My Mount Rushmore of Android smartphones

With more than seven years of Android smartphones under our belt, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at some of the more important releases. There are dozens of manufacturers around the globe, having produced hundreds of models over time.

Ask anyone who has followed the Android space for some time and you’ll find that, invariably, there are certain devices that have higher levels of credibility, or those that resonate more loudly. There are a select number of handsets that are looked upon much more favorably than others.

Some phones are known for changing the way other manufacturers approach their designs. Some have unique designs that introduce new materials or boast record-setting benchmarks. In an industry that is constantly evolving, we find there are a lot of phones that tread into new and interesting places. But, what makes up the best Android phones of all time?

Let’s take a look at what I’ll term the “Mount Rushmore” of Android smartphones. Before going any further, I would like to point out that this is a totally personal list in that it is not indicative of what the other writers at AndroidGuys may think. The goal is to have other staff create their own list of phones with respective reasons for selecting them.

To qualify this list, I am not looking for the most popular Android smartphones. Rather, I am looking for areas such as innovation, design choices, sales strategy, impact on consumers, and other variables.

Suffice it to say, it was not easy trimming this list down to four models. I returned to my selections a few times before publishing this article and found myself wanting to swap stuff in and out. But, for the sake of having fun and creating a “time capsule”, this is what I’ve come up with – today.

T-Mobile G1

HTC | 2008

The granddaddy of them all, this was the first device ever to run Google’s Android operating system. It landed not long after the Apple iPhone, and it was a completely different approach to the new era of smartphones. Whereas Apple’s choice was to take touch screen experience and tie it into its own ecosystem, this one involved a variety of players. Moreover, its “open source” nature meant that it would play nicely with just about anything and anyone willing to put in some effort.

Key hardware specs:

• 3.2-inch 320×480 pixel display
• 528MHz processor
• 256MB ROM
• 192MB RAM
• 3.2-megapixel rear camera
• 1150mAh battery

In addition to being a collaborative effort on the partner front (HTC, T-Mobile, and Google),  the G1 was also somewhat of a hodgepodge of hardware. Indeed, there was the touch screen display which measured in at 3.2-inches and featured a 480×320 pixel display. But, slide open the unit and you’ll find a QWERTY keyboard with five rows of physical buttons underneath. And, as if that weren’t enough, this phone also featured a trackball for navigation. It wasn’t the prettiest of phones, and it was everything the iPhone wasn’t. In short, the nerds had something new to rally around.

Although there was a retail-ready product, at launch Google still had a long road ahead of itself in terms of Android and the software ecosystem. Even early adopters would ultimately relent that it felt unfinished and lacking. Hell, it even felt to some like we were beta testing in the wild. Despite the shortcomings the phone proved that people would consider the platform as a viable alternative to the other players of the day. In short, this one paved the way for all other Android products. For that very reason, this is the George Washington on my Mount Rushmore.

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Droid

Motorola| 2009

The device that still frames conversations today, the Droid was the first Android smartphone that people recognized by name. Think about it, there are still people who lump together all Android phones under a “Droid” umbrella.

“Is that your new Droid?”

Thanks to an incredibly ambitious marketing campaign, we learned early on that this was everything that the iPhone wasn’t. Ah yes, back in the days when Android phones were quickly evolving with groundbreaking hardware and software capabilities. A removable battery? Widgets? Open software development? A camera with a flash? YES PLEASE.

Key hardware specs:

• 3.7-inch 480×854 pixel display
• 512MB ROM
• 256MB RAM
• 5.0-megapixel rear camera
• 1390mAh battery

Remember the commercial that started out with the indie pop sounding music that quickly morphed into an almost scary wake-up call? It shook us and put the world on notice. We didn’t even need to see it to be intrigued.

Another key reason that the Droid fascinated us was that it would be Verizon’s first foray into Android.  Oh, and it was Motorola’s entry into the Android space, too. New efforts from big named, established mobile players? Count us in.

Although the Droid family would go on to include smartphones from Samsung and HTC, it was this singular model that remains ingrained in our memory. None of the Droid phones since this one were as memorable or likely as popular.

In terms of hardware, the Droid offered users a physical QWERTY keyboard and a really cool navigational pad. It wasn’t necessarily that much more powerful than other Androids at the time, but it certainly looked the part. It was angular, black, and looked all business. That didn’t stop women from picking one up, though.

