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When will my OnePlus phone get the Android 15 update?

OnePlus 12 in hand

Android 15 is the next big update coming to Android smartphones, but when exactly should OnePlus users expect the update to appear?

While you might assume that it’ll roll out as soon as the final release of Android 15 is ready later this year, that’s sadly not the case. While there’s no confirmation of exactly when OnePlus will roll out the Android 15, we can take a look at previous OS update rollouts to gauge OnePlus’ plans.

With that in mind, here’s all you need to know about the Android 15 update on OnePlus smartphones, from rollout speculation to supported devices and how you can get in on the fun early with the Android 15 beta. 

When will OnePlus roll out the Android 15 update to supported phones?

While you might hope that, like Google Pixel devices, all supported OnePlus devices would get updated to Android 15 as soon as it’s available – but looking at the Android 14 release schedule, it seems highly unlikely.

Take the OnePlus Open for example; the Android 14 update began rolling out in India in early 2024, but it wasn’t rolled out to the US and Europe until mid-2024. That’s almost six months after the stable release of Android 14 first appeared on Pixel devices. 

Thankfully, that’s a bit of an outlier in the current OnePlus collection. The Android 14 update began rolling out to OnePlus 11 users who participated in the beta program in late 2023, with a wider release in January 2024, while the OnePlus 10 Pro and Nord CE 3 Lite received the update in early 2024. 

With that in mind, it’s likely that most OnePlus devices running Android 14 won’t get the Android 15 update until the end of 2024, or more likely, early on in 2025.

OnePlus Open
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

Which OnePlus devices will get the Android 15 update?

It’s worth noting that not every single OnePlus device will get the upgrade to Android 15 – only those with ongoing long-term software support. That means if you’ve bought a OnePlus phone in the past couple of years, you’ll likely get the update later this year. However, if you’re rocking a OnePlus 10 or earlier, you might be out of luck.

Based on OnePlus’ long-term software promise, the following devices should get the Android 15 update once it rolls out: 

OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite in the hand
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

Can I install the Android 15 beta on my OnePlus phone?

The good news is that you don’t need to wait until later this year – or possibly even 2025 – to try out Android 15 on your OnePlus smartphone. There is a catch, however; despite Android 15 coming to 10+ OnePlus devices, you can only install the Android 15 beta on either the OnePlus 12 or foldable OnePlus Open. 

It’s also worth noting that OnePlus has explicitly warned against everyday OnePlus users installing the Android 15 beta as it’s currently unstable and breaks a few key features on both phones – the full list of known issues is available on the OnePlus community forum. As such, it’s only really recommended for software developers, and certainly not on primary devices. 

If you are interested in this early look at Android 15, follow the (quite advanced) steps on the OnePlus community forum – but be warned, the process risks bricking your phone entirely. 

The post When will my OnePlus phone get the Android 15 update? appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

When will my Google Pixel get the Android 15 update?

Mint Pixel 8 pro back in hand
Mint Pixel 8 pro back in hand

Google has released the first Android 15 beta ahead of a wider rollout later this year – but when exactly will the final version of Android 15 be released? And more specifically, when will eligible Google Pixel devices get the update?

While we’re still some time away from Android 15 landing on your Pixel smartphone, here, we cover everything there is to know about the upgrade right now, from Pixel rollout date speculation to supported devices and how to get in on the action early with the Android 15 beta program. 

When will my Google Pixel smartphone get the Android 15 update?

As with most Android manufacturers, it’s pretty hard to say with any degree of certainty exactly when the Android 15 update will appear on your Pixel smartphone. 

The saving grace is that Google is usually among the first to roll out the software update to previous-gen devices, with the Pixel 7 and Pixel 6 getting the upgrade from Android 13 to Android 14 on 4 October 2023, the same day that the Android 14-enabled Pixel 8 range was announced. 

With that in mind, we’d expect something similar from Google with the Android 15 update, essentially rolling out the polished OS on the same day that the Android 15-equipped Pixel 9 range is revealed. 

We’re still too far away from the launch to get specific, but Google does tend to launch its flagship hardware in early October, so expect the update sometime in the first half of October if all goes to plan. 

Pixel 8 Pro display
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

Which Pixel devices will get the Android 15 update?

It’s worth noting that not every single generation of Pixel will get the update to Android 15 – only those with ongoing long-term software support. 

That’s fine if you’ve purchased a Pixel device in the past couple of years as they’re essentially guaranteed to get the update, but if you’ve got a Pixel 5 or older, it’ll be stuck on its current iteration of Android.

Google has confirmed that the following devices will get the Android 15 update later this year, alongside the expected Pixel 9 range:

Google Pixel Fold next to Trusted Reviews coaster on wood table.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

Can I access the Android 15 beta on my Pixel?

The good news is that keen Pixel users don’t have to wait for the official rollout of Android 15 later this year – as long as you can deal with the occasional bug or broken feature, that is. Like the iOS Public Beta that lets keen iPhone fans get a sneak peek of the upcoming version of iOS, Pixel users have the Android Beta for Pixel program.

The beta program is available to all Pixel devices due to get the Android 15 update, meaning Pixel 6 users and later can get involved – and it’s pretty easy to do too.

If you’re interested, simply head over to the Android Beta for Pixel website and enrol your device. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes, at which point the Android 15 beta should be available to download onto your Pixel.

We wouldn’t recommend installing the update – especially earlier betas – onto your primary device as it could break some important features and functionality. However, if you’ve got a spare Pixel phone handy and want to delve in ahead of everybody else, go for it! 

The post When will my Google Pixel get the Android 15 update? appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

Sony Xperia 1 VI vs Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: Comparing the Android flagships

Sony Xperia 1 VI vs Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Sony has revealed its top-end flagship for 2024, the Xperia 1 VI, but how does it compare to the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra? It is considered by many to be the best smartphone of 2024, after all.

Despite both being camera-focused flagships, there are key differences between the two, from camera tech to the use of AI and much more, that could sway your opinion one way or the other. If you’re struggling to decide between the Xperia 1 VI and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra for your next upgrade, we’re here to help.

Here are five key differences between the Sony Xperia 1 VI and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. If you’re curious about what’s new from this year’s flagship, take a look at our Sony Xperia 1 VI vs Xperia 1 V comparison. 

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has a more versatile camera setup

Both the Sony Xperia 1 VI and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra are camera-focused flagships with capable camera setups, but the Galaxy S24 Ultra has the edge here.

That’s because it has an impressive camera setup comprised of four lenses; a 200MP main camera, 10MP 3x telephoto, 50MP 5x periscope and a 12MP ultrawide lens, essentially providing a range of 0.5x to 10x and beyond – all the way to 100x with Samsung’s digital zoom tech. 

It’s a capable system that we were very impressed with in our review, calling it one of the best camera systems of any smartphone in 2024. 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra rear camera setup
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

The Sony Xperia 1 VI, on the other hand, sports a 52MP main camera alongside a 12MP 3.5x periscope lens and a matching 12MP ultrawide lens. While the periscope lens provides an optical range of up to 7.1x, it’s not quite as expansive as Samsung’s competing ultrawide. The main and periscope lenses are also of a lower resolution, limiting just how good its digital zoom offering can be in comparison. 

The Sony Xperia 1 VI is better for pro-level photographers

While Samsung has a more versatile camera setup overall, there’s no doubt that the Sony Xperia 1 VI is the one to go for if you’re a pro-level photographer or videographer.

Not only does the phone offer the ability to double up as extra storage, a wireless viewfinder and more for recent models of Sony Alpha DSLR, but it also offers a range of advanced on-device shooting modes to get the best out of the camera system.

These were previously split into various apps, including Camera Pro, Video Pro and even Cinema Pro, but they’ve all been bundled into the main Camera app on the Xperia 1 VI, making them even easier to access. 

The exact functionality depends on the mode in question, but it essentially provides granular control over every element of smartphone photography, and when it comes to video, it can make use of LUTs, record in LOG and much more. 

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra does offer a Pro mode for camera capture, but it doesn’t quite go as far as Sony’s offering. 

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra boasts Galaxy AI capabilities

One of the key features of the Galaxy S24 Ultra is Galaxy AI – so much so that it took centre stage over the hardware at the phone’s reveal back in January. It’s an impressive suite of AI-powered features that all take place entirely on device, allowing for cool functionality that’s fast and doesn’t need an internet connection to work.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra AI summary
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

The features range from AI transcription from voice notes to tech that’ll summarise chunks of text, as well as real-time translation tech for phone calls, advanced editing tools and much more. Though the results aren’t always perfect, it’s one of the best uses of GenAI on smartphones so far.

