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Google might be working on a loyalty program for the Play Store

Alexandra Arici
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Do you often buy apps, games or music albums from the Google Play Store? Well, then we have some good news for you. According to 9to5Google who spotted evidence in the latest Play Store build, it seems like Google is working on a new loyalty program called Google Play Points.

The program is meant for people who purchase content from the Play Store including music, movies, TV shows, books and of course, apps.  To give you an example, someone making a $1 purchase in the Store will receive 1 Play Point in return. Once you’ve earned enough Play Points, you’ll be able to exchange it for Google Play credit. This, in turn, can be used for future purchases through the service.

Google wants to reward frequent Play Store shoppers

But that’s not all. A thread in the discovered code reveals that you might be able to use Play Points to acquire special in-app items.

We’re also told the loyalty program features different “Levels” and each will come with its own set of unique benefits. At this point, we don’t know what these will be, but at least we can take a look at the different badges that will be available inside the program.

Moreover, there will also be a “Points History” section where users will be able to keep tabs on their progress including the number of points they have earned so far.

Keep in mind that all this info came from an APK teardown, so the various lines of code discovered merely hint at possible future features. This doesn’t necessarily mean that Google will ever offer this features, although it’s a strong possibility.

So far, we haven’t heard anything else about the Google Play Points program, and we have no idea when the search giant might make it official. Although with the Pixel 3 event apparently scheduled for October 9, there’s a big chance Google might have a thing or two to say about its new loyalty program.

Sick and tired of the Google Assistant? Here’s how to deactivate it

Alexandra Arici
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The Google Assistant was a hot new feature of Allo, Google’s messaging service which debuted back in May 2016. The virtual helper has come a long way since then, by adding tons of new features and expanding to smartphones, tablets, speakers and more.

If you own an Android handset, it probably has the Google Assistant on board. But while the AI-infused wing-man can be very helpful in some situations, you’ve probably already experienced the annoying instances in which the Assistant opens on its own.

This might happen while your pressing the Home button on your device for a bit longer than necessary, or sometimes even as your phone sits quietly in your pocket.

Alternatively, you might not need the Assistant’s help at all. Or not all the time anyway. So what can you do to silent Google’s active helper? Keep reading to find out what are your options.

Deactivate it completely

To completely deactivate the assistant, open the Google app on your phone. Then tap the hamburger menu located in the lower right corner. From there access Settings>Google Assistant (on top)>Settings>Phone. From here you’ll be able to toggle off the Assistant option.

Only deactivate the support button

This is the less radical option you have at your disposal. By deactivating the support button, you will avoid scenarios where the Assistant pops up as you long press the home button a bit longer than necessary.

On a number of Android handsets, you’ll have to access the Device menu, go to Applications>Default applications>Device assistant app. From there, you’ll be able to choose which assistant app you want to open when you press the start button. You can usually choose between Google’s and no supporting app.

But I was using the OnePlus 6 for this tutorial. So on this particular model, you’ll need to go to Buttons under Customization and find the Home button category. Under Long press action, I have the Search assistant enabled by default. But you can easily change that from there.

Uninstall updates

The third option you have is to go back to a previous version of Google where the Assistant didn’t exist. You can easily do so by uninstalling the updates to your Google app.

To do so access Settings>Applications and find the Google app. Click on it and find the three-dot menu located in the upper right corner. You’ll see the Uninstall updates option.

However, keep in mind that once you choose to use the options, other improvements might also disappear and you won’t have how to access them anymore. So think carefully, before you act.

Optoma NuForce BE Live5 headphone review: Wireless headphones with clarity and average battery life

Jason England
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NuForce is the audio-focused sub-brand from Optoma specializing in high-quality audio products. Previously known for its award-winning BE6i Bluetooth headphones, NuForce has prepared a follow up in the form of the BE Live5 headphones. Similar to the BE6i the BE Live5 are Bluetooth headphones this time using smaller 8mm drivers and packed into a smaller body. We were provided with these headphones for review courtesy of Optoma for an honest and unbiased review.

Packaging

I don’t often cover the packaging of a product unless there is something exceptional about it or there is a problem. Unfortunately, in the case of the BE Live5 it is the latter. While the packaging looks as good as you could expect, one of the buds was wedged in too tightly.

I fought with it for a while pulling on the cable until I was afraid it could get damaged. Then I resorted to using a pen to try to pry it out to no avail. Finally, I broke out my knife and had to cut it free, and in the process partially from haste and partially from frustration also scratched up the finish on the buds.

I’m certain this won’t be the typical experience for most customers and it was an anomaly, but it is important to point out every aspect good and bad.