Perhaps just as important as the hardware for the Droid was its software. This was among the first phones to launch with Android 2.0 Eclair and quickly updated to 2.1. Chief among the reasons to want this particular build of Android was that it came with Google Maps Navigation (beta). Yes, for the first time, Google would give users a cloud-based turn-by-turn navigation app at no cost; it’s built into the operating system! Other noteworthy features in Android at the time were interactive wallpapers, voice controls, more home screens, and support for more than one Google email account.

We’ve seen a lot of product names and lines over the last seven years, many of which have gone away. One that has stuck around, however, is the Droid brand. The name still calls for attention in 2016. And, while it’s still an exclusive partnership between Motorola and Verizon, the family of phones commands respect. Had the original Motorola Droid faltered, it’s hard to imagine where we would be today.

Nexus One

HTC | 2010

Although it arrived some sixteen months after the G1, the Nexus One was nothing like its HTC-made counterpart. It was sleek, polished, and running a much smarter software system in Android 2.1 Eclair. The Nexus One also offered up some substantial improvements in hardware as compared to the first-ever Android.

In short, the Nexus One was created to accelerate the innovation in the smartphone space. It was Google’s way of saying, “this is the benchmark for where we think phones should be today”. Once it was introduced, other phones were quick to keep pace and buyers got more bang for their buck.

Key hardware specs:

• 3.7-inch 480×800 pixel display
• 1GHz Snapdragon processor
• 512MB ROM
• 512MB RAM
• 5.0-megapixel rear camera
• 1400mAh battery

What made the Nexus One so interesting, to me at least, was that it wasn’t sold via a traditional wireless carrier at first. Indeed, the phone was offered direct from a Google website with support handled via forums. To average smartphone buyers, this model barely registered on their radar. For fanboys and enthusiasts, however, it was a very cool concept.

Unfortunately, this sales method would prove to be ahead of its time as customers were not ready to buy a phone they couldn’t physically touch. Google would ultimately sell the Nexus One through select carriers, but it was slow to happen and mostly toward the latter half of its life cycle. In fact, Google would eventually scrap its online store — for a few years — for Nexus phones and work closer with service providers.

It would take another 3-4 years before US customers were cool with the concept of buying a phone outright and then pairing it with a carrier. We still have a long way to go here as customers still like to purchase their handsets through a service provider, but, Google had/has the right thing in mind.

The Nexus One represented everything an Android lover would look for: pure, unadulterated software on top of cutting-edge hardware. Reviews were almost universally positive for the phone, but it still fell short of some end of year lists. Nevertheless, Google would be undeterred and release a new “Nexus” model almost annually, ushering in the latest version of Android at the same time.

Whether or not we might term the Nexus One a success is debatable; even today’s successors aren’t runaway sales champions. It’s more about what the phone represents, however, as to why it’s on my list. It was ambitious and unheard of, especially in the United States. It would be another five years before average consumers would be hip to the idea of purchasing a phone outright and picking the carrier later. Were it not for the Nexus One we might not have ever seen phones like the Moto X or heard of companies like Blu or Nuu Mobile.

Galaxy S3

Samsung | 2012

The first few years of Android were an incredibly frustrating time for smartphone buyers. Why? In a word, exclusives. It seemed that every single phone that came along was tied to a specific carrier. This meant that you had to consider switching service providers if you were interested in a particular phone. And, guess what – they weren’t all that competitive against each other.

Even the first two generations of Samsung Galaxy S phones were not exempt from the stranglehold. Here, in the United States, the original model was offered across the four major carriers with four distinct names: Captivate, Vibrant, Epic 4G, and Stratosphere. To make matters worse, each was slightly different in configuration and none of them had the exact same dimensions. Sprint’s version, for instance, featured a QWERTY keyboard while everyone else went touchscreen-only.

The successor would be no better as it came with a dozen variations globally, with a host of them coming stateside. Raise your hand if you remember code names and models like Hercules, Attain, Within, Skyrocket, Captivate Glide, and Epic 4G Touch. Oh, and don’t get me started on the fact that not all models were launched at the same time.

