keep coming back to Google’s official fabric cases each year, and with Pixel 4 it’s no different, even if this year’s version is a bit of a step backward compared to years past.
Google’s collection of smart speakers and displays has been slowly evolving over the past few years, but 2017’s Google Home Mini was largely regarded as the best product for most people. Now, we’ve been able to spend a few weeks with its followup, the Nest Mini, and we have no doubt that it’s the best option Google currently has on the market. Here are a few reasons why.
Android TV comes in a few form factors and at various price-points, it isn’t, however, very portable — so enter the Anker Nebula Capsule II.
Gaming Bluetooth earbuds are now a thing, and it appears that serious mobile gamers care about latency. Enter the Razer Hammerhead True Wireless Bluetooth earbuds.
It’s hard to recommend an Android tablet as Apple’s excellent iPad gets cheaper, but Samsung is definitely making the best of a bad situation with its tablets. For the past several weeks, I’ve been using the company’s high-end Galaxy Tab S6, and I’ve got a few thoughts on it.
Spoiler, though: I’m still going to be using an iPad.
As far as Android goes, the Pixel line has become, in spirit, the true iPhone alternative. In 2016, Google stepped up to the plate to craft a device that was a real answer to the most popular, well-known smartphone on the planet. That continues this year with the Pixel 4 XL.
Google is four years into making its own self-branded Android smartphones and, for the most part, they’re all great devices with one or two glaring flaws. Unfortunately, even after four years, Google’s Pixel 4 is another device with that same problem, but at the end of the day, it’s also the best experience you can get on an Android smartphone – for a limited time only.
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In 2017, I called the Nvidia Shield TV an “essentially perfect” set-top box, and that held up for nearly three years. Today, two new Nvidia Shield TV models are going up for sale, and the new base model is a radical departure from everything that came before it. It’s now smaller, cheaper, but still more powerful than the previous generation. After using it for about a week, I think the new smaller Shield TV is still the best streaming device you can buy, but with an asterisk.
Google Assistant is what unifies the company’s first-party hardware across different form factors. Back in May, the company teased a “next-generation Assistant” that’s faster and more capable. In actual usage, the most important changes with the Pixel 4’s new Google Assistant are a new subtle design that borders on invisible and seamless “Continued Conversation,” while the much-touted phone control fails to live up to its promise.
Google’s first generation of Pixel Buds proved a decent offering, but they paled in comparison to the likes of Apple’s AirPods. Now, Google has announced a new take on its smart earbuds with the Pixel Buds (2nd gen).
At today’s big hardware event, Google unveiled its new Pixelbook Go laptop. While it’s not a direct successor to the premium Pixelbook from 2017, it does deliver some of that laptop’s best features at a much more affordable price. Here’s our take after spending some time with it.
The biggest name in Wear OS is Fossil, and the company isn’t showing any signs of slowing down with Google’s platform, either. While Google basically ignores its existence, Fossil is pumping out hardware, and now making some modifications to the software, too. The Fossil Gen 5 smartwatch is currently the best Wear OS has to offer — it’s just a shame that it’s still not enough for most people.
The OnePlus 7T is the finest ‘non-Pro’ OnePlus phone to date and having spent some serious hands-on time reviewing the device, there is no doubt in my mind that at $599 it will arguably be the affordable flagship to beat in 2019.
Google’s Nest Hub is easily one of the best smart displays on the market (and with record low prices as of late), but that makes selling a much more expensive version pretty difficult. Google is trying to do that with the Nest Hub Max by combining three different products into one and, for the most part, it actually succeeds.
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The Galaxy Note series is Samsung’s option for power users and enthusiasts. Or at least, it was. The Galaxy Note 10+ is the biggest change we’ve seen to a Galaxy Note ever, but not because of the specs it packs or the features it has. It hits the nail on the head in just about every category for a “perfect smartphone,” but is the unique S Pen enough to make it worth buying?
While the Honor 20 Pro is unlikely to ever make it to the United States, for the rest of the world, the phone looked to be the first casualty in the ongoing US-China trade war.
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Android TV is growing quickly, but it’s rare to see on a consumer device that’s not a full-size TV. After a long delay, the JBL Link Bar hit the market as the first Android TV soundbar and I’ve spent the past couple of weeks using it in place of my Nvidia Shield. For $399, is it for you? Let’s take a look.