Design

When it comes to earbuds there isn’t much you can do to stand out. In order to fit the drivers, battery, and other electronics they all generally take on the same shape. Some standouts with the NuForce BE Live5 though are the aluminum build, flat cable, magnetic backs, ipx5 sweat protection, hard case, and included Comply foam tips.

Out of all of these features, the magnets are my favorite. It’s not something new or unique to the BE Live5 buds, but it is quite convenient none the less. The option to wear them around your neck as a necklace using the magnetic clasp makes it easier to carry around and I really appreciate that.

The in-line controls can be found on the right side of the tangle free cord along with the micro USB charging port. Unfortunately, it is micro USB and not USB-C, but that’s hardly unusual and similar among other Bluetooth headphones. The controls are easy to distinguish with touch alone and are snappy and responsive.

While the buttons work well NuForce uses a pairing shortcut that requires holding down the power button. In order to pair you will have to continue holding down the power button after turning the headphones on. Otherwise, there is no other way to enter pairing mode and you’ll end up turning them off.

It is always annoying when this shortcut is used on Bluetooth headphones. A better alternative would have been a shortcut requiring you to hold down both the volume up and down buttons for pairing.

Fit and Comfort

The Optoma NuForce BE Live5 headphones include three pairs of ear tips and two Comply foam tips along with three sizes of ear wings. For someone like myself with smaller ear canals, it can be challenging to find headphones with ear tips in the proper size. Some brands such as Klipsch provide a smaller option which fit perfectly.

While most tend to include ones too large and the buds are constantly falling out. That was the case with the BE Live5 buds. Fortunately, when you combine it with the included ear wings it provides a much more secure fit. With this combination, I no longer had any issues with them falling out.

I was also impressed the included ear wings were so flexible soft, making them more comfortable than others I’ve tried in the past. The more rigid ear wings can often lead to early ear fatigue and don’t stand up to long listening sessions.

Between the smallest ear tips and medium-sized ear wings, the fit was extremely comfortable, making it easy to listen to music for hours without any discomfort.

On a side note replacing the ear tips was extremely frustrating. This was by far the most difficult pair of headphones I’ve ever had to deal with when it came to inserting the ear tips. If you’re lucky, you won’t have to exchange them swap them out repeatedly to find a comfortable secure fit.

Sound Quality

The BE Live5 make use of the aptX and AAC codecs for Bluetooth streaming. These two codecs provide near CD like quality if both your headphones and phone support it.

The sound signature of the BE Live5 is light and crisp with wonderful detail and excellent separation. Thanks to this I was able to pick up on some subtle nuances in songs that can get lost on other pairs of headphones. Bass lovers should look elsewhere, however.

For all of the clarity, the BE Live5 provides the bass takes a backstage here. That doesn’t mean there is no bass, only that the bright highs and crispness takes center stage here. The BE Live5 headphones would be better suited for music lovers who prefer a more balanced and clear sound.

Battery

Battery life on the BE Live5 headphones was pretty average. They are rated for 8 hours of usage and that is pretty close to what I experienced. There are headphones that offer more, generally ones with charging cases or collar designed headphones though.

One major annoyance with the BE Live5 headphones is once you reach 20% battery it constantly announces your battery is low in a loud overpowering voice. The repetition was completely unnecessary and the volume of the voice was actually painful to my ears.

Bluetooth Range

Similar to most Bluetooth devices I’ve reviewed the BE Live5 performs well within 30ft. without any interruptions or drop outs. If you’re indoors with walls between you and your device you can expect to lose signal occasionally once outside of 30ft. When outdoors the distance is a little better only deteriorating around 40ft. or more.

Conclusion

Overall, the NuForce BE Live5 are a decent value if you aren’t a bass head and prefer a more balanced sound. The comfort fit will keep you immersed in your music for hours enjoying every bright detail. That is until it begins yelling repeatedly in your ear the battery is low. However, if you’re someone who prefers more bass in their music than I’d look elsewhere.

Deal: Take $250 off a Pixel 2 XL or $300 off an LG G7 or V35 with this Project Fi

Jason England
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If you’ve been in the market for a new phone and want to give Project Fi a try then you’re in luck. Lately, Project Fi has been running some great promos such as the deal from last month for LG, Moto, and Pixel phones. Not only is this new deal great, but it is for some of the best phones you can get on Android making it even sweeter.

Pixel 2 XL Deal

Project Fi’s latest promo will save you $250 on a Pixel 2 XL. In order to get the discount, you must purchase the device from Project Fi’s site and activate it within 30 days. Activating within 30 days is an important step here because the $250 discount comes in the form of service credits.