Imagine the pain in the butt it was to find a case for your phone. Imagine being a case maker and trying to forecast which models were worth backing.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 changed the game for smartphones here in the US. For the first time, we would see one design spread across all versions. For the first time, we had four major carriers ready to offer the same phone, at the same time. For the first time, we had this “choice” we kept hearing about when it comes to Android. Choose the phone and choose the carrier.

• 4.8-inch 720×1280 pixel display
• 1.4GHz quad-core processor
• 16/32MB ROM
• 2GB RAM
• 8.0-megapixel rear camera
• 2100mAh battery

Samsung would go huge with the launch of the Galaxy S3, dropping in some 100+ markets within a matter of weeks of each other. Not only that, but Samsung took the fight directly to Apple with its ads and marketing strategies. Does it really feel like almost four years have passed since that first commercial that had iPhone users waiting in line for the “next big thing”?

It didn’t hurt that the Galaxy S3 was a pretty significant step forward in hardware. Although configuration differed across countries and carriers, we were now talking about readily accessible phones with quad-core processors, 32GB storage and 2GB RAM. The 4.8-inch screen was sizable for the time and users generally loved the 8-megapixel rear camera. In addition to a couple of storage options, it was also possible to select from a number of colors, too. Did the polycarbonate shell feel cheap? Sure. Did it stop people from buying it? Hardly.

Android purists and fanboys would have plenty of criticism over the custom software experience TouchWiz, but average users didn’t seem to mind. Samsung baked in a host of custom apps and services, many of which doubled up the stuff that came with Android. Key features introduced in the S3 include Smart Stay, S Voice, and Pop-Up Play. All of this stuff, of course, was an obvious play to pull consumers into its own ecosystem and away from reliance on Google. Did it matter? Not really. Sales for the Galaxy S3 were through the roof and the phone landed on many “best of” lists.

Samsung didn’t push the envelope for the next few successors, but it did overhaul the line for 2015. Samsung continues with its Galaxy S line of phone today; we’re looking at the S7 launching in the next few weeks.

Wrapping Up

You have no idea how hard it was to put this list together. I struggled with my own personal faves such as the HTC EVO 4G or Galaxy Note 2 not finding one of the spots on this list. We had internal discussions at AndroidGuys about which phones we’d come up with; every writer had a different combination. Some of us changed each time we thought of the concept.

I would love to hear about your Mount Rushmore of Android phones. Leave me a comment below with one or more picks and why it deserves to be etched in rock for all time.

The post My Mount Rushmore of Android smartphones appeared first on AndroidGuys.

Best password managers [2016]

Passwords are extremely important in a world where we have more accounts than we know what to do with. Many of us likely have multiple email accounts, social media accounts, an Amazon and Netflix account, and tons and tons of other things. That also means that we either have more passwords than we’re physically able to keep up with, or we use the same two or three passwords for everything on the internet, neither of which is a good idea.

That’s where password managers come in. Instead of having to remember every single password for every single account you own, you’ll only have to remember one password for your password manager, and it stores your passwords for everything else. Using a password manager is great for your account security, and it’s incredibly convenient for anyone with tons and tons of accounts.

Like anything else, though, there are plenty of password managers to choose from on Android. In this guide, we’ll go over the best of what’s available to get you started.

LastPass

LastPass is an extremely popular choice that’s been around for a while. It covers all the bases of what most people look for in a password manager, and it does it without being too flashy or without too many excessive features.

You set up LastPass with a single master password, then begin storing your passwords in its database. For the security-minded, LastPass uses 256-bit AES encryption and handles all of the encrypting and decrypting locally, not in the cloud. That’s a fairly secure way of doing things, and since LastPass did unfortunately deal with a small hack in the middle of 2015, they’ve since ramped up measures to keep everything safe and secure. When storing passwords, LastPass also offers a very powerful and flexible password generator so you aren’t using simple phrases that would be easy to guess for anyone trying to break into your accounts.

Besides technical security, LastPass offers some cool features that you’ll actually notice while using it. The interface is quick and easy to navigate, borrowing heavily from Google’s famous Material Design language, and everything can be categorized and sorted by custom labels and folders, making it extremely easy to find a particular password. You can also secure the app with a fingerprint for an additional layer of security, so you won’t actually need to punch in your password every time you want to access your password bank.