The Xperia 1 VI also has AI smarts, dubbed Sony AI, but it powers behind-the-scenes tech like the camera-focused human pose estimation tech and AI animal eye recognition, as well as improving connectivity and audio performance, rather than offering flashy big features users can call on at any point. 

The Sony Xperia 1 VI has a high-quality headphone jack

Headphone jacks were found on practically every high-end phone in the mid-2010s, but as wireless Bluetooth headphones surged in popularity, manufacturers began ditching the jack. 

Sony Xperia 1 VI colour options

Everyone, that is, apart from Sony (and a few budget smartphone makers). Sony has continued to include a 3.5mm headphone jack in practically every Xperia device around, and that continues with the Xperia 1 VI. 

In fact, Sony claims that this year’s flagship has a new premium audio circuit for its 3.5mm headphone jack that should further improve the high-res audio experience on offer. 

With that all said, it shouldn’t be surprising to learn that the competing Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra doesn’t offer a headphone jack, meaning you’ll have to get a USB-C adapter or opt for wireless headphones in future. 

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has better long-term software support

Another area where Samsung has Sony beat is with its long-term software promise for the Galaxy S24 Ultra. While previous Samsung phones already had one of the best promises around, committing to 5 OS upgrades and 4 years of security patches, that was boosted to a whopping 7 OS upgrades with the S24 series.

That means that the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra will eventually receive the Android 21 update, continuing to enjoy all the benefits that come with yearly OS upgrades.

The Xperia 1 VI, on the other hand, has a rather paltry promise of 3 OS upgrades and 4 years of security patches, matching that of phones that cost a fraction of the price.

The post Sony Xperia 1 VI vs Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: Comparing the Android flagships appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

Sony Xperia 1 VI vs Sony Xperia 1 V: What’s the difference?

Sony Xperia 1 VI vs Sony Xperia 1 V

Sony has revealed the Xperia 1 VI, but how does it compare to last year’s flagship, the Sony Xperia 1 V?

While the two sport a largely similar look, there are a few key differences on offer from this year’s Xperia flagship, from screen tech to camera technology and even performance. These are important elements that could sway your buying decision one way or the other. 

While we’ve not yet reviewed the Xperia 1 VI, we’ve spent a lot of time with the Xperia 1 V. With that in mind, here’s how the two compare on paper ahead of the Xperia 1 VI going on sale later this month. 

The Sony Xperia 1 V has a higher-res display

You might assume that, being the newer phone of the two, the Xperia 1 VI has a higher-res screen than its predecessor – but that’s not the case.

You see, while the Xperia 1 V had a 6.5-inch 4K display, this year’s Xperia 1 VI has a 6.5-inch FHD+ panel in its place. It’s easy to see why Sony ditched the 4K screen, as it came at a cost to gameplay performance and overall battery life, but it is a surprise to see a drop all the way to FHD+ rather than the QHD+ seen by similarly premium alternatives. 

That’s not the only difference either; the Xperia 1 VI also ditches the traditional 21:9 aspect ratio employed by Xperia phones, instead offering a similar 19.5:9 aspect ratio as many competing smartphones. While this means that widescreen Hollywood blockbusters will no longer fill the screen completely, it does mean that the 1 VI is better suited to 16:9 content on apps like TikTok and Instagram. 

The 1 VI’s screen also boasts LTPO tech for the first time, allowing the screen to drop down to as little as 1Hz dynamically to boost battery life, and it’s 50% brighter too, so it’s not an all-round downgrade by any means – but the fact remains that the Xperia 1 V has a higher-res screen better suited to true 4K content. 

Sony Xperia 5 V front
Sony Xperia 5 V

The Sony Xperia 1 VI has a better telephoto camera

While the Sony Xperia 1 VI and Xperia 1 V share the same excellent main camera sensor – a 52MP Exmor T sensor that outputs at 48MP used only by Sony – it has upgraded the phone’s telephoto camera this time around. 

More specifically, the Xperia 1 VI has a new 12MP optical telephoto lens with an extended zoom range between 3.5x and 7.1x. As well as being the ideal sensor for portrait photography, complete with improved edge detection capabilities, the telephoto sensor can double up as a high-quality macro camera with subjects around 4cm away. 

Compared to the Xperia 1 V’s 12MP telephoto that offered a shorter 3.5x – 5.2x range, it’s a decent boost. Elsewhere, however, both share the same 12MP ultrawide lens, so the only real difference between the two systems is the telephoto camera.

The Sony Xperia 1 VI has a simpler approach to camera software

Sony’s top-end Xperia 1 devices are aimed at pro-level photographers and videographers not only because they play exceptionally well with Sony Alpha cameras, doubling up as both a remote control and a viewfinder, but because of the granular control they provide users with when it comes to smartphone photography and videography.

The issue with previous Xperia 1 entries, including the V, is that the functionality was split over several apps, and it was a rather confusing experience with a slightly different UI in each depending on what the focus was. There was Photo Pro, Video Pro and even Cinema Pro, along with dedicated audio recording apps, just to name a few.

Thankfully, Sony has simplified its offering with the Xperia 1 VI. It still boasts the same granular control over its camera system as its predecessors, but they’ve all been rolled into the main Camera app for easier access. As with most other smartphone camera apps, you now only need to swipe between the various modes for quick access.

We asked Sony if the updated Camera app will also come to the Xperia 1 V via a software update in future, but the company refused to comment, so it’s an Xperia 1 VI exclusive for now.  

Sony Xperia 1 VI colour options
Sony Xperia 1 VI

The Sony Xperia 1 VI is better for gaming

The newer Xperia 1 VI doesn’t only have an advantage over its predecessor with the use of the newer, faster Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in place of the Gen 2 – it’s also the first Xperia device to boast vapour chamber cooling inside.

This is a feature often found in gaming phones, as it allows the phone to more effectively dissipate heat generated by the chipset in particularly demanding situations. It should translate to not only a cooler phone to the touch when gaming, but one that’s more stable than the Xperia 1 V over longer sessions. 

Combined with a healthy dose of 12GB of RAM, 256GB or 512GB of storage and the possibility of expanding by as much as 1.5TB via microSD, it’s undoubtedly the better of the two smartphones for mobile gamers.

The post Sony Xperia 1 VI vs Sony Xperia 1 V: What’s the difference? appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

Fast Charge: Forget the iPad Pro, the Air is all the tablet you need

OPINION: Apple this week announced a bunch of new iPads, including the new top-end iPad Pro range with slightly larger OLED screens, a much thinner design – seriously, these are the thinnest Apple products to date – and, of course, the new ultra-powerful 3nm Apple M4 chipset.

But all that high-end tech comes at a steep price. The base 11-inch iPad Pro starts at £/$999, while the 13-inch iPad Pro starts at £/$300 more, at £/$1299 – already a hard pill to swallow when you consider that the only difference between the two is the size of the screen. 

Then there’s the fact that you’ll have to opt for either the 1TB or 2TB variant if you even want the option of adding Apple’s new nano-texture coating to the screen – an extra that’ll also cost you £/$100 more.

It’s worth noting that, even for the same price as a MacBook Air, you’ll still only be getting the iPad Pro – and not even a charger if you’re in the UK. You’ll still need to fork out for the £/$129 Apple Pencil Pro and £/$299-£/$349 (size-dependent) Magic Keyboard if you’re seriously considering using it for work or creative purposes, driving the price up even further.

iPad Pro width
Old iPad Pro vs new iPad Pro

Let’s be honest; for the vast majority of people, it’s not worth it – especially with the new iPad Air range floating around at a much cheaper price point. Granted, the new 11- and 13-inch iPad Airs aren’t exactly cheap at £/$599 and £/$799 respectively, but they’re much more manageable figures than Apple’s top-end tablets.

The Air could be the better choice

First off, with matching 11-inch and 13-inch options available, the iPad Air offers the same screen real estate as its more premium siblings. Granted, they’re Liquid Retina LCD screens and not the ProMotion-enabled OLED panels of the iPad Pro range, but considering most iPads until this point have used LCD panels, it’s not exactly a downgrade that most will notice.