The phone will also need to keep service for 30 consecutive days within 60 days of purchasing and is for full service, not data only plans. This deal is also limited to one per customer but if you happen to be on a group plan each person counts as an individual customer.

LG G7 and V35 Deal

 

This next discount will get you $300 off both the LG G7 ThinQ and V35 ThinQ effectively dropping the price to $449 for the G7 and $599 for the V35. There are far fewer terms for this deal and unlike with the Pixel 2 XL it does not come in the form of service credits. Instead, you get the discount all up front.

However, you must activate the phone on Project Fi within the first 30 days. If you fail to do so the remaining amount for the phone will be charged to your account. There is no minimum activation time but you must activate for full service including voice and data.

Samsung is looking to bring new features to midrange phones first

Jason England
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Samsung makes a big splash every year with their top two phones from the S and Note series. However, these are generally expensive and not in everyone’s price range. Many consumers turn to midrange phones looking for a good compromise on specs and price.

While Samsung offers a variety of midrange phones they are feeling the pressure from Chinese brands as they increase their sales each year. Companies such as Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi often offer better bargains in the midrange and are gaining large market shares in India and China.

That’s bad news for Samsung as they observe their sales numbers weaken, watching as phone sales become stagnant in the rest of the world. Most notably, the Galaxy S9 sales have shown a 20% decline over the Galaxy S8.

Now, Samsung is looking to catch up, or as they put it differentiate their midrange models. Beginning as early as this year Samsung is planning on making a shift to include new features in their midrange Galaxy A series before flagships.

DJ Koh, president of Samsung’s mobile department had this to say in an interview with CNBC, “In the past, I brought the new technology and differentiation to the flagship model and then moved to the mid-end. But I have changed my strategy from this year to bring technology and differentiation points starting from the mid-end.”

What features could these be? Will it be hardware specific or software features? Samsung hasn’t said, they’ve only mentioned the first of these devices will come by the end of the year. Samsung hopes this will draw in the millennial crowd who have been unable to afford their flagships but want more full-featured phones.

To quote Koh he said, “So we are very much focusing on millennials who cannot afford the flagship. But how can I deliver meaningful innovation to our millennials? That’s the reason I’m trying to differentiate the mid-section.”

It has been my belief after reviewing some lower end phones from Samsung that they often lag behind the competition in specs or features. Hopefully, with this new strategy, they can put an end to this.

Samsung Galaxy X foldable smartphone to launch in November, says Samsung’s mobile chief

Alexandra Arici
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Remember Samsung’s foldable smartphone that has been rumored forever? Well according to the company’s mobile division CEO DJ Koh, who recently talked to CNBC, the device will finally make a debut during Samsung’s Developer Conference. The event is scheduled to take place between November 7 and 8 in San Francisco.

Koh also went on to confirm rumors that the phone will be usable while in a folded state. What’s more, he revealed that users will have to unfold the device into a sort of tablet mode when in need of browsing or watching content. Samsung is also trying to differentiate this “unfolded” experience from the one you might get from using a plain tablet.

Samsung’s head of mobile also told CNBC that the development of the device is “nearly concluded”. From this statement, we could infer that the launch date could still be subject to change in the near future. But hopefully this will not be the case and Samsung will become the first smartphone maker to launch a truly foldable smartphone.

The Galaxy X might arrive sooner than expected

Previously, we heard rumors that seemed to suggest Samsung’s experimental phone (dubbed the Galaxy X) will arrive in early 2019. But if Koh is to be believed, it appears that the Korean tech giant is a bit ahead of schedule.

According to what we know so far, the Galaxy X could arrive with a large 7.3-inch OLED display in its unfolded state, which turns into a 4.5-inch one when folded. Some sources have claimed that the front panel could take advantage of a technology similar to Apple’s 3D Touch. This will allow users to get contextual info depending on how hard they press on the display.

We also heard the phone will apparently rely on a curved battery with a capacity between 3,000 mAh and 6,000 mAh. But none of this info has been confirmed so far, so you should treat it accordingly.

Huawei MediaPad M5 Pro Review

Matt Adams
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We’re now well into the second half of 2018 and a question has nagged at me all year: do we really need tablets anymore?

Phone displays are getting bigger and bigger and we now routinely see phone displays that span more than 6-inches. That’s pretty crazy considering just a few short years ago we reveled at a 4.5-inch display, even wondering if it was too big.

So, as the devices in our pockets get bigger, faster, and stronger, why do we need tablets? Aren’t phones good enough now to take care of all of our needs?

To answer this question, I reached out to Huawei, asking to take a look at the MediaPad M5 Pro. The 10.8-inch tablet is widely viewed as one of the best on the market today. If there’s anything that can make the case for tablets as a whole, this is the one to do it.