Passwords aren’t the only thing that LastPass is good for, though, since the app has added the ability to store a few other things in its database. You can create secure notes and form fills, which include things like addresses and credit card numbers. Most browsers support this to an extent, but none are blocked behind heavy security and encryption like LastPass. You can also share certain folders and passwords with other users (say you have a shared Netflix account for everyone in your family) and there’s an option to set up an emergency contact in case someone else needed to get ahold of your passwords for any reason. If you’re extremely privacy-conscious, there’s also a LastPass browser and keyboard that are extremely barebones but don’t track or store any info from you.

The free version of LastPass works on a single device, like your Android phone or tablet, or your desktop computer, but for $12 per year you can sync to as many devices as you’d like. Premium also includes sharing passwords and opens up two-factor authentication, which is probably one of the most secure ways to protect your info. You have to pay for the full year in advance, but at $1 per month, it’s pretty affordable for the convenience and security.

Key items:

• $12 per year
• All platform support
• Fingerprint scanner support
• Free features
• Passwords store in cloud
• Recent hack

Play Store Download Link

Dashlane

Dashlane is the most similar and most competitive service to LastPass, offering a slightly more polished experience with a few extra features for more money. The concept is still the same; create a master password for your account, then begin storing your passwords, notes, and payment methods. The service secures everything with 256-bit AES encryption and takes security very seriously.

One area where Dashlane has a leg up is in its interface, however. I’m as big of a fan of Material Design as anyone, but Dashlane sticks to its own rules and made an extremely polished UI that’s simple to navigate around. The pop-ups for entering information are less intrusive than what you see with other password managers, but still somehow manage to work better. Android also sports a floating bubble on screen to help you quickly punch in info, too. You’ll still get the fingerprint authentication that’s offered in other apps, plus password generators, note storage, and all the other standard features.

Where Dashlane really shines is with its extra, automated features. The digital wallet offered is one of the most unique things on our list, which gives you a way to quickly store your payment information to input on shopping sites. However, the digital wallet also takes a screenshot of receipts and itemizes what you’ve been buying, which helps you keep track of what you’ve purchased and where your money is going. Most of us probably just trash those receipt emails in our inbox, but Dashlane autonomously takes care of that for you.

The app also audits your security for you, tracking any site that you have stored on your account. It gives out a security score that lets you know how well you’re doing with your passwords, and if you’ve got some weak passwords, gives you a quick way to change them to something more secure. Dashlane offers bulk, automated password changing on supported websites, so it can even update your passwords without you having to do anything. If an account that you use is breached, it will also proactively alert you to the breach to get your password changed ASAP.

Here’s the kicker for Dashlane: it’s $39.99 per year. There aren’t any options for monthly subs, and compared to something like LastPass, it’s nearly four times as expensive. You can use the free version if you don’t want device syncing, so if you’re only looking for password management on a single device, it’s fine, but I feel like most of us at least have another laptop or tablet around that could benefit from syncing. That’s not to say that it isn’t worth it at $40 for 12 months, because the app does offer some extremely useful features that you can’t get anywhere else, but the price tag clearly won’t be for everyone.

Key items:

• $39 per year
• Better interface, more features
• Fingerprint scanner support
• Integrated browser; floating app on Android
• Automatic password change in bulk

Play Store Download Link

1Password

1Password is a slightly more simplified way to keep your passwords in sync, and for those of you that hate recurring costs, it’s one of the few apps that you can pay for once and be done with. It’s a pretty basic app otherwise, with fingerprint authentication, a built-in browser and keyboard for quickly accessing your stored passwords, and a strong password generator.

The app stores passwords, payment methods, and other info, and actually offers a pretty great interface that’s better than some of the other less expensive options. It does take a different approach to syncing your information that doesn’t involve storing anything about you, so if you’re looking for a nearly-completely offline approach to storing your passwords, this is it.

Instead of your passwords being backed up to a server from 1Password, you can either sync things through one of two cloud services, or over WiFi. Syncing things over WiFi relies on your desktop being on the same WiFi network as your mobile device, then keeping things in step that way. While it’s a manual process and a little more inconvenient, it’s hard to argue that this isn’t the most secure way of doing things.

