Articles by Hayato Huseman

There’s nothing wrong with the tried and true slab form factor we’ve all grown deeply familiar with over the last decade and some change. Nearly all of the best Android phones these days are some variation of a glass and metal sandwich with a tall, narrow aspect ratio that’s both comfortable to hold and spacious enough for today’s widescreen videos.

That form factor isn’t going away any time soon, but while I love the Pixel 5 that I use every day, I also love more experimental phones like the Galaxy Z Fold 2 and even the LG Wing (pouring one out for you, LG). Phones that push the boundaries not just of how powerful a phone can be, but what a phone should be.

Foldables and other types of shapeshifting devices aren’t for everyone, at least not yet, but for the right user, they offer incredibly powerful features and tools that simply can’t happen on more traditional devices, no matter what processor or camera tech you throw at them. There’s power — not to mention style — in foldi…

The best Android video cameras come equipped with all sorts of amazing manual video controls, so why not pair those cameras with the best smartphone gimbals that’ll ensure ultra-smooth, cinematic video? With the wide availability of portable, easy-to-use, and best of all, affordable gimbals for your phone, there’s no excuse to shoot shaky cam footage — unless you’re just a huge fan of The Blair Witch Project or Cloverfield. The DJI OM 4 is the best smartphone gimbal you can buy, but there are plenty of other options to up your next vlog quality.

Best Overall: DJI OM 4

DJI has long been a major player in the smartphone gimbal space, starting with the original Osmo Mobile. The OM 4 is the latest addition to the lineup, with a dead-simple magnetic design that actually separates the mount from the rest of the gimbal, allowing you to attach your phone in a matter of seconds and get to shooting.

You can rotate or reposition your phone for better balance and varying angles if you so …

Whether you carry your media library with you, shoot a lot of 4K (or even 8K) video, or you’re looking to download a few movies ahead of a long commute, expandable storage is essential for a lot of users. Thankfully, even in 2020, you still have plenty of options available, ranging from the high end with endless features packed in, to budget options if you don’t want to spend upwards of $1,000 on a phone. These are the best Android phones with expandable storage.

Best overall

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 128GB

Staff Pick

The headphone jack may be dead in modern Samsung phones, but the microSD slot is alive and well in the Note 20 Ultra. You already get pretty sizeable storage internally, with options for 128GB or 512GB, but if even that’s not enough, you can add up to 1TB with a microSD card. You’ll also get a 6.9-inch 120Hz display, a 108MP primary camera, a telephoto with up to 50X zoom, and a 4500mAh battery.

$1,100 at Amazon
$1,100 at Best Buy
$1,100 at B&H

Incredibl…

Android Auto helps you stay focused while you’re driving by bringing helpful apps and tools to the forefront, and hiding or disabling anything you shouldn’t be fiddling with on the road. It comes pre-installed on most new cars these days, but even if you’re driving off the lot in a used sub-compact, you can use it completely free with just your phone — and ideally, one of the best car phone holders to keep things hands-free. Here’s how you can customize your launcher in Android Auto to keep the essentials upfront.

How to add app shortcuts to the launch screen

Open the Android Auto app.
Tap Settings.
Under General, tap Customize launcher.

Tap Add a shortcut to the launcher.
From here, you can choose to add a shortcut to quickly call a contact, or one to launch an Assistant-powered action. For this example, we’re choosing the latter, since the former is fairly self-explanatory.

Under Assistant Command, type out a phrase you’d typically dictate to Google Assistant, eg. “Turn on…

Every day, we stray closer from the dark.

It’s been nearly a month since Google rolled out the first Android 12 Developer Preview, and I’ve been using it daily on my Pixel 5 since its release, with only a small handful of issues and bugs.

Google promised once-a-month updates to its Developer Previews leading up to the first beta release, however, and right on cue, we have the second Developer Preview up and running. Of course, you don’t need the best Android phone Google makes to run its pre-release software; this installs just fine on lower-end models like the Pixel 4a, as well.

So what’s changed with this second Developer Preview? Quite frankly, not much; if the first build wasn’t tempting enough to flash onto your personal phone (which, to be clear, you probably shouldn’t do), this one likely won’t be any different. But even small changes are changes nonetheless, and we’ve broken down what’s new.

