Articles by Marc Lagace

Father’s Day is fast approaching, which means it’s time to start thinking about the perfect gift for the fatherly figure in your life. If you’re stumped for gift ideas, but know your dad loves to tool around with new technology, maybe one of these great tech gifts will help inspire you! As a bonus, each of these great gifts runs under $100. So, whether you’re scraping together some cash or going in on a group gift with your siblings, you won’t have to dig into too many couch cushions to get dad what he deserves.

Keep all his favorite tech charged

Anker PowerCore 20000mAh Power Bank

Staff pick

If you’ve ever heard your dad complain about his phone battery dying too soon, this is the perfect gift. This Anker battery pack has a 20,000mAh battery, which is an excellent option capable of charging multiple phones on a single charge. Featuring two USB ports that use PowerIQ and VoltageBoost technologies and Anker’s MultiProtect safety system, you can be confident that your devices wil…

One of the easiest ways to add some flair to your new Android phone is by setting a custom wallpaper. You can choose from the selection of default wallpapers that came with the phone, use a photo from your gallery, or download a cool wallpaper. Diving into your phone’s settings lets you set a custom image for both the lock screen and home screen together or individually, but the process for swapping in a new home screen wallpaper is straightforward no matter which phone or launcher you use.

Changing your wallpaper on a Pixel or stock Android

Changing the wallpaper is mostly the same across all Android phones, but some slight differences are depending on the phone That makes it simple to remember, and easy to do, when you upgrade to a new Android device.

Tap and hold the home screen.
Tap Styles & wallpapers from the drop-down menu.
Choose from the collections of wallpapers included with your phone, or from third-party applications.

Tap the wallpaper you want to use.
Adjus…

The NVIDIA Shield TV (2019) is hands down one of, if not the, best Android TV set-top box you can buy, offering a great mix of features for cord cutters and gamers alike. However, all that greatness comes at a fairly high price. If you’re looking to save some money on your next streaming box, your best bet is the Xiaomi Mi Box S, but we’ve rounded up a couple of other options as well.

Best Overall: Xiaomi Mi Box S

The Xiaomi Mi Box S is the best option for those wanting the full Android TV experience at a lower price point. Featuring decent specs and compatibility with 4K TVs, this is an affordable option for anyone looking to stream content from the most popular services available from the Google Play Store — Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney+, YouTube, and so on.

Given the price and the compatibility, it might seem like a no-brainer but the Xiaomi Mi Box S does have some shortcomings. While it offers support for 4K content, it struggles to stream in 4K without considerable…

For some, card games are the ultimate way to relax. Killing time on your morning commute or unwinding at the end of your day playing cards can now all happen on your phone, which is fantastic. You can play solo games, connect with friends or random online opponents over classic card games, or dive into fantasy card games of every kind.

Here are some of our favorites now available for Android. When you’re all wrapped up here, be sure to check out our Best Android Games!

The games

Microsoft Solitaire Collection
Gin Rummy
Uno!
Exploding Kittens
Evil Apples: You Against Humanity
Card Thief
Reigns: Her Majesty
Hearthstone
Ascension
Gwent
Legends of Runeterra
Shelter Free

Microsoft Solitaire Collection

Microsoft single-handedly made Solitare a household name by including it with every version of Windows since 1990. You can now keep yourself distracted on the go with the Microsoft Solitaire Collection, which includes the iconic Klondike version along with Free Cell, Spider, T…

Put on your thinking hat with these strategy games for Android.

We’re rounding up some of our favorite strategy games on Android for the deep thinkers out there. These are more than just simple puzzles games — these require careful planning and forethought to emerge victoriously. You’ll find some great replay value in games like these as well since the same strategy won’t always work twice.

Strategy gamers, pop on your thinking caps and get downloading these outstanding Android games. And if you’re looking for our favorite games in other genres, we have those, too.

Tropico
Mindustry
The Escapists 2: Pocket Breakout
Holedown
Civilization Revolution 2
The Battle for Polytopia
XCOM: Enemy Within
Mushroom Wars 2
Fire Emblem: Heroes
Pandemic: The Board Game
Vainglory
Hearthstone
Gwent
Legends of Runeterra
Star Command
Bad North
ROME: Total War

Tropico

Running a whole country is hard, but it helps when you’re a dictator and can run everything just how you like it. This is Tro…

Amazon Echo and Google Home/Nest smart speakers have crossed over from the early adopter phase to each finding a place within the mainstream culture. Both are functional, but if you’re like me, you still might not be convinced which company’s voice assistant is right for you. That’s why I’ve got both Alexa and Google Assistant-compatible speakers set up in my home. If you find yourself in the same boat, it may be essential to buy smart home accessories that are compatible with both AI assistants, and these smart plugs are a great place to start.

AI-powered energy monitoring

Currant Wifi Smart Outlet

Staff pick

Currant’s WiFi Smart Outlet comes with two individually controllable outlets, but the most crucial part is the ability to build a Bluetooth mesh network of smart plugs. Currant’s two-outlet smart plug offers the ability to see detailed breakdowns of your energy usage by the hour, day, month, or year. Additionally, Currant uses artificial intelligence to identify energy us…