Just a note before we go on. There are three versions of the MediaPad M5 available today. An 8.4-inch MediaPad M5, a 10.8-inch MediaPad M5, and a 10.8-inch MediaPad M5 Pro. The 8.4-inch and 10.8-inch devices are available today for $320 and $360 respectively. The 10.8 Pro is $450.

The biggest difference between the 10.8-inch models is that the Pro comes with support for the M-Pen (Huawei’s stylus), where the non-Pro model does not. Both models can connect to a keyboard dock via Pogo pins on the rear of the device, but one was not available for this review.

For purposes of this review, we are reviewing the 10.8 Pro version with M-Pen included.

Hardware and design

The MediaPad M5 Pro is a good looking device, but further inspection leaves us feeling… unimpressed. Sure, it looks just fine. It’s classy and non-offensive but there’s nothing to write home about here. You won’t find yourself feeling awkward about pulling it out during the bus ride to work or on the plane after take off. You will feel just fine about taking notes on it during a business meeting or relaxing with it on the couch.

But, there’s just no wow there. It feels very plain to look at. The metal back offers almost no design flair at all besides Huawei and Harmon Kardon logos. The top houses a rather large camera bump and the Pogo pins at the bottom are flanked by two large speaker grills– two more line the top too. Yep, that’s four speakers (we’ll touch on them later).

Read More: Honor View10 Review: The budget flagship king?

The right side of the device finds the volume rocker and power button. These are wonderfully clicky buttons and Huawei did a good job of placement here. Most people hold larger tablets in landscape and they’re placed perfectly for that. If you hold your tablet vertically, they’re a little awkward but we found no real issue. No matter where you place the buttons, there’s always going to be someone with an issue. We’re just happy with how high quality they are.

Just below the buttons are a microSD card tray and a USB type-C port. Some of our friends who we let play with the tablet remarked that this was an odd place for the charging port, but once we pointed out that the tablet supports keyboards that attach to the Pogo pins, they understood the placement.

Unfortunately, the microSD card tray is just a single card slot. We’d have loved to see 4G LTE support on these tablets, but those have been reserved for markets across the ocean. Huawei seemingly targeted this specific tablet at those who want to get a little work done and we think cellular connectivity could’ve gone a long way for that set of folks.

The front sees a similarly barren layout. The right side of the device houses a fantastic fingerprint reader and the bottom presents a Huawei logo shining back at us. That’s about it. Our Champagne Gold and White version looks just fine, but we found the darker colors of other models to be a bit more appealing.

Back to that fingerprint scanner– we’re in love. Not only is this thing fast, accurate, and in a great spot, but it supports fingerprint gestures too. We routinely used it as our home button, but you can also head into the settings to set up back and multitasking gestures too. We did run into some accidental home button presses here, but nothing we were overly annoyed at.

The display is big, bright, and beautiful. It’s an IPS LCD display that has a 2560 x 1600 resolution. For those of you keeping score at home, that’s a 16:10 aspect ratio. We love aspect ratio as most widescreen media clocks in at a 16:9 aspect ratio.

Media looks absolutely fantastic here. While colors and blacks don’t look quite as good as on AMOLED displays, we were pleased nonetheless. Max brightness was more than enough to provide a clear picture on sunny days and we found colors to be pleasingly warm. This isn’t the most accurate display in the world, but it does look damn good.

Flanking the display are decently sized bezels. As we watch bezels grow smaller and smaller on our phones, we’re glad Huawei stuck with this chunky monkey. The bezels are small enough to look nice while providing enough grip. This is always going to be a two-handed device (and the slippery back provides no help in that area), but we always were able to comfortably reach our thumbs to the middle of the tablet to type and press buttons while playing games.

Huawei pulled off a solid, if not uninspiring, feat here. The device, on first inspect, feels a bit bland and forgettable, but after spending time with it, it becomes clear that the MediaPad M5 Pro is more than the sum of its parts.

Performance

If you’re going to charge as much as some cheaper laptops for your tablet, performance has to be top notch. We’re happy to report that we have no issues here and were quite surprised in some instances.

The MediaPad M5 Pro has a HiSilicon Kirin 960 CPU, 4 GB of RAM, and 64 GB of space. Huawei made the decision to release its flagship tablet without its flagship processor inside. It’s a puzzling decision on paper. But, once you use the MediaPad M5 for a while, you see why. We’re under the assumption that it costs less for Huawei to pump out the Kirin 960 chips today and there’s almost no loss in performance.