Then there’s processing power to consider; the new iPad Air range sports the desktop-level Apple M2 chipset – the same chipset as the previous-gen iPad Pro range, which we felt – and still feel – is more than enough power for iPadOS, with only a slim fraction of the available apps coming close to utilising the M2’s power. 

iPad Air 11 inch and 13 inch models
iPad Air 11 and iPad Air 13

Yes, the iPad Pro range has an M4 chipset, but considering that most apps can’t even take advantage of the M2, the M4 feels like much of a muchness at this point. Maybe that’ll change with the reveal of the next version of iPadOS at WWDC in June, but right now, it feels pretty pointless. 

The iPad Air, with its desktop-level chip, allows it to offer features not available on the likes of the iPad mini and iPad, including Stage Manager, external display extension support and even Hover Mode with the Apple Pencil, continuing to close the gap between it and the iPad Pro range.

Then there’s the all-important accessory support to consider. Despite being debuted alongside the iPad Pro and not the iPad Air, the new Apple Pencil Pro does work flawlessly with the latest Air range. 

That allows digital artists to utilise the new tech within the stylus like a squeeze action to access an on-screen toolbar, haptic feedback and a built-in gyroscope that captures rotation as well as movement, all without the iPad Pro, and at £129, it’s the exact same price as the previous Apple Pencil. 

Apple Pencil Pro Specs
Apple Pencil Pro features

That’s not quite the case with the second-gen Magic Keyboard, which remains exclusive to the iPad Pro, but you’ll find first-gen Magic Keyboards for the iPad Air range that work just as well. You won’t get the new function buttons or aluminium build, but the core concept of the Magic Keyboard remains unchanged – essentially turning your iPad into a trackpad-equipped laptop.

Let’s go back to those all-important numbers from earlier. If you were to buy a 13-inch iPad Air, stylus and keyboard it’d still cost you £/$1277, but that’s less than the competing iPad Pro. It’s a more positive picture with the 11-inch combo, coming in at a total of £/$1027. 

So, yes, while the iPad Pro boasts the ultimate tablet hardware, you can get pretty damn close for much less with an iPad Air. 

The post Fast Charge: Forget the iPad Pro, the Air is all the tablet you need appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

How to connect your Android phone to a TV

How to connect your Android phone to a TV

Smartphones are great – you can browse the web, play games, scroll through social media and just about anything else you could think of. The thing is, sometimes things look better on a TV than on a smartphone screen, so how do you connect your Android phone to your TV?

Thankfully, as long as you’ve got a Chromecast-enabled TV or a Chromecast dongle, it’s a simple process that takes only seconds to set up, allowing you to binge your favourite Netflix series or squeeze in a game of Call of Duty Mobile on the big screen.

It’s worth noting that the process varies slightly depending on the manufacturer of your phone, but all broadly follow the same steps. 

With that said, here’s how you can wirelessly connect your Android phone to a TV using Chromecast. 

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What you’ll need: 

  • An Android smartphone
  • A Chromecast-enabled TV
  • A Wi-Fi connection

The Short Version 

  1. Turn on your Chromecast-enabled TV.
  2. Swipe down on your smartphone to access Quick Settings.
  3. Tap Screen Cast.
  4. Tap the name of the TV you’d like to connect to.
  5. Tap Start Now.
  6. Open the app or game that you’d like to mirror.
  7. Tap Disconnect in the notification shade when you’re done.

  1. Step
    1

    Turn on your Chromecast-enabled TV

    The first step is to turn on your Chromecast-enabled TV. If you’ve got Chromecast tech built into your smart TV, this is all you need to do. If you’re using a Chromecast dongle, however, you’ll need to switch the source on your TV to Chromecast. Roku TV and apps

  2. Step
    2

    Swipe down on your smartphone to access Quick Settings

    On your Android smartphone, swipe down from the top of your screen to access Quick Settings. This is usually nestled in the notification shade, but some phones – like those from Honor and Xiaomi – are separate, available from swiping down on the top-right of the screen. Android notification shade

  3. Step
    3

    Tap Screen Cast

    From the Quick Settings, tap Screen Cast. This is a feature that goes by many names depending on your phone manufacturer; stock or near-stock OSs like those from Motorola and Google will have Screen Cast branding, while Samsung uses Smart View and Honor uses Wireless Projection. These are essentially all the same thing, and achieve the same goal using Chromecast or Miracast tech. Screen Cast in the Quick Settings menu

  4. Step
    4

    Tap the name of the TV you’d like to connect to

    From the list of Chromecast-enabled devices nearby, tap the name of the TV you’d like to connect to.Select casting device

  5. Step
    5

    Tap Start Now

    You’ll then see a pop-up explaining the cast technology. Read through it, and tap Start Now to mirror your phone screen to your TV. Confirm Chromecast connection

  6. Step
    6

    Open the app or game that you’d like to mirror

    Once connected, open the app or game you’d like to mirror and enjoy the big-screen experience! YouTube with screen mirroring active

  7. Step
    7

    Tap Disconnect in the notification shade when you’re done

    Once you’re ready to disconnect, swipe down to access your notification shade and tap Disconnect to end the casting session. Disconnect Chromecast

FAQ

Can I connect my Android phone to my TV with wires?

Absolutely – simply pick up a USB-C-to-HDMI cable (as long as you’ve got a USB-C Android phone) and plug it in. You’ll also benefit from extremely low lag by using a wired connection, which is especially helpful when playing Android games on your TV. 

The post How to connect your Android phone to a TV appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

Explaining the differences between HyperOS and MIUI on Xiaomi phones

Xiaomi’s MIUI has a bit of a reputation in the smartphone industry, and honestly, it’s not a good one. 

It’s an Android skin that, traditionally, is difficult to get used to with an awkward UI packed with bloatware and seemingly random features, and it’s particularly aggressive when it comes to killing background apps to save battery life too. 

This combination means that, no matter how good Xiaomi’s smartphone hardware has been over the past few years, the software is always a little bit of a disappointment for consumers in the Western market who prefer more simplistic approaches to the Android interface, keeping it as close to stock Android as possible. 

Well, it looks like Xiaomi has been listening, and its answer is HyperOS; a new Android skin found on recent Xiaomi devices including the Xiaomi 14 and Xiaomi 14 Ultra. The question is, what’s actually new with HyperOS and is it really that different from MIUI? The two certainly still look similar, after all. 

HyperOS has a renewed focus on design

Swiping around the interface HyperOS interface on the Xiaomi 14, you might assume this is simply a rebranded version of MIUI, but there are subtle differences to Xiaomi’s UI approach. 

HyperOS has a focus on clean lines and a decluttered interface, with a new MiSans Global font, a slightly more organised approach to the (previously chaotic) Settings menu, redesigned app icons and new animations to help the interface feel fresh and new.

Xiaomi 14 quick controls
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

There’s even a new lock screen layout dubbed Artistic Lock Screen that turns your photos into a magazine poster when your phone is locked, complete with customisable text and more. It looks a lot like Apple’s new lock screen system, albeit without widgets – for now, anyway. 

The HyperOS interface also supports more screen sizes, which should translate to a better experience when using HyperOS on a foldable or tablet whenever those eventually materialise in the Western market. 

But it’s not just about good looks

Still, most of the hard work Xiaomi has done lies beneath the surface of HyperOS. For one, the Android skin takes up much less space on your smartphone than MIUI did, with HyperOS on the Xiaomi 14 Pro occupying just 8.76GB of storage. 

Considering users reported MIUI taking up anywhere between 15GB to 25GB of storage on last year’s Xiaomi 13 Pro, that’s a huge improvement that provides more space for your apps and data, and it should allow the OS to perform faster in everyday use too. 

It also focuses a lot on cross-device compatibility, working well not only with other Xiaomi-branded devices but even smart home tech and car tech. Most of this is unavailable at the time of writing, with most Xiaomi-compatible tech only in China, but you can get a good idea of Xiaomi’s future cross-compatibility plans on its HyperOS explainer page. 

HyperOS cross-device features
Cross-device features on HyperOS

Xiaomi also wants to follow Samsung, Honor and Google’s lead on GenAI capabilities with HyperOS-enabled smartphones with a renewed focus on GenAI capabilities and NPU efficiency – though no GenAI capabilities are currently available in the Western variant of the OS. 

That’s the biggest issue with HyperOS right now; it’s still very new, only making its debut on smartphones in the past few months, and it feels like a system that’s very much still in its infancy. There has been a lot of groundwork laid in the background of the OS, and now Xiaomi needs to take advantage of it.