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Aesthetic changes
Improved picture-in-picture video
Better support f…

Finding the best Bluetooth speaker is a surefire way to ensure that you can play your favorite music when you’re swimming in the pool or out on a camping trip with friends. Bluetooth speakers are compatible with practically every mobile device around and will make sure that as long as your phone, tablet, or laptop is around, your music will be loud! There are so many options available that it can be difficult to choose the best option for your needs. Thankfully, we’ve done the research and have identified what we feel are the best Bluetooth speakers for a variety of cases. Hopefully, your Bluetooth speaker is on this list! If not, it’s time to buy one!

What are the best Bluetooth speakers?

Our overall favorite Bluetooth speaker is the Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 2 due to its sound quality, extreme portability, great battery, and excellent water resistance. Plus, it comes in at a reasonable price. It has just about everything you would want in a speaker.

If you’re looking for a more p…

What are confirmed features, if not rumors perservering?

If the recent Galaxy Watch 4 rumors are to be believed, we can expect to see the successor to last year’s excellent Galaxy Watch 3, along with an accompanying Active variant, a bit sooner than originally anticipated. That’s great news, since Samsung makes some of the best Android smartwatches around, but right now we’re still not entirely sure what upgrades to expect in these upcoming models.

While we await more concrete details on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, which could launch as early as Q2 2021, I’ve got some features in mind that I’d love to see make their way to the final product.

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Maintain Tizen support
5G support
Better haptic feedback
Improved specs
Blood pressure monitoring in the U.S.

Maintain Tizen support

While we don’t have any official confirmation just yet, it’s been suggested that the Galaxy Watch 4 may ditch Samsung’s in-house Tizen operating system in favor of the same Wear OS platform we’v…

Pitting the most versatile cameras against each other.

Photography is a huge part of the mobile experience these days, and that’s especially true with Samsung’s Ultra line of premium devices. These are the best Samsung phones you can buy, featuring some of the best Android cameras along with super-powerful specs and large, beautiful displays.

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Scene 1: Wide-angle
Scene 1: Ultra-wide
Scene 2: Wide-angle
Scene 2: Ultra-wide
Scene 3: Wide-angle
Scene 3: Ultra-wide
Scene 3: Telephoto
Scene 4: Wide-angle
Scene 4: Telephoto
Scene 5: Telephoto
Scene 6: Telephoto

Samsung debuted the Ultra series with the Galaxy S20 Ultra last year, which featured a 108MP primary sensor and up to 100X telephoto zoom — what we now know as Space Zoom. But that phone initially suffered from a handful of autofocus issues, and while software updates have thankfully remedied the problem to some extent, Samsung added a laser autofocus system to the followup Galaxy Note 20 Ultra and S21 Ultra to e…

Massive year-over-year improvements and a noteworthy new addition.

Update, March 2021: Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra review, 1 month later

The Galaxy S series has been a staple of the Android ecosystem for over a decade now, but the Ultra line has only been around for a year. Last year’s S20 Ultra was poised as the best Samsung phone money could buy, with a gargantuan screen and the company’s most versatile camera system ever — all at a record-high price of $1,400.

This year’s sequel brings the price back down to Earth while improving Samsung’s Space Zoom tech, and serves as a launching point for Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 888 platform in the U.S. It’s a phone for enthusiasts and power users alike, correcting some of the shortcomings of its predecessor and bringing a lot of great new features to the mix — including one that may signal the end of another premium division of Samsung’s lineup.

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra review

Price and availabiility
Hardware and design
Display …

Big Red may charge an arm and a leg for its service, but the best Android phones on its network don’t all have to be unattainably expensive. Whether you’re after the top-of-the-line Galaxy S21 Ultra or you’d rather save some money and pick up something like the Moto G Power, there are plenty of great options for one of the nation’s top-rated carriers. Here are our top picks when it comes to the best Verizon phones on the market right now.

Best overall

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G

Staff Pick

The Galaxy S21 Ultra is Samsung’s ultimate mobile experience, cramming powerful specs and a 6.8-inch 120Hz display into a modern design. It also has an enormously capable camera system that features a 108MP main sensor and up to 100X zoom, plus 8K video capture. You get a massive 5000mAh battery and 5G support, and the S21 Ultra even supports the S Pen stylus.

From $39.99/mo at Verizon

Best compact phone

Google Pixel 5

If you value clean software and timely updates above all else,…