We’re at that time of year when you might be looking for a solid back to school tech starter kit that mixes the right gear into one easy-to-follow an affordable package.

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We’ve had months of waiting and fleeting glimpses of the Play Store Google Material Theme redesign only to have Google slap it on all Android phones over the past 48 hours.

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Open up your smartphone web browser and the experience is probably pretty snappy if you have a new or reasonably new smartphone. Enter Google Go, a cut-down version of Google Search that is designed specifically for modest hardware and slow connections.

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While the Honor 20 Pro is unlikely to ever make it to the United States, for the rest of the world, the phone looked to be the first casualty in the ongoing US-China trade war.
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When you hear “Android fragmentation,” we often conjure up the negatives, but there is more to the mobile OS forks than slightly slow software updates. Unlike Android, iOS has an end-to-end experience controlled by Apple from start to finish. That means that because of iOS, we sometimes wrongly see fragmentation as a dirty word. The thing is, it is actually quite the opposite on the Android side of the fence.

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So here we are on the last public developer preview build of Android Q before the full stable release, and it addresses a few complaints, issues and more to make it — expectedly — the most complete version of Android Q that we’ve seen thus far.

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Huawei’s brand new EMUI 10 update is one of the first waves of Android Q re-skins and even with the release of HarmonyOS, is being backed by the Chinese OEM despite on-going US tensions.

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The biggest problem with Wear OS as a platform is hardware, and the biggest problem with most of its hardware is battery life. Last year, the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro implemented a clever solution to that problem with a dual-display. Now, the TicWatch Pro 4G is here, and while LTE might be the feature that earns the new name, it’s the improved performance that should have you interested in this watch.

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Samsung’s Galaxy Note lineup has been a driver of change in the Android industry for quite a while, but times, they are a changing. With the debut of the Galaxy Note 10, Samsung introduces a flagship that’s more iteration than anything else, all wrapped up in a legitimately gorgeous “Aura” paint-job.

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As far as we — and many others — are concerned, the Nvidia Shield TV still remains the outright best Android TV set-top box you can buy. For long-time owners and prospective buyers, we have some good news. The Android Pie update is now available for both Nvidia Shield TV models and we think it makes them an even more appealing prospect.

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Despite the fact that we’re right on the cusp of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ launch, it doesn’t mean you should sleep on the Samsung Galaxy S10 or S10+.

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The latest and greatest Google devices are rumored for a fall 2019 launch, but that doesn’t mean we don’t already have some solid information about the upcoming Pixel 4 and 4 XL.

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Infotainment systems in cars were revolutionized with the debut of Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Recently, Google debuted a complete redesign for Android Auto for the first time in its history, and I’ve been able to test it out in my own vehicle over the past several days. So far, I think Google’s new design has some big advantages, but I think it takes a couple of steps back from the original. Here’s why.

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While the superb OnePlus 7 and even better OnePlus 7 Pro have been released, the OnePlus 6T still hangs around in North American markets but remains a genuinely exceptional purchase, even in 2019.

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The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 was and is a fantastic Note. It marries the stunning design approach that Samsung has become known for since the release of the Galaxy S8 and the all-day power of the Note 5, all while avoiding the misfires (terrible pun) of the Note 7 and Note 8.

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We can all agree that Google Photos is one of the very best gallery management apps and experiences. The introduction of Gallery Go looks set to offer almost all of that full flavor but with a sizeable portion of the fat trimmed off.

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Considering that Wear OS — formally Android Wear — is now five years old, the platform still hasn’t realized it’s undoubted potential. The hardware is certainly not lacking but the cohesion and overall integration are where we see the Apple Watch simply devour every Wear OS option out there.

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Ahead of the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10, we have quite a bit of information and plenty of rumors to delve into.

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When I reviewed the Xiaomi Mi Band 3, I was convinced that it was one of the best Google Fit companions. What I didn’t expect was Xiaomi to make what you could consider iterative changes and still make the Mi Band 4 feel like a must-have wearable.

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In the world of voice assistants, we all know the real big players. It’s the Google Assistant and Alexa. Siri and Bixby can try and muscle in but they are just not as ubiquitous as the two big guns from Google and Amazon. Personal opinion aside, the brand new Amazon Echo Show 5 is genuinely an enticing smart display option but how does it stack up against the Google Nest Hub?

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We are inching ever closer to a full release of Android Q, which is why Beta 5 feels more like fine-tuning than a brand new OS. Sure there are some solid additions — which is why we’re here!

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While the budget phone category continues to grow in the United States, the rest of the world already offers a wealth of options for affordable, high-quality hardware. The Xiaomi Mi 9 SE is another such device that is genuinely superb for the money, yet lacks wide North American availability.

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The OnePlus 7 isn’t officially coming to the North American market and that is a disappointment because this is a fantastic follow-up to the OnePlus 6T, even if it feels very much like a retread.

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The OnePlus 7 Pro is the best new phone you can buy right now. Yes, it has some compromises that hardcore OnePlus fans will miss — wireless charging is one I hear a lot. It doesn’t, however, lack power, looks, and outright smoothness. But it has a design that you will want to keep safe from damage, so a case is an absolute must.

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