Read more: Honor 7S review: good looking, but so very slow

During our time with the tablet, we saw no hiccups. This thing is blazingly fast in most tasks and we found even in larger games, we were more than happy with the performance. Sure, loading times could have been better in some places, but this isn’t a $1,000 flagship phone. It costs less than half that, although you might not know it.

It feels like 4 GB of RAM is now the lowest Android OEMs can get away in flagship devices– both phones and tablets. We didn’t have any problems necessarily with the MediaPad M5 knocking recent apps out of memory, but we know things could’ve been better here with more RAM. We hope Huawei will consider upping the ante in the next refresh of these devices if it wants to continue to convince people to drop their laptop for this little powerhouse.

One area where we had zero issues is battery life. The MediaPad M5 Pro has a 7,500 mAh battery that supports quick charging. We got between eight and nine hours of screen on time with the tablet and took us about four hours to fill it back up in our completely unscientific tests.

In phone reviews, we normally consider four to five hours the standard. Anything less and we’ll point out poor battery life. Anything more and you get some praise. Tablets are a little bit different. We’re not using our tablets as much in a given day or for the same tasks. For this reason, we found ourselves going four to five days between charges on the MediaPad M5 Pro. This is fantastic.

Again, Huawei has obviously targetted a segment of the population that wants to get some work done without investing in an ultrabook or lugging around a cheaper laptop. Even if you were to work a full day while on battery power, we think you’d have no problems getting that last email to your boss in at the end of the day. We’re very impressed.

Software

The MediaPad M5 Pro comes with Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box. It has Huawei’s own EMUI 8.0 on top.

If you don’t have any experience with Huawei’s skin, just know that it’s pretty heavy. Huawei obviously has its own vision of how Android should look and they go to great lengths to achieve that goal. There is literally no part of the operating system that is untouched. Whether that is a positive or a negative is up to you.

Read more: Huawei Mate 10 Pro review

Huawei has worked to add small but noticeable upgrades to the Android OS. It gives you much more control over how your display looks and acts, strict background and permission controls, strong controls for how apps are able to bug you, and many more.

Where Huawei can fall down a little bit is not playing to the strengths of having a large screen. Besides some menus that have dual pane menus and allowing two apps to be run side-by-side, Huawei hasn’t done a lot here to maximize its potential. There’s a beautiful 10.8-inch display here, but sometimes it feels like I’m just using a big phone.

One of the ways that Huawei has tried to reach that potential is with the included M-Pen. The active stylus is a very nice addition and the software allows you to write as you normally would with a pen or pencil. I found that Huawei was almost always able to make out what my sloppy handwriting was trying to convey. While this isn’t a more efficient way of dictation than a computer keyboard, it is far better than trying to type on a screen or on a cramped tablet keyboard (just a reminder: we don’t have the Pro’s keyboard so we can’t comment on that specific keyboard’s typing comfort).

As of the writing of this review, our review unit hasn’t received an update in quite a while. We’re still resting on the May security patch. And hey, we didn’t assume that we’d get monthly updates, only Google and Essential do so, but we wouldn’t mind seeing more than three or four a year.

The MediaPad M5 Pro is one of the only large display tablets that comes with Oreo out of the box. That’s a huge positive, but we wonder how long it’ll stay that way. More tablets are being released all the time and it only makes sense they’d come with Oreo as well. With Android 9.0 Pie’s release, we also wonder how long it’ll take the Pro to get an update.

Conclusion

So, what did we learn? Do you need a tablet in 2018? Do they really make sense anymore?

For me, I think they do continue to make sense. Outside of all of the productivity advantages of the MediaPad M5, this thing is just fun to use. It has four speakers, that even though they shoot the wrong way, are fantastic. I’d take these Harmon Kardon-tuned speakers on most laptops any day of the week. It also had a display that matches or exceeds the quality of what you can find on laptops at a similar price. If you want a bigger screen to watch YouTube, Netflix, or Hulu on, I’d highly suggest the MediaPad M5 Pro.

I also see quite a few benefits of using the MediaPad M5 Pro instead of a laptop for productivity. Yes, you are going to deal with a smaller screen and therefore a smaller keyboard. But, the MediaPad is also only 1.1 lbs and small enough to fit in almost any bag or purse. It’s highly portable, very powerful due to all of the productivity apps in the Play Store, and supports both a first party keyboard and stylus. That’s pretty powerful.

My only big fault with here is that I feel like Huawei didn’t do enough to make use of the big display. Apple had been plagued by this for years with its iPad Pro lineup. It recently introduced more features to make that big display even more powerful.