The post Explaining the differences between HyperOS and MIUI on Xiaomi phones appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

How to use Google Gemini in Google Chrome: A new shortcut revealed

How to use Google Gemini in Google Chrome

Google Gemini, the company’s ChatGPT competitor, is becoming prevalent across the company’s suite of services, from Gmail to Google Docs and even the Chrome browser thanks to a new update.

The update makes it easier than ever to access Google Gemini and get personalised answers to your burning questions, no matter how niche they might be. It works in a similar way to regular Google searches in the browser, but now with a little bit of GenAI secret sauce.

It was already relatively easy to access Google Gemini by going to the Gemini website, but this new browser update makes it even faster for Chrome users. 

Without further ado, here’s how to use the new Google Gemini shortcut in Google Chrome on PC and Mac. 

What you’ll need: 

  • A PC or Mac
  • Google Chrome Version 124.0.6367.119 or later

The Short Version 

  1. Open Google Chrome.
  2. Type @Gemini in the search bar.
  3. Select Chat with Gemini.
  4. Enter your search query.
  5. Get the information you need.

  1. Step
    1

    Open Google Chrome

    The first step is to open Google Chrome on your PC or Mac and make sure that it’s up to date. You’ll need version 124.0.6367.119 or later to use the new Google Gemini integration in the browser. Open the Chrome browser

  2. Step
    2

    Type @Gemini in the search bar

    In the search bar, type @Gemini.Type @Gemini in the search bar

  3. Step
    3

    Select Chat with Gemini

    From the list of suggested websites and search queries, select Chat with Gemini.Select Chat with Gemini

  4. Step
    4

    Enter your search query

    Enter the question you’d like answered directly into the search bar – no need to go to the Gemini website. Once you’ve typed out your question, hit the Enter key to submit.Enter your question

  5. Step
    5

    Get the information you need

    You’ll then be taken to the Gemini website to get the answer to your question, and you can ask any follow-ups if necessary.Get Gemini to answer your question

Troubleshooting

The Gemini prompt doesn’t appear when I type @Gemini in Google Chrome. How can I use it?

It sounds like you’re running an older version of Google Chrome. Tap the Three Dots in the upper-right corner of the browser, and if there’s an update available, you’ll be prompted to install it. 

The post How to use Google Gemini in Google Chrome: A new shortcut revealed appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

The Pixel Tablet without the dock is even harder to recommend

hub screen on pixel tablet
hub screen on pixel tablet

Google made a bold move this week. 

Less than two hours after Apple revealed the new iPad Air range and top-end iPad Pro range, Google made a tablet-themed announcement of its own.

No, it’s not the Pixel Tablet 2, but instead a new version of the Pixel Tablet sans the hybrid dock/speaker system. Y’know, the one feature that made the Pixel Tablet interesting in the first place?

Frankly, even with a £200/$100 discount compared to the Pixel Tablet & speaker combo, the standalone Pixel Tablet is almost impossible to recommend to the vast majority of consumers.

You see, the £599/$499 Pixel Tablet’s hybrid nature was essentially the reason to pick it up over any other Android tablet, or even an iPad. The idea was that the Pixel Tablet could function as your everyday tablet in use, and when not in use, it could double up as a smart screen like the Nest Hub Max. 

home screen on pixel tablet
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

It was a feature we praised in our review, helping it stand out from a sea of tablets from the likes of Samsung, OnePlus and even Apple. The tablet goes into what Google calls Hub Mode whenever docked, providing a slimmed-down version of the UI found on the Nest Hub with access to Google Assistant, smart home controls, Google Photos library and more. 

It wasn’t quite as impressive as the experience from a full-fat smart display like the Nest Hub Max, missing out on features like facial recognition, and sound quality was lacking, but it did a good enough job as a smart display overall. 

That’s important because when it comes to the actual tablet aspect of the Pixel Tablet, it’s pretty damn underwhelming. 

The Tensor G2 chipset powering the tablet is fine, but it wasn’t even the most powerful chipset around at its initial 2023 launch despite being used in the likes of the Pixel 7 and even the Pixel Fold, focusing more on AI than pure processing power. That gap is widening in 2024 with huge advancements from MediaTek and Qualcomm, as well as the rollout of the newer Tensor G3 in the Pixel 8 range. 

In fact, we found that it was on a par with the OnePlus Pad’s Dimensity 9000 chipset that was first released in 2021 – and the OnePlus Pad is quite a bit cheaper than the Pixel Tablet too. For reference, it can currently be found as little as £359/$399 at the time of writing.

Person holding Google Pixel Tablet
Image Credit: Google

Speaking of the OnePlus Pad, that tablet’s 11.6-inch 144Hz display also makes the Pixel Tablet’s 10.95-inch 60Hz display feel comparatively jittery when swiping around the tablet.

There’s also the fact that, unlike most mid-range and premium tablets, there are no official stylus or keyboard case accessories for the Pixel Tablet, limiting its use to entertainment rather than work or educational purposes. 

What I’m trying to get across is that, without the hybrid dock system, the Pixel Tablet simply doesn’t do enough to entice consumers. 

The budget/mid-range tablet is an extremely competitive one, with options from Apple now including the £349/$349 iPad 10, as well as the likes of the £359/$399 OnePlus Pad and the £449/$449 Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE, all offering a better tablet experience than Google’s standalone Pixel Tablet – and most at a cheaper price point too.

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iPad Air 6 (11in) vs iPad Air 6 (13in): What’s the difference between the two tablets?

iPad Air 6 (11in) vs iPad Air 6 (13in)

Apple has thrown the iPad Air rulebook out of the window with the latest iPad Air 6 – and that’s because, for the first time, it’s available in two screen sizes. But what’s the difference between the two?

While some differences – like the size of the screen – are obvious, there are a few small differences between the two that may sway your buying decision one way or the other. If you’re tempted to pick up the iPad Air 6 but aren’t sure which is best for your needs, carry on reading. 

Both have different-sized screens

The most obvious difference between the two iPad Air variants is the screens’ size. The 10.9-inch display of the previous-gen iPad Air has been boosted by 0.1 inches to 11 inches, matching that of the new iPad Pro 11. The completely new variant of iPad Air, on the other hand, has a large 13-inch panel that mirrors that of the new 13-inch iPad Pro – in terms of sheer size, anyway.

Rather refreshingly, that’s essentially the only big difference when it comes to iPad Air screen tech, with both sporting Liquid Retina displays that cap out at 60Hz – though there are a few small differences if you look closely enough. 

iPad Air (2024) range

That includes resolution, with the larger 13-inch iPad Air somewhat obviously boasting a slightly larger 2732 x 2048 resolution than the 11-inch alternative’s 2360 x 1640, though the pixel density is identical at 264ppi. 

What is surprising, however, is that the 13-inch iPad Air is also slightly brighter than its smaller sibling, boosting to a maximum of 600nits while the 11-inch variant caps out at 500nits. It’s arguably not going to be that notable in everyday use, but if you plan on using your tablet in bright outdoor conditions, it might be worth opting for the bigger screen. 

The 11-inch iPad Air is much lighter

Sporting a screen that’s two inches smaller than that of the 13in iPad Air, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to learn that the 11in model is the lighter of the two variants of iPad Air – and by quite a bit too.

That’s because the 13-inch iPad Air weighs in at 617g, making it 38g heavier than the iPad Pro of the same size, while the 11-inch variant weighs in at 462g, making it lighter and thus easier to throw into a rucksack for use on-the-go. In fact, it’s only 1g heavier than the previous-gen iPad Air. 

Both share the same key specs

Aside from the size of the screens and other minor differences noted above, the 11-inch and 13-inch versions of the iPad Air both share the same key specs. That means both sport the same M2 chipset with the same storage options from 128GB to 1TB, the same 12MP selfie camera, the same support for Wi-Fi 6E and much more. 

Apple M2 chipset

It’s a refreshing change to Apple’s previous approach of offering slightly different specs between two variants of the same product. Take the previous-gen iPad Pro range for example; while both sported largely the same specs, the 12.9-inch model had an upgraded mini-LED screen while the 11-inch model used the same LCD panel as previous entries. 

It makes things much simpler for consumers, leaving the decision down to something as simple as whether they want a regular or large-screen tablet. 

