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GOOGLE PIXEL 8/8 PRO If 2023 is the year of AI, the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro showcase it more than any other phones. Artificial intelligence is used to optimise performance, take and edit photos, summarize web pages, screen calls and even create personalized wallpapers. The regular Pixel 8 gets all those features, but plenty more are exclusive to the more expensive Pixel 8 Pro. It's no surprise to see the 5x telephoto lens missing and an inferior ultrawide camera, but you'll also have to make do with a worse display, glossy finish, no temperature sensor and some missing software features. Are those compromises worth it in order to save £300? Ultimately, that depends on what you're looking for. DESIGN After years of experimenting with the design of its phones,…

REVIEWS We've had to wait a while for it, but the OnePlus Open stands out among foldables for a variety of reasons. The first is its name: rather than opting for the triedand-tested ‘Fold’ branding, OnePlus wants the device to be ‘Open for Everything’, hinting at its versatility as phone-tablet hybrid. But the same can be said of parent company Oppo's Find N3, which launched at the same time as the OnePlus Open with nearidentical hardware and software. And then there's the simple fact that it's taken until 2023 for OnePlus to release a folding phone, making it one of the late comers to the party. However, none of that matters if the OnePlus Open performs well in the real world. While that's certainly the case, it isn't quite the…

AUDIO Supplanting the four-year-old Bose Headphones 700 at the premium end of the company's line, the pricey Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones up the ante on the two most critical fronts: sound quality and active noise cancellation. These comfy music makers also run longer (up to 24 hours on a charge) and faster (with Qualcomm's Snapdragon Sound Technology Suite), offer advanced Bluetooth 5.3 capabilities, support aptX streaming, and feature Bose's CustomTune technology for personalizing the headphones’ audio to your unique ears. And finally, like their in-ear cousins, the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, the QuietComfort Ultra Headphones deliver a homegrown spatial audio option that should please a lot of people at least some of the time. DESIGN In terms of industrial design, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones are much less controversial than the…

ANDROID 14 Google's in the midst of rolling out the Android 14 update for all current Pixel devices. And while Android 14 may seem a uninspiring on the surface, you'd be surprised how much useful stuff is waiting to be found. 1. FAST FONT FLIPPING This first Pixel tip is something I mentioned inadvertently while talking about Pixel shortcuts a few weeks back. I'd been using the Android 14 beta on my personal Pixel phone, and it didn't even dawn on me that this feature was connected to that and not something available more broadly at that moment. Now you've got Android 14 in front of you, though, this feature should be there and waiting. It's a handy new Quick Settings tile that lets you adjust the font size in…

GOOGLE PIXEL 8/8 PRO Google has released some of the most impressive features yet for its new 2023 Pixel smartphones, though those improvements do come with a price increase compared to the previous generation. The flagship Pixel 8 Pro comes with a host of AI camera features thanks to the all-new Tensor G3 processor, and tweaks to the design compared to the previous generation. But are these changes worth the price hike? I've spent some time with this high-end phone to help you decide whether it's the next Android device for you. DESIGN Unless you're a fellow tech journalist or a super Google fan, you'd be forgiven for not being able to tell the Pixel 7 Pro and Pixel 8 Pro apart. Once again, there is a metal camera bar…

REVIEWS With the Motorola Edge 40 Neo, the manufacturer has seemingly had a bit of a rethink about its ‘affordable premium’ Neo line. It's bigger and nicer-looking than the Edge 30 Neo, with a much larger and curvier 6.55in pOLED display. Despite this scaling up, however, the Motorola Edge 40 Neo ends up costing £50 less out of the gate. We described last year's model as “a likeable handset that gets a lot right”, but it was let down by cheap design and poor low-light camera performance, among other things. Has Motorola managed to hit the ‘premium budget’ jackpot with this year's revision? DESIGN At last, we have an Edge Neo phone worthy of the name. Previous Neo phones haven't really deserved their ‘Edge’ moniker, dropping the curved edges of…

AUDIO Just like car makers, earbud and headphone manufacturers feel compelled to upgrade their perfectly good models every year. In my Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II review just over a year ago (see issue 104), I gushed how they won my heart with bliss-inducing audio performances and world-quieting active noise cancellation. Yet, Bose went back to the drawing board for a refresh, producing the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds reviewed here. Ironically, I also said of the earlier model that they were so full of innovation that those buds deserved a new name. And I guess ‘Ultra’ is an improvement over Roman numerals. In any event, you'll need more than a casual glance to separate these newbies from last-year's model. There's just a touch of cosmetic enhancement – contrasting metal on the…

GOOGLE PIXEL 8/8 PRO Google's latest Pixel phones have plenty of good things going for them, but don't let all the shiny surfaces, camera smarts and AI additions fool you. That stuff's all fine and dandy, and it will convince some to pick a Pixel over all the other alternative. But what makes Google's latest Pixel phones particularly significant is something you can't see on the surface. It's something a typical human strolling into a store probably won't be in the least bit aware of. And yet, it's the part of the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro that's without a doubt the most important – and the most consequential from a platform-wide and even industry-wide perspective. It's the fact that these two phones come with an unprecedented post-sales software…

BUYING GUIDE Flagship phones, with all their cool features and the most powerful hardware, are great. But do you really need something that advanced (and expensive)? For many people, the answer is no. A mid-range phone is not only much more affordable, they tend to still have a lot in common with flagship phones. While there are some missing features, these are usually in areas where you're less likely to notice, such as an extra camera lens or slightly more performance. So, for the vast majority of people, it's mid-range that is the sweet spot when buying a phone. You get the best of all worlds there – features, great performance, decent specs and a price that won't make your eyes water. We define a mid-range phone as one that…

ANDROID 14 If you've got one of Google's Pixel phones, good news: your handset will have been updated to Android 14. And although on the surface, it doesn't appear to be the most exciting of updates, it's packed with awesome new features. Google's latest Android version has plenty of significant stuff going on under the surface when it comes to the less obvious yet incredibly important improvements in areas like privacy, security and performance. And beyond that, Google has subtly shifted towards a model where system-level updates show up year-round on Android via decoupled apps in the Play Store. There are also some noteworthy new touches that are worth checking out. Here are five of our favourites. 1. DRAG TEXT As of Android 14, your Pixel phone will let you…