Read more: HUAWEI Watch 2 Classic Review

Huawei could do more too. We do know that when connecting it to its first-party keyboard, the tablet gives users an option to enter a desktop mode that allows free-floating windows and reminds us a lot of a Windows 10 desktop. Since we weren’t able to use this feature, we can’t comment on it too much besides giving Huawei praise for including it. Some users reported that not all apps are available in this desktop mode (the Play Store being among them) so we’d like to see this ironed out before calling the MediaPad M5 Pro a full ultrabook or Chromebook replacement.

But overall, we feel as though the MediaPad M5 Pro is more than the sum of its parts. It doesn’t have the most powerful processor, the most ram, storage, or the biggest battery. The software isn’t the cleanest or most feature-packed, but we loved every moment with the Huawei MediaPad M5 Pro. From getting some work done to watching way too many Casey Neistat videos on YouTube, it was a pleasure to use.

Google’s Chrome browser gets a new look and features as it turns 10

Alexandra Arici
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Google’s Chrome browser turned 10 over the weekend and to mark the event, the developer team has announced a big update that brings a new look and a few other improvements.

Chrome usually gets updated every six weeks, but on the browser’s 10th birthday, Google is going the extra mile in the enhancement department.

The new update will be coming your way today and will be visible on all platforms including desktop, Android and iOS. Here’s what you can expect.

Revamped look

Chrome has now a fresh face with more rounded shapes, new icons and a new color palette. The aim is to provide a simpler look that will hopefully boost overall productivity.

For example, the shape of tabs has been tweaked to make website icons easier to see. This, in turn, will allow you to navigate across lots of tabs more seamlessly. Google has also simplified prompts, menus and URLs in the address bar.

Also on iOS (but not Android), the toolbar has been moved to the bottom for easier reach.

Do more, faster

The developer team has worked to improve the way Chrome fills in passwords, addresses and credit card numbers. All this info is saved to your personal Google account and can be easily accessed via the Chrome toolbar.

Online safety is another big part of today’s update. The browser will now generate new and secure passwords for you so that you can finally stop using the name of your favorite band as a password for all your accounts. Chrome will then save and sync this new complicated passwords on all your devices.

Search bar gets even smarter answers

Chrome’s Omnibox, the one that sits at the top and combines the search bar and address bar just got a lot better with this update. It will now start showing your answers directly in the address bar. Without the need to open an extra tab.

So you’ll be able to get lavish results on celebrities, cultural events, weather info and more straight from the Omnibox.

On top of that, Chrome now also lets you search for a website in your Omnibox. If it’s already opened, the browser will take you to it via the Switch to tab option. Google also promises you’ll soon be able to search Google Drive via Omnibox.

New personalization options

Google lets you personalize your Chrome to your taste by letting you create and manage shortcuts to your favorite pages right from the new tab page. What’s more, you can customize the background of your newly open tab with personal photos!

All these new features should start being visible today, so if you’re a Chrome fan keep an eye out. Happy 10th birthday, Chrome!

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S review: the best under-the-radar flagship around

Donovan Jeska
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We got our hands on a Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S a while back, and for the past month or so I’ve been using it as my daily driver. It released back in April for about $530, which puts it in a similar category to OnePlus’ signature price point.

What follows is my full review of the Chinese-made flagship killer, largely unfiltered and completely candid.

Build

As I mentioned in my First Impressions, the first thing I noticed when pulling the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S from its box was its striking design. In a world of glass-bodied smartphones that all kind of have the same aesthetic (with Samsung and Apple leading the way), the Mi Mix 2S stands apart with a ceramic back and a wildly garish face that features a front-facing camera in the lower-right hand corner. Above all else, perhaps, this departure from conventional design is what stops me from using this phone all day, every day. More on that a bit later.

As you might expect from a ceramic-backed, 6″ smartphone, it’s hefty as hell. At 191 grams, it’s nearly a full ounce heavier than the Samsung Galaxy S9. But the feather-light phones to which we’ve grown accustomed usually come with a flimsy, fragile feel not present in the Mi Mix 2S. I have no delusions that if I drop it, the thing will shatter like any other, but that heft at least gives an illusion of durability.

Regardless, that ceramic back is both aesthetically unique and gorgeous, and the people I’ve shown the phone to have all been immediately intrigued by the design. If nothing else, it – along with that weird camera placement – is an eye-catcher.

Design Snafus

The decision to place the selfie camera in the lower-right corner of the device is a dubious one, but I can see why Xiaomi did it. In order to maximize viewing area at the top of the device, Xiaomi decided to move all the components that normally take up space there – camera, light sensor, proximity sensor – to the bottom of the device. The result is a little bit of a “chin” at the bottom with minimal bezels along the top and sides.