The 11-inch iPad Air is cheaper

With a smaller 11-inch screen than the 13-inch alternative, the 11-inch iPad Air is comfortably the cheaper of the two tablets, starting at £599/$599 while the 13-inch alternative starts at £799/$799. That’s a pretty tempting price for the tablet, especially when you consider the M2-level power on offer.

If you are interested in either model, both variants of the sixth-gen iPad Air are available to pre-order now, with a general release set for 15 May 2024.

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iPad Air 6 (11-inch) vs Samsung Galaxy Tab S9: Which tablet is best?

iPad Air 2024 vs Samsung Galaxy Tab S9

Apple has just revealed the new 11-inch iPad Air 6, but how does it compare to the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9? The Samsung tablet is one of the best Android tablets around, after all.

While you might assume that both are fairly evenly matched, the iPad Air 6 pulls away from the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 not only in terms of sheer power but accessories, and importantly, it’s cheaper than the competing tablet too.

However, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 has a lot going for it, not only with unique IP68 dust and water resistance but also GenAI-powered tools in the form of Galaxy AI.

Here’s how the two tablets compare to help you decide which is best for your needs. 

The iPad Air 6 is more powerful

Both the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 and iPad Air 6 are impressively powerful tablets at the top of their respective games, but the iPad Air 6 manages to peel away with the inclusion of Apple’s desktop-level M2 chipset.

Previously the chipset of choice of the 2022 iPad Pro range, Apple claims that the new chipset is 50% faster than that of the M1-enabled iPad Air from 2022, and that was already one of the most powerful tablets around. It means that the new iPad can take advantage of console-level games like Assassin’s Creed Mirage when it becomes available on the App Store in the coming months.

Editing on the iPad Air 2024

That doesn’t mean that the Tab S9 is a slouch, sporting a custom chipset dubbed the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, but it’s no longer the fastest chipset around with the launch of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 just a few months after the Tab S9 was revealed. It’s still more than enough to power the premium Android tablet experience, but it can’t compete with the Apple M2.  

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 is dust and water-resistant

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 separates itself not only from the iPad Air 6 but practically every other tablet on the market with an impressive IP68 dust and water resistance rating. 

While many tablets could survive a splash of water, the Tab S9 can take a trip to the beach and remain totally unscathed – an impressive feat of engineering from Samsung, that’s for sure.

Rear of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

The iPad Air, on the other hand, has no official dust or water resistance, so we’d keep it far away from swimming pools and the like to be safe. 

The Galaxy Tab S9 has better AI features

AI is the big buzzword of 2024 with GenAI capabilities now appearing in various flagship smartphones. Galaxy AI was the star of the Galaxy S24 launch earlier this year, but don’t assume that it’s only on the S24 range; following a wider rollout of Samsung’s OneUI 6.1 update, the Tab S9 now has GenAI capabilities. 

It’s not just one or two of the key Galaxy AI features either, with the Tab S9 boasting practically every feature available on the Galaxy S24 including the ability to rewrite texts and emails, on-device translation, transcription capabilities, website summarisation and even the GenAI-powered photo editing tools. 

Both tablets have great accessory support

The core tablet experience is one thing, but if you want a truly versatile bit of tech that can double up as a sketch pad or even a laptop, accessories are key. The good news is that both the iPad Air 6 and Galaxy Tab S9 offer support for high-end accessories including styluses and keyboard covers.

Let’s start with the iPad Air; as with the 2022 variant, the iPad Air 2024 offers support for the second-gen Apple Pencil and the first-gen Magic Keyboard. While it doesn’t quite extend to the newer variants of the accessories, currently exclusive to the iPad Pro range, the experience from the Apple Pencil 2 and Magic Keyboard is certainly a high-end one that we appreciated during the review process.

Doodling on the iPad Air 6

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 also boasts support for Samsung’s S Pen stylus and a keyboard case that works in a similar way to the iPad Air’s accessory, essentially turning the tablet into a laptop. If anything, Samsung’s implementation is a little better with DeX support turning the tablet UI into something akin to Windows 11 for a true multitasking experience. 

The iPad Air is much cheaper

Despite the various similarities between the two top-end tablets, Apple’s iPad Air is actually cheaper than the competing Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 – and by quite a bit too. 

While the iPad Air comes in at £599/$599 with 128GB of storage, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 starts at £799/$799 with the same 128GB of storage, making it £200/$200 more. The catch? The Tab S9 comes with a stylus in the box, while the Apple Pencil 2 is an optional accessory.  

If you’re interested in either, you can buy the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 now following its launch in August 2023, while the iPad Air – both 11- and 13-inch models – are available to pre-order now ahead of release on 15 May 2024. 

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iPad Air (2024) vs iPad Pro (2024): What’s the difference?

iPad Air 2024 vs iPad Pro 2024

Apple has just announced two powerful tablet ranges for 2024, the iPad Air and the iPad Pro. The question is, what’s the difference between the two?

It’s arguable that with the introduction of the iPad Air 11 and iPad Air 13, the iPad Air and iPad Pro ranges are closer together than ever – but there are still crucial differences between the two that’ll sway your opinion one way or the other. 

Before slapping down your hard-earned cash, here are a few crucial differences between the new iPad Air and the new iPad Pro. 

The iPad Pro is more powerful

The iPad Pro range is Apple’s all-singing-all-dancing tablet, and to further cement its position, it’s one of few Apple tablets to utilise the desktop-level M-series chipsets. It started with the inclusion of the M1 in 2021, before the M2 made its debut in 2022, and that trend continues with the use of the brand-new M4 in this year’s iPad Pro range.

That top-end chipset is the most powerful you’ll find on any tablet at the moment, boasting a 50% boost to CPU performance compared to the M2, complete with elements like ray-tracing support, that make it the ideal tablet for serious creative work like editing and exporting video, working with large files and even animation.

That doesn’t mean the iPad Air should be sniffed at, however; it’s the only other tablet range to sport the M-series chipset, with the 2022 iPad Air boasting the (slightly older) M1 chipset, and the 2024 range has seen a boost to the M2, cementing its place as a true powerhouse of tablet processing power – it’s just not quite as powerful as the iPad Pro.  

The iPad Pro is more lightweight

One of the key differentiators between the iPad Air and iPad Pro has, traditionally, been heft. The Air branding of the iPad Air signifies the focus on a lightweight design, an element that’s not quite as important with the pro-level tablets in Apple’s collection – until this year, that is.

Editing on the iPad Air 2024

While the iPad Air has traditionally been thinner and lighter than the Pro models, the redesigned iPad Pro range is impressively thin and lightweight; in fact, it’s the thinnest product in Apple’s product collection ever.

More specifically, the iPad Air 11 measures in at just 5.3mm and 444g, while the iPad Pro 12.9 measures in at 5.1mm and 580g– the latter is truly impressive considering the size. We don’t yet know exactly how thick and heavy the new iPad Air is in comparison, but Apple has stated that the new iPad Pro range is the thinnest and lightest yet, so expect some extra heft from the ironically-named iPad Air. 

The iPad Pro has a way better screen

The iPad Pro has always had a top-end screen, but the 2024 range takes that to the next level by switching from LCD (or miniLED in the case of the previous 12.9in model) to OLED, a first in Apple’s iPad range. 

It’s not just your regular OLED panel either, instead using two layers of OLED sheets to deliver top-end brightness of 1600nits, deeper blacks and more vibrant colours than the Liquid Retina LCD display of the iPad Air. 

The iPad Pro range also enjoys new options like NanoTexture glass, a matte-finish display that helps negate reflections, and like previous entries, it sports 120Hz ProMotion support for buttery-smooth animations. That’s just as true of the new slightly larger 13-inch model as the 11-inch model, with no difference between the two.

The iPad Air’s Super Retina XDR display is still very much a great LCD display, also available in 11- and 13-inches for the first time, with a pixel-packed resolution and support for multiple HDR formats to make viewing a great experience, but it misses out not only on the OLED tech but the 120Hz refresh rate and matte-finish display option. 

The iPad Pro has more advanced accessories

The iPad Air (2022) was a particularly tempting tablet for Apple fans as it shared the same support for the same high-end Apple Pencil 2 and Apple Magic Keyboard as the top-end Pro collection. That meant you could get much of the Pro functionality at a much cheaper price point.

However, the iPad Pro has new accessories in the form of a refreshed Magic Keyboard and the Apple Pencil Pro, and while iPad Air users can use the latter, they can’t use the former. 

iPad Pro Magic Keyboard

The new Magic Keyboard has an aluminium trackpad for better performance, combined with the same haptic feedback from Macs for a more aligned trackpad experience, and there are new shortcut keys to better control elements of your tablet like brightness with a press. 

