Friday 5

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is finally available in stores, marking the start of the Note brand’s comeback after last year’s recall disasters. It’s one of the most powerful phones on the market, but it’s also one of the more complicated ones. We compiled a short list of some of the first things you’ll want to do with your Galaxy Note 8 after taking it out of its box.

Expand
Expanding
Close

The LG V30 was announced earlier this week, and it’s already been met with some mixed feelings. While many (myself included) are excited to try out its professional-grade video capabilities, many longtime fans of the V series are disappointed by LG ditching the iconic secondary displays and rugged designs of previous generations.

No matter your feelings on the V30, though, it’s gearing up to be one of the best phones of 2017, and this week’s Friday 5 takes a look at some of the reasons you might want to consider getting your preorder in.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Google Home has come a long way since it launched back in October of last year. The air freshener-shaped Assistant speaker was initially criticized for being a little lacking in features compared to Amazon’s competing Echo collection. However, ten months of software updates have made it a much more capable product than ever before.

Expand
Expanding
Close

A lot of you have been asking the same questions in the comments of our videos lately. Some have asked about cases, some about widgets… In fact, I’ve answered so many questions about my wallpaper since the last time I changed it that some commenters are even starting to answer others for me, which has been great, and kind of hilarious.

In response, this week’s Friday 5 was made to serve as a sort of blanket answer for the most common questions we see,

Expand
Expanding
Close

The default keyboards on Android phones aren’t always the best. Some have overly aggressive autocorrect, while others have even started showing users ads. Luckily using a different keyboard is as simple as downloading it from the Google Play Store — you just have to figure out which keyboard is best for you.

Expand
Expanding
Close

A lot of people have a negative outlook on Google’s Chrome OS ecosystem, but with a new slew of hardware for 2017 and a ton of major improvements to the OS and what it is capable of, everyone has good reason to give Google’s OS another look.

One of the best machines running Chrome OS is the Samsung Chromebook Pro. The $549 machine can, and should, be looked at as a flagship device, showing off the best this platform has to offer. After using it for a few weeks, I can definitely say it lives up to that. Here are a five reasons why you should consider buying it.

Expand
Expanding
Close

No matter your workflow, you probably use a number of productivity apps throughout the day — or if you don’t, there’s a good chance they’d make your life easier. Finding the right apps can be difficult though, and some of the more advanced ones can just be too complex and intimidating for a lot of users. To make things a little easier, we’ve put together a short list of simple, approachable apps that could help make you a bit more productive.

Expand
Expanding
Close

The OnePlus 5 is in good standing to be one of the most significant phones of the year. Its ultra high-end specs and low-cost compared to other flagship devices mean that it’ll end up in a lot of users’ hands and pockets, and many of those users will likely be new to OnePlus and Oxygen OS.

We’ve put together a quick to-do list to help new users become familiar with the OnePlus 5 and all of its customizable settings.

We’re also kicking off a new weekly series borrowed from our friends at 9to5Mac. Friday 5 will close off each week by highlighting tips and tricks from some of our favorite apps. Recommendations are always welcome and appreciated!

Expand
Expanding
Close