That chin provides a buffer between your supporting fingers and the display, so your thumb doesn’t have to reach so far down to reach the space bar or make the rather-delightful navigation gestures. The reverse side of this, of course, is without the now-infamous notch or a larger bezel on top, you have to stretch your thumb up higher to slide the notification bar down. It’s a tradeoff, but one I personally enjoy.

I still very much thing that chin is just begging for a row of toggleable capacitive buttons to maximize the screen usage. I know Xiaomi – and the rest of the mobile world – is pushing gesture navigation these days, but a row of capacitive keys that can be turned on or off would have gone a long way in easing us into gestures. If there’s one glaring sin of the Mi Mix 2S, though it’s the utter lack of any kind of waterproofing, with no Ingress Protection Rating to speak of. Splash at your own risk.

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S Specs at a Glance

  • Display: 6″, 1080×2060 IPS LCD (403ppi)
  • Processor: Snapdragon 845
  • RAM/ROM: 8/256GB or 6/64(or 128)GB
  • Rear Camera: 12+12MP dual-sensor
  • Selfie Camera: 5MP
  • 3.5mm jack: Nope
  • Connectivity: 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 5, USB-C 2.0
  • Battery: 3,400mAh, Qi Charging
  • Firmware: MIUI 9.5 (Based on Android 8.0)

Hardware

The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S is kind of a beast. Many Chinese OEMs favor the native-made MediaTek processors, but Xiaomi recognizes that Snapdragon is the biggest name in town when it comes to sheer power. As such, it included the (currently) state-of-the-art Snapdragon 845 to power its Mi Mix 2S.

The Snapdragon 845 is an octa-core processor with a burning 2.8GHz clock speed, and an integrated Adreno 630 GPU. It’s far and above the most powerful processor on the market, at least until Qualcomm releases its successor. To put that into perspective, the Snapdragon 845 is also on $800+ flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S9, LG V30, and Samsung Galaxy Note 9.

Depending on which model you pick, the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S will either come pre-loaded with 6/128GB or 8/256GB RAM/ROM. Both of these marks are very respectable (especially when you consider that the $1000 Note 9 starts at the same capacities), though it doesn’t feature a MicroSD slot. The Mi Mix 2S stays on the cutting edge of connectivity standards, with Bluetooth 5 and 802.11ac WiFi onboard.

In short? The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S is, at least in terms of sheer power, every bit the flagship the Samsung Galaxy S9, LG V35, or OnePlus 6 are.

One more little tidbit of information to demonstrate just how powerful it is: in the current AnTuTu benchmark rankings as of this writing, the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S ranked 7th overall among Android smartphones, just behind the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus.

Cameras

Rear Camera

The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S’s camera situation is…complicated. Its rear camera performs well in many shooting situations. So much so it received a 97 Overall DXOMark Mobile score, placing it in a three-way tie for 7th with the iPhone X and Huawei Mate 10 Pro and just ahead of the One Plus 6.

The rear camera features a 12MP wide-angle primary lens with a 12MP secondary telephoto lens, with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) baked in. DXMark found that it shoots exceedingly good quality static photos in all situations, but especially well in low-light situations – a rarity for smartphones. The Mi Mix 2S didn’t perform quite as well in DXOMark’s tests for video, but still got a respectable score of 88.

Personally, photo and video are two areas I don’t use my phone all that often – I don’t take pictures of my food, nor many of my pets, nor many selfies. I do, however, take pictures of my painted tabletop gaming miniatures – and in this area, where zoom and close-focus are important, the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S performs as well as any phone I’ve held in my hands. The test shots I took were generally very crisp, even in low light and on the move.

So while I am certainly no expert photographer, I probably am a pretty decent representation of the average consumer when it comes to taking pictures. Whether in the hands of an average Joe/Jane or in a lab-tested environment, though, the fact remains – the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S has a fantastic rear camera.

Front Camera

The front camera, however, is problematic to say the least. With it’s lower-right hand corner placement, it presents all sorts of problems for any camera app that isn’t the Xiaomi one. The Xiaomi Camera app rotates with your phone as you turn it to get a better camera angle (selfies taken from the bottom, up are not flattering), which is great. However, Snapchat, Whatsapp, Hangouts and others that use their own dedicated camera software do not. So you’re either stuck with a selfie you have to rotate 180 degrees, or you’re stuck with a really unflattering shot. And that’s really a shame, because the pictures it takes are quite good. They’re crisp, vibrant, and quick – what more could you want from a selfie?

Other than it being right-side up, of course.