The Apple Pencil Pro, on the other hand, sports a new squeeze interaction (similar to that of the AirPods Pro) that’ll bring up a new tool palette for quick brush/pen selection, and the new haptic engine should add interesting feedback to the drawing experience. There’s also a new gyroscope to change orientation for shaped pens and brushes, and Find My support. 

The iPad Air is much cheaper

It’s clear to see that the new iPad Pro range is much more capable than the new iPad Air range – even the large 12.9-inch model – but there’s a reason for that; the iPad Pro is Apple’s top-end tablet with all the latest features, while the iPad Air likes to strike a middle ground between high-end features and a more affordable nature.

That said, it shouldn’t be much surprise to learn that the iPad Air is way more affordable than its Pro sibling, with the 11-inch iPad Air starting at $599, going up to $799 for the 13-inch model, while the 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $1199, going up to $1299 if you want the 13-inch iPad Pro experience.

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Fast Charge: The OnePlus Pad Go comes a little too late – and that’s a bit of a shame

While working on my OnePlus Pad Go review – which should be live in the next couple of days here at Trusted Reviews – I had a realisation. 

The OnePlus Pad Go’s £299 price tag is indeed tempting, not only because of the boosted spec but inclusion of LTE connectivity by default, but there’s a problem: the more powerful OnePlus Pad isn’t as expensive as it was at release in early 2023 and, just like with the release of the Galaxy S23 FE and S23, is now only slightly more expensive than the Pad Go. 

It’s not even third-party retailers that are undercutting the new budget tablet; OnePlus itself is offering the OnePlus Pad at quite a significant discount, with 20% off the RRP at the time of writing, bringing the full-fat tablet down to just £359 – £60 more than the OnePlus Pad Go.

That’s a problem because the OnePlus Pad boasts quite a bit more tech than the Pad Go. That includes a larger, faster 11.6-inch 144Hz display, a much more powerful processor in the form of the Dimensity 9000, along with 12GB of RAM, and rapid 67W fast charging tech that we found delivered a full charge in 64 minutes.

The OnePlus Pad also has another key strength compared to its entry-level sibling; accessory support. The OnePlus Pad offers support for both a OnePlus-designed keyboard cover and stylus, with both attaching to the tablet via magnets in the same way a high-end iPad does. 

Granted, these accessories come at an additional cost, but simply the option of using them makes the OnePlus Pad a more appealing tablet than its cheaper sibling, especially for school or work purposes. 

Left ImageRight Image

But why is this even happening in the first place? It’s mainly down to OnePlus’ decision to delay the launch of the OnePlus Pad Go in Europe. 

You see, despite its 2024 release, the OnePlus Pad Go initially made its debut in October 2023 in India. That made a lot of sense for OnePlus – the regular Pad was around six months old at the time and was still selling for quite the premium compared to the Go, making the Go’s budget nature a tempting option for budget-conscious buyers. 

The problem with the European launch is that OnePlus has waited too long. Tech depreciates pretty quickly, and that’s especially true in the mobile and tablet worlds where tech is advancing at an increasingly rapid pace, making what look like flagship-level products look comparatively outdated within a year of release. 

That means that the discounted OnePlus Pad has a very real chance to undercut the “more recent” OnePlus Pad Go, simply because of the poor timing and significantly delayed release compared to its Indian launch.

OnePlus can’t go much cheaper than the £300 mark with the Pad Go without incurring some kind of loss – especially with elements like LTE connectivity rarely seen at the price point – so there isn’t a clear fix here. Sure, OnePlus could bump the regular Pad’s price back up to £449, but it’s still available at a discounted price from third-party retailers.

Instead, it seems OnePlus will have to commit to a European launch for its key products with a much shorter turnaround than what we’ve seen with the OnePlus Pad Go. Let’s hope the company learns from its mistakes and strengthens its Western release plans going forward.

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How to optimise your gaming phone's settings for peak performance

RedMagic 9 Pro smartphone displaying a racing game.

Smartphones are pretty powerful in 2024, and that’s particularly true of gaming phones like the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro Edition and RedMagic 9 Pro, delivering the very best possible performance from any smartphone right now to provide the best gaming experience around.

However, even with top-end gaming-focused hardware, there are ways that you can optimise your phone’s settings to squeeze out even better performance – ideal for particularly taxing games like Call of Duty Mobile and Genshin Impact.

With that said, here are four ways you can optimise your gaming phone for peak game performance. If you’re yet to pick up a gaming phone, take a look at our selection of the best gaming phones to make sure you’re getting one of the best. 

Enable performance mode

Most gaming phones come with a top-end smartphone chipset and plenty of RAM to boot, all in the name of delivering the best gaming performance possible from a phone. That’s usually enough to provide a great gaming experience with top-end graphics enabled and smooth frame rates, but you can eke out even better performance in particularly demanding titles by enabling Performance Mode.

Though the exact location of the mode switch depends on the smartphone you’re using, you can usually locate it by going into the Settings app, tapping the search icon and searching for performance. 

ROG Phone 8 Pro Edition X-Mode
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

Once enabled, the phone will deliver the best performance possible, though that does come at a cost to both battery life and internal temperatures, as your phone will get noticeably warmer when gaming. 

That shouldn’t matter too much if your gaming phone has a solid cooling system, but if you’re using a regular smartphone, the heat could actually cause the phone to overheat and bottleneck performance as a result – the exact opposite of the desired effect.

This overheating can be negated with the use of mobile gaming accessories, with some mobile controllers sporting built-in cooling, but it’s worth bearing in mind – especially if you’re not using a gaming-specific smartphone. 

Adjust resolution and refresh rate settings

This tip is more for top-end flagship phones instead of gaming phones, but it could be relevant for both depending on the spec of your gaming phone. 

You see, while you’d assume that a higher screen resolution would equate to a better gaming experience, that’s not always the case. Flagship phones like the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra are indeed capable gaming phones, but performance takes a hit when there are simply too many pixels to power. 

It’s why most gaming phone screens sit at the FHD+ mark, offering a sweet spot both in terms of overall screen quality and game performance.

RedMagic 9 Pro smartphone displaying gaming features and functions.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

If you find that your smartphone, gaming or otherwise, has a particularly high resolution, head into the display section of the Settings app and adjust the screen resolution. Most high-res smartphones offer an FHD+ mode, primarily for better battery performance, but it also serves our purposes here.

On a similar note, be sure that your screen’s refresh rate is set as high as possible. While detrimental to battery life in everyday use, selecting the highest refresh rate in your display settings will allow your phone to display the maximum frame rate possible in supported high-framerate games, further improving performance – particularly in online shooters. 

Use Game Mode

Practically every gaming phone on the market has its spin on Game Mode, a mode that can further optimise your mobile gaming experience. 

The exact specifics of said Game Mode depend on the manufacturer of your smartphone, but most offer the same broad set of features; the ability to mute incoming calls and notifications to avoid distraction, close all background apps to improve performance and some even include on-screen overlays to give you a breakdown of current performance as well as access to macros. 

RedMagic 9 Pro gaming smartphone displaying a map-based game.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

Most dedicated gaming phones will have a dedicated Game Mode app where all your games are easily accessible in a console-esque UI. To make sure that you’ve got Game Mode active on your favourite game, add it to your Game Mode list. Most games are added automatically but the automatic selection isn’t always perfect. 

Then, with your game active, simply activate the Game Mode overlay (again, the exact method depends on your phone) and enable the features you’d like to use. 

Tweak in-game graphics settings

Finally, it’s time to adjust your in-game graphics settings to get the best performance possible. Most games are designed with the limitations of smartphone performance in mind, and that means that if you’re rocking a top-end gaming phone, you’ll be able to enable the best graphics possible (in games that support graphical settings anyway!). 

However, there are some games that, even with top-end gaming hardware, can be taxing on the phone’s SoC – Genshin Impact is one of the most popular of its kind. Even on top-end phones, the game struggles to maintain a solid 60fps with all graphics settings cranked up to the max.

Hands holding Oppo phone displaying a game screen.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

With that in mind, it’s a good idea to tweak the graphics settings of any particularly demanding title, bringing down elements like textures and disabling high-end features like ray tracing to increase frame rate. It might not look quite as good, but if top-end performance is what you’re after, it’s a worthy trade-off. 

