Table of contents for 74 in Android Advisor

While Face Unlock on the Pixel 4 is definitely an improvement over both physical and in-display fingerprint scanners, Google’s 3D face scanning biometric isn’t all it could be. For one, it has limited app support, but even for simple unlocking, there’s a flaw that could allow someone to unlock your phone without your permission. A new feature that rolled out as part of the April Security Update fixes that. It adds a new toggle inside the Face Unlock tab in the Device Security settings. It’s called ‘Require eyes to be open’, and as the name suggests, it won’t unlock your phone unless your eyes are open. That means if you’re sleeping, someone can’t get into your phone, and if you just want to keep someone out, all you need to…

Price: £208 from fave.co/2KQaZdg Xiaomi’s Redmi line has always been synonymous with astonishing value, and the new Redmi Note 9S that was announced in late March is yet another blinder from the Chinese firm. This smartphone packs a massive 5,020mAh battery that promises up to two-day life, along with some decent core hardware and photography smarts that would be more at home in the mid-range. Following on from the class-leading Redmi Note 7 and Redmi Note 8T before it, the Note 9S is another contender that will fly high in our best budget phone rankings – but, in 2020, it faces stiff competition from the Realme 6 Pro (see page 10) and Xiaomi’s own Redmi Note 8T. Design – Seeing Red(mi) Each new Redmi phone comes with a still very…

Price: £899 from fave.co/2JfWxdR The Huawei P30 Pro was easily one of the best phones of 2019, but a year on both Huawei and the phone market itself are in very different places. Despite the Chinese company’s obvious talents when it comes to smartphone creation, the arrival of the Huawei P40 Pro, though exciting, is also troubled. For a phone that looks to make as much of an impact as its predecessor, the P40 Pro launches at a time of huge uncertainty. The market, particularly at the higher end, is unquestionably stagnant and that’s before you factor in the effects of the global pandemic, which have resulted in tighter purse strings and reduced demand for wares as luxurious as a new flagship smartphone. Despite the circumstances under which the P40…

Samsung has revealed it plans on developing a 600Mp smartphone camera sensor. In a blog post, Yongin Park, EVP, Head of Sensor Business Team, System LSI Business said that Samsung is “determined to open up endless possibilities in pixel technologies that might even deliver image sensors that can capture more detail than the human eye”, after claiming that the human eye can perceive detail at approximately the equivalent of 500Mp. “[W]e as an industry still have a long way to go to be able to match human perception capabilities,” he added. The common misconception is that the higher the megapixel count on a sensor, the better the image. This is not strictly true, as many phones released recently with 48Mp or 64Mp sensors won’t necessarily take better images than a…

Price: £799 from fave.co/2SnYKc1 The OnePlus 8 Pro ushers in a bunch of firsts for the humble Android phone maker. It’s the first OnePlus display with a hole-punch camera and a 120Hz refresh rate. It’s the first OnePlus phone with wireless charging and a quad-camera. It’s the first time OnePlus has made Wi-Fi 6 and 5G standard. It’s even the first OnePlus phone with IP-rated water resistance. The top-of-the-range 256GB model (our review unit is the 128GB version) is also the first OnePlus handset to cots almost £900. To be fair, things have changed a lot since 2014, when Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S5 cost just £549 off-contract. But even though OnePlus can claim the 8 Pro costs hundreds of pounds less than the closest apples-to-apples comparison Galaxy phone, the price…

Staying at home as much as possible for more than a month can be rough on our bodies. Junk food is everywhere, it’s easy to snack as much as you want, you can’t go to the gym, going for a run feels somehow irresponsible, stress is sky-high... There are lots of apps that can help with that, and Heath & Fitness is one of the most popular categories on the Google Play App Store. If you take a look at the listings, you’ll see that nearly every app is free – or so it would seem. In reality, the vast majority of fitness apps are only free to download but require an in-app purchase subscription to be useful. Many don’t even function at all without one. That’s money you may…

Price: £299 from fave.co/2zUGfFE Realme, while relatively unknown in the UK, is making waves on the smartphone scene, offering flagship-level features at a fraction of the cost. The Realme 6 Pro is a perfect example of this: even with a £299 price tag, the 6 Pro features a 90Hz display, 30-watt fast charging and six cameras split across the front and rear of the device. It’s also a looker, with a unique light-refracting rear that can put flagship devices to shame. A looker on a budget The Realme 6 Pro is a good-looking smartphone for the price, especially when compared to the likes of the rather bland Moto G8 Power. The front is largely unexciting, sporting a mostly-full screen display with a dual-hole punch in the top-left, but there is…

Price: £599 from fave.co/3aUQmHf In a topsy-turvy world where Apple is releasing £419 iPhones and OnePlus is making premium phones, the OnePlus 8 should be the perfect foil to the OnePlus 8 Pro. After all, OnePlus built its reputation on showing up the high-priced Galaxies and Pixels of the world with premium-specified Android phones for pennies on the pound. It’s only fair that it does the same for its own four-figure phone. Design: Very familiar The OnePlus 8 is clearly cut from the same cloth as the 8 Pro, but it’s not a mere smaller version. While it has the same hole-punch camera cut-out and vertical camera array, there are distinct visual differences. Most notably, the 3D display isn’t quite as curved as it is on the 8 Pro. That…

The OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro smartphones are out now, and normally we’d be intrigued. Over the years, OnePlus has played a game of priorities, offering the newest processor and latest display enhancements for hundreds of pounds less than its peers do. While the newest OnePlus phones certainly bring the goods, with stunning displays, impressive camera arrays and gorgeous designs, they also bring a change no one will like: their prices have gone up. A lot. It also doesn’t help that OnePlus is removing its biggest competitive advantage at a time when millions of people are suddenly unemployed and premium phone sales are nosediving. No matter which model you choose, you’re going to be paying significantly more for the OnePlus 8 than you would have for last year’s 7…