Battery

At 3,400mAh, the Xiaomis Mi Mix 2S’ battery is pretty solid for a 6″ phone. It isn’t quite the 4,000mAh one on the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, but compared to the last generation of smartphones, it’s perfectly adequate. It performs well enough, but still generally requires a recharge after an average day’s use. So while it has about 400mAh more juice than your average flagship device, it won’t really net you any more usage time from a practical standpoint. You’ll still be throwing it on to charge every night, as you always have. Until we start seeing OEMs willing to go 4,000mAh or higher – and it’s worth noting that Samsung recently climbed aboard that train – we won’t see any meaningful developments in smartphone battery life.

MIUI’s Evolution

MIUI has come a long way; I remember back in the early days of Android, MIUI was just an iOS clone with questionable compatibility and a great theme engine. But, it’s really come into its own over the years, developing into more of a stock Android experience with a few tweaks and a custom launcher.

The firmware is quick and crisp, and is much more Android than Apple at this stage. The MIUI Launcher is really limited in its options, and I suspect most people – like me – will switch it to Nova or something similar in short order.

MIUI’s Gesture controls are really crisp – much more so than Google’s. A Left or Right edge-swipe takes you Back (with an animated Arrow icon), while swiping up from the bottom goes Home.

Swiping up and holding it briefly brings up your recents – and that’s the gesture that really stands out from Google’s, which requires a much longer “hold.” I find myself struggling with Google’s gesture controls, but thoroughly enjoying MIUI’s. It’s a fine balance, and while I’ve no doubt that Google’s will evolve in time, currently Xiaomi’s have the edge.

Value

With a starting price of $500, the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S hits a similar, flagship-killing pricepoint to the OnePlus 6 and its ilk. The Mi Mix 2S offers wireless charging, which none of the OnePlus phones can boast, and features a gorgeous ceramic aesthetic that compares favorably to the OnePlus 6’s glass frame. The OnePlus 6, on the other hand, features an AMOLED display and a normally placed camera, which are clear plusses over the Mi Mix 2S’s respective LCD and oddly-placed camera.

The short of it, though is that with the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S, you get a phones that competes with the Samsung and LG-made flagships of the world, for a fraction of the price.

Verdict

I spent about a month with the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S, and I really enjoyed my time with it. It’s got a unique design, great aesthetic, phenomenal, flagship-caliber specifications and a much-improved UI that’s just different enough to set it apart.

A couple design quirks like an oddly-placed front-facing camera and a lack of Ingress Protection Rating make you tilt your head in confusion, but I’m thoroughly impressed with the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S. At its price point it’s every bit a competitor to the Flagship-Killing Throne that OnePlus currently sits atop.

The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S is available from Amazon or GearBest for between $500 and $700, depending on your storage and RAM size.

Sprint tries to lure new customers with Unlimited Premium plan

Andrew Allen
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America’s underdog carrier, Sprint, has revealed a new Unlimited Premium smartphone plan. And it looks like a pretty sweet deal…except for the whole Sprint thing. Let’s take a look at just want the Pindrop network has with this new plan.

Obviously, you get unlimited web, talk, and text with Sprint Unlimited Premium, but here’s the breakdown of the rest of the new option:

  • 50GB LTE mobile hotspot to keep all your devices connected
  • The best of shopping and entertainment with Amazon Prime
  • Lookout Premium Plus
  • Access to the largest streaming library with a Hulu Limited Commercials subscription
  • Music streaming with TIDAL
  • Streaming in full HD
  • Global Roaming in more than 185 worldwide destinations
  • In Mexico and Canada, enjoy Unlimited talk, text and 4G LTE data

Sprint says that Unlimited Premium gives customers a roughly $40 value, every month. To sign up for all of these services and Sprint’s unlimited plan, you’d be looking at something like $130 per month. Or, you can just pay Sprint $90 a month. The carrier also gives customers an additional $10 per month discount if you bring your own phone to the service, dropping this deal down to $80 per month.

Many of us would argue that just the Amazon Prime is worth it alone. The Amazon membership is currently $119 per year. Once you add in the entry costs of TIDAL ($10) and the Hulu Limited ($8), it’s hard to not like the new Sprint offering. $90 per month is starting to look pretty good for existing customers or newcomers alike.

Read more: The best phones you can buy at Sprint right now 

Sprint is the bottom member of the US carriers as far as sheer numbers of customers and has struggled to change that over the years. The resurgence of T-Mobile recently has even compounded Sprint’s stature and led to an agreement for the companies to merge. Despite these issues and changes, the company continues to find new ways to add to its user base and moves like the new Unlimited Premium are a good way to appeal to converts.

Is this a good deal? Does it make sense to sign up for this plan if you’re already using these services? Let us know down in the comments.

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