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Fast Charge: Huawei, please license out your amazing camera tech

OPINION: Huawei makes some of the best smartphone camera systems in the world, and it has been a leader in the segment since the late 2010s. 

The problem is that, without Google Play Services, the phones aren’t as tempting as they should be, and that means that most people miss out on the stellar photography experience that Huawei devices provide. 

While Huawei cameras were always good, 2018’s Mate 20 Pro really opened my eyes to how far ahead of the curve Huawei’s camera tech was. The combination of 40MP, 28MP and 8MP rear cameras may not sound impressive by 2024 standards, but they delivered exceptional shots compared to the iPhone X, which was my daily driver at the time.

Huawei Mate 20 Pro camera
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

That was especially true of night photography, with the Mate 20 Pro really boosting those low-light shots in a way I hadn’t seen before. Of course, most manufacturers have now caught up, but sample shots from last year’s Huawei P60 Pro showcase that the company’s camera tech remains some of the best around when it comes to low-light and general photography alike.

Huawei also tends to be ahead of the curve when it comes to utilising new smartphone camera tech, be it the introduction of periscope lenses with the Huawei P30 Pro, or the variable aperture of the Huawei P50 Pro that allows you to shift between f/1.4 and f/4.0 to change the look of your shot.

It’s a trend that continues with this year’s Huawei Pura 70 Ultra, with not only an impressive main camera with a huge 1-inch sensor, a variable aperture of f/1.6 to f/4.0 and sensor-shift stabilisation, but a unique retractable camera system to fully make use of that large sensor, creating the necessary distance between the lens and sensor without a huge hulking camera module. 

Huawei Pura 70 Ultra camera module
Huawei Pura 70 Ultra

Though we’re yet to go hands-on with the phone, those who have seemed very impressed by what the phone can deliver. 

But, alas, even with some of the best camera tech around, the lack of Google services means that the vast majority of Android users simply won’t invest. 

Of course, the ideal fix to this scenario would be for the US to lift its sanctions on Huawei, allowing the company to work with the likes of Google once again and bringing the Play Store and Google services back to its smartphone collection – but given that this has been going on since 2019, it seems unlikely that’ll happen anytime soon. 

Instead, I implore Huawei; please, license your stunning camera tech to other smartphone makers. 

It seems like a win-win in my mind; smaller smartphone companies like Nothing could take advantage of Huawei’s vast camera R&D while only paying a percentage of what it’d cost to develop the same tech in-house, and it’d generate a solid, consistent income for Huawei. 

Huawei P60 Pro camera module
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

Given that Huawei phones haven’t been all that popular outside of China since the ban, it could also be a way for Huawei to show that its tech is still best-in-class, even if it can’t deliver the full smartphone experience that Westerners expect. 

And, with the majority of Western brands not having any presence in China, it’s not like Huawei would be competing with its own camera tech on its home turf. 

After all, we’ve seen various smartphone companies collaborate with camera companies like Hasselblad and Leica in the past, Huawei included, so why not collaborate with Huawei on developing top-notch camera hardware? 

I, for one, would pick up a high-end Android phone with Huawei-designed camera tech in a heartbeat, and I’ve got a feeling that people who have used Huawei phones in the past 8 years or so would feel the same way.

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OnePlus Pad Go vs OnePlus Pad: What’s the difference?

OnePlus Pad Go vs OnePlus Pad

OnePlus has announced that the budget-friendly OnePlus Pad Go is set to launch in the UK and Europe, but how does it compare to the regular OnePlus Pad?

While there are a lot of similarities between the two, especially when it comes to overall design and look, there are key differences that might sway your buying decision one way or the other. 

We’ve spent a lot of time with the OnePlus Pad, and we’ve gone hands-on with the OnePlus Pad Go, so we’ve got a good idea of what’s on offer from both. Without further ado, here are the key differences between the OnePlus Pad Go and OnePlus Pad. 

The OnePlus Pad Go has a smaller screen

The OnePlus Pad Go has a smaller screen than the OnePlus Pad, and while that may sound like a negative at first glance, it does make the OnePlus Pad Go a little more bag-friendly – though admittedly there isn’t much in it, with the Pad Go measuring in at 11.3 inches while the regular Pad comes in at 11.6 inches. 

However, in most other metrics, the OnePlus Pad has the better screen of the two. While both utilise IPS LCD tech, the OnePlus Pad is faster, higher res and offers better format compatibility with a 144Hz refresh rate, 2000 x 2800 resolution and support for HDR10+ content.

OnePlus Pad Go screen
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

The OnePlus Pad Go, on the other hand, caps out at 90Hz, and has a slightly lower 1720 x 2408 resolution. Its bezels are also slightly thicker than the OnePlus Pad, but not to a noticeable degree. 

The OnePlus Pad is more powerful

Being the more premium of the two tablets, it shouldn’t come as much surprise that the OnePlus Pad has more power under the hood. That comes in the form of the MediaTek Dimenity 8000 coupled with 12GB of RAM.

The OnePlus Pad Go opts for the less powerful MediaTek Helio G99 and 8GB of RAM as standard. While it’s not quite as powerful as its bigger brother, at £299, that’s a pretty tempting combination of specs compared to other similarly priced cheap tablets, and we’ve found in early testing that general performance is pretty smooth, though there is the occasional bit of lag. 

The OnePlus Pad has a larger battery

Despite the similar dimensions between the two tablets, the OnePlus Pad has a larger battery – and by quite a bit too. The OnePlus Pad Go boasts a solid 8000mAh battery that’s pretty much in line with the similarly priced competition, while the OnePlus Pad takes it up a notch to 9510mAh.

OnePlus Pad in-hand
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

But while this suggests that the OnePlus Pad will offer better battery life, the less power-hungry chipset from the OnePlus Pad Go could mean it lasts a little longer between charges. It will take a while to charge up though, supporting just 33W charging compared to the 67W charging from the regular Pad.

The OnePlus Pad Go is cheaper

Finally, as we’ve alluded to throughout this comparison, the OnePlus Pad Go is the cheaper of the two tablets with an RRP of just £299, putting it up against the likes of the Amazon Fire Max 11.

The OnePlus Pad, on the other hand, has an RRP of £449, making it £150 more expensive than the Pad Go. 

What confuses this somewhat is the fact that OnePlus itself is selling the regular OnePlus Pad at a discounted price, down to £379 at the time of writing, which considerably muddies the water between the two. If you can get so much more for just £80 more, why opt for the Go? That remains to be seen.

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The Nordic Blue OnePlus Watch 2 might be my favourite smartwatch of 2024

OnePlus Watch 2 Nordic Blue Edition

OPINION: I’ve been in Helsinki for the past few days to cover the launch of the OnePlus Pad Go and OnePlus Watch 2 Nordic Blue Edition, a more upmarket version of the already-impressive OnePlus Watch 2 exclusively available in Europe. 

During that time I’ve been testing out the functionality of the watch, be it fat biking along a Finnish peninsula or hiking through snow-covered woods, and I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen.

Combined with the generally slick Wear OS performance and charming Nordic-inspired look, it might be my favourite smartwatch of 2024 so far. 

To me, the Nordic Blue variant of the watch fixes one of the complaints we had with the regular Watch 2; it didn’t do much to stand out from a crowd of similar-looking smartwatches. That can’t be said of the Nordic Blue edition, with a charming blue and white theme across the smartwatch, from the bezel around the display to the matching strap and stitching. 

I also really like the look of the new hybrid leather strap, which uses a fluoroelastomer band on the inside and a leather band on the outside, essentially allowing you to wear the leather strap when exercising without worrying about the degradation of the leather. The flouroelastomer inner strap also means it’s not as irritating as leather straps can be – in my experience, anyway. 

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There’s even an exclusive OnePlus-designed watch face to complement the high-end look, though I am slightly disappointed that the widgets aren’t customisable like most others in the OnePlus Watch collection. 

Still, it remains a stunningly good-looking watch that I can’t help but admire as I check the time or recent notifications.

More than just a looker

As I mentioned, I’ve had the privilege of enjoying the Finnish countryside as part of the launch, which gave me the perfect opportunity to test out not only the fitness tracking but dual-band GPS. 

Despite fairly thick tree coverage during both biking and hiking, the GPS-generated map looked fairly accurate, and compared to others also wearing the Watch 2, we got near-identical distance calculations. That’s pretty consistent for a challenging environment like that. 

GPS tracking on the OnePlus Watch 2 Nordic Blue edition
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

There are occasional inaccuracies with heart rate monitoring, as Mike Sawh noted in our regular OnePlus Watch 2 review, but I’d argue that it’s accurate enough for most wanting to get a little fitter.  

On the opposite end of the spectrum, there’s sleep tracking, and the Watch 2 excels in this department. It’ll offer the same insights into your sleep as most other wearables, delivering information like time asleep, sleep zones, heart rate and blood oxygen, but the Watch 2 goes a step further by bringing your smartphone into the mix to monitor your snoring.

It does require you to hit a little button on the app before you go to sleep, but having used Sleep Cycle for years for similar purposes, I don’t mind all that much. 

Using all that data, the watch can give you a breakdown of your risk of breathing problems, including information like snoring duration, average sleep SpO2 and more. That’s way more insightful than anything I’ve ever got from the Apple Watch and comes pretty close to the sleep apnea detection of the Galaxy Watch 6, but that’s only available in the US for now. Not great for us Brits. 

Fitness and sleep tracking aside, it’s a great smartwatch to use in everyday life. Small elements, like the curved edges of the screen to make swiping from the edge a little nicer, really elevate the experience on offer. It also boasts a slick dual OS setup, which in itself isn’t new – TicWatch has something similar with the Watch 5 Pro – but the integration is much more flawless here. 

OnePlus Watch 2 Nordic Blue Edition
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

Essentially, the Watch will run Google Wear OS most of the time, but if the battery runs too low or you want to really extend endurance, you can switch to RTOS, a system that’s much less taxing on the battery. Sure, you’ll lose access to certain faces and Wear OS apps, but important elements – notification delivery, health and sleep tracking, workout tracking with GPS and more – are all still present and accounted for. 

Speaking of battery life, that’s one of the main reasons I’m enjoying the OnePlus Watch 2 Nordic Blue edition. Like the regular variant, the watch boasts an impressive 100-hour battery life that’s seen me through much of the trip despite tracking various exercises, but that can be increased to a whopping 12 days by switching to the RTOS operating system mentioned earlier. 

Compared to some of the best smartwatches like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6, which lasts around 2 days, that’s impressive, and even more so when compared to the paltry 18-hour offering from the Apple Watch Series 9. 

Admittedly, most of this is also true of the regular OnePlus Watch 2 with near-identical hardware, but I think that the elevated design of the Nordic Blue edition really seals the deal for me. It looks the part, it works extremely well, lasts for days on end at £329 for the new colour option, it’s not that pricey either. For me, it’s a no-brainer – this is my favourite smartwatch of 2024 so far.

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This Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra deal destroys the iPad Pro

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra

The behemoth of a tablet that is the 14.6-inch Samsung Galaxy S9 Ultra is an absolute stunner, packed with high-end tech like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy and IP68 protection, and even comes with a high-end S Pen to boot. And, with a spectacular deal at Amazon, it has never been quite as tempting. 

The deal in question slashes an impressive £200 off the £1,349 RRP of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra, bringing it down to just £1,149. That’s the 256GB model, by the way, making it £220 cheaper than Apple’s competing 256GB iPad Pro 12.9 – and it has a much bigger screen too! 

This Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra deal destroys the iPad Pro

This Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra deal destroys the iPad Pro

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra with 256GB of storage has £200 off at Amazon right now, making it not only £220 cheaper than the competing iPad Pro but the cheapest we’ve seen it yet.

  • Amazon
  • £200 off
  • £1149
View Deal

The best part? The deal covers both the beige and grey colour options, so you can choose whichever suits your preference. 

It’s a particularly tempting deal as, looking at Amazon price tracker Keepa, we can see that this, along with similar deals in the past month, represents the lowest price the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra has been since its launch in August 2023. If you’ve been on the fence about investing in the premium tablet, there has never been a better time. 

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra on a table
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Recommended

If you're on the market for a large-screen Android tablet, the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra is the one to go for.

Pros

  • Big display is ideal for movies and multitasking
  • IP68 water resistance
  • Access to previously iOS-exclusive apps
  • S Pen is great for note-taking

Cons

  • Not as portable as a regular tablet
  • More expensive
  • Very similar to its predecessor

We were thoroughly impressed with the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra when we reviewed it, delivering an impressive four-star rating and the Trusted Reviews Recommended award – and it’s not hard to see why.

The 14.6-inch 120Hz LTPO display is not only large but impressively detailed, and being an AMOLED panel, it delivers deeper blacks and richer colours than much of the premium competition. That’s further improved by the included S Pen that turns the screen into an XL canvas for note-taking and doodling with lower latency than the Apple Pencil. 

It’s also an absolute processing beast, utilising the custom Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy and 12GB of RAM to deliver a rapid experience whether you’re playing high-end games, editing 4K video or running multiple apps in split-screen view. It’s not the fastest on the market with the release of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, but we’re yet to see a tablet utilise the new top-end processor. 

Despite all that premium tech, the Tab S9 Ultra manages to still be thin, measuring in at just 5.5mm thick, and at 732g, it’s not the heaviest tablet around considering its large screen. 

Throw in features like Samsung DeX software, at least four OS upgrades, solid battery life and quick charging and you’ve got a capable Android tablet indeed – arguably one of the only tablets around that can truly bring the fight to Apple’s top-end iPad Pro. 

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Fast Charge: Google One’s latest downgrades make me want to cancel my subscription

OPINION: I’ve been a subscriber to Google One for around three years, and I’ve been happy with the subscription service during that time. I not only got more storage for my photos, videos and other files, but a bunch of other benefits to sweeten the deal. 

The problem? Google is quite rapidly reducing these features and, with them, the general appeal of Google One. In fact, it has now reached the point where I’m considering cancelling my subscription altogether. 

When I first subscribed, the Google One subscription consisted of the core cloud storage upgrade – 200GB, in my case – plus additional extras. These come in various forms, from the less helpful (like sharing my precious storage with friends and family) to considerably more valuable benefits like Google Store discounts, all for the relatively small asking price of £2.49 per month. 

That list of extras included Google VPN, providing secure internet access without a dedicated VPN subscription. 

Google One VPN
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

Google’s VPN is rather basic compared the best VPNs like ExpressVPN and Nord VPN, lacking the ability to select your server location and being able to use it on a variety of devices, instead locked to iPhone, iPad, Windows and Mac, but it was a huge benefit nonetheless.  

I’m not exactly an avid user of VPNs, admittedly out of pure laziness, but it did come in handy on the rare occasion that I’d connect to open, public Wi-Fi.

Well, it seems that I won’t have that option soon, as Google has confirmed it’s winding down its VPN service, citing a lack of interest from consumers, with no replacement in place for Google One subscribers. There’s no word yet on when it’ll cease to exist, but it should be sometime in the next couple of months. 

That would’ve been a big enough Google One pill to swallow, but Google hasn’t stopped there. Nope. In the early hours of Monday morning, I got another email from Google about other changes to Google One that will take effect on 15 May 2024 – under a month from now.

More than the loss of VPN access

And, just my luck, those changes affect the one other key feature of Google One that I use regularly – editing features in the Google Photos app. 

Magic Eraser in Google Photos
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

More specifically, this relates to Magic Eraser, Portrait Light, Colour Focus and Sky editing features. These features, up until now, have been exclusively available for Google Pixel users and Google One subscribers. 

Even if Magic Eraser doesn’t deliver the best results around, it was a handy feature that I’d sometimes use to remove annoying distractions from my snaps. The Sky feature was equally handy for giving my photos a certain look or feel. 

Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to see Google opening its previously Pixel- and Google One-exclusive editing features to all users of Google Photos free of charge, but it doesn’t exactly reward long-time Google One subscribers. It feels like a bit of a slap in the face to not offer something else in its place. 

So, by my count, in the past month, Google has removed two of the most tempting reasons to opt for a Google One account instead of other readily available, and cheaper, cloud storage services like Dropbox and OneDrive. 

The only thing keeping me tied to my Google One subscription, for now, is the extended cloud storage for my photos and videos in Google Photos. 

I’ve got 10+ years of photos and videos in Google’s cloud storage, and that’ll be a bit of a headache to download and transfer to another cloud service – even if I do currently get free photo storage in Amazon Photos with my Prime subscription. But, with Google One now offering less value than ever, I’ve never been quite as tempted to make the move as I am right now.

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