If the WiFi network sync is too much of a hassle, 1Password can back your passwords up to Dropbox or iCloud. I can’t imagine too many of our readers are relying very heavily on iCloud, so Dropbox would be the only option for an Android user. (iCloud sync wouldn’t help your Android device, even if you had some Apple products, anyway)

This essentially replaced a company’s servers with Dropbox, and stores an encrypted database on your Dropbox account, so you’d definitely want a secure password and two-factor authentication set up there. But as long as you maintain your Dropbox security, you won’t have to worry about 1Password ever being hacked and losing any of your info.

1Password’s biggest drawback is its confusing pricing scheme. It’s $49 per desktop OS (Windows and OS X) and $10 per mobile OS (Android and iOS) that are one-off payments, nothing yearly or monthly. Premium allows you to store an unlimited number of items in your database, and includes some extra organization tools. Up front, that’s a little pricey but over several years it’s a significantly cheaper option. That one-time payment is likely because 1Password doesn’t do any storing on their end, expecting everything to be kept by the user for security.

So, if you have a Windows computer, an iPad, and an Android device, you’d be out $70 for a $49 Windows license and two $9.99 mobile licenses. Granted, you can probably mix and match depending on which features you want on which platform, but it can be a little daunting to figure out at first. Still, this decentralized approach keeps everything in your own hands, which arguably makes 1Password one of the most secure solutions on this list.

Key items:

• $49 one-time on desktop, $10 mobile
• Secure browser
• Excellent interface
• No monthly/yearly charges
• Confusing pricing

Play Store Download Link

Password Safe

Password Safe is an Android-only, totally offline solution for storing your passwords. It’s a heavily Material Design-inspired app with just a few extra features, so if you need something simple and lightweight, this is it.

The app secures everything behind your master password using 128-bit encryption, or 256-bit encryption for Pro users. It offers a password generator that you can even use from a widget on your home screen, and it organizes and stores everything for you locally with no internet access or unnecessary Android permissions. For someone that relies heavily on their Android phone without needing a tablet or a computer, this is the way to go.

The Pro version offers some useful extra features, like fingerprint authentication, attaching pictures to entries, custom entry fields, automatic logout, and a unique self-destruct feature for a very powerful layer of security. The app does also support exporting its database, which you can then upload to Dropbox/Drive/etc. which allows for manually backing up and restoring your info, but since it doesn’t have internet permissions in Android, that’s the extent of its syncing and backup functionality.

Password Safe only costs $3.49 for the Pro features, which is by far the cheapest solution on this list. It’s customizable, it’s secure, and it takes Material Design to heart, so there’s a lot to like even if it’s short on the feature list.

Key items:

• One-time payment
• Offline storage, no risk of being hacked
• Material design
• Widget support
• Fingerprint support
• Self-destruct feature

Play Store Download Link

Enpass

Enpass is one of the most cross-platform solutions available that also tries to avoid collecting any data about you, for security purposes. It doesn’t require any kind of account through Enpass and syncs using popular cloud storage, and it offers affordable extensions and apps for almost every platform you might have.

When you start up Enpass, you’ll be required to set a master password, and that’s it. No other passwords, no email addresses, just the password. From here you can set up fingerprint authentication, auto-lock settings, and start storing passwords. Enpass offers 256-bit encryption and a strong password generator, which you should probably expect as a standard for any password managers at this point.

You can import other password databases into Enpass if you’re migrating over, but the app also supports backing things up to OneDrive, Drive, Dropbox, Box, and a few other cloud services. That covers just about all platforms for syncing, including some more obscure systems like BlackBerry OS and Linux distributions. In fact, Enpass also offers apps for those platforms on its website, with links to Windows Phone, BlackBerry, and Linux downloads. Plus, it supports all of the major platforms, too, so anyone using Windows, OS X, iOS, or Android will be covered. A dedicated Chrome OS download is the only thing missing, but considering there’s a Chrome extension, you’re still covered.

Otherwise, Enpass supports storing a ton of information and offers some in-depth customization to get things working exactly how you like them. On Android, the app offers a pretty slick interface that’s pleasant to navigate. It’s not the best on this list, but it’s close. It also has templates for things like licenses and travel info, plus several others, which is something that’s fairly unique to Enpass.

Enpass is completely free on the desktop, while mobile apps cost $10 to store more than 20 items. It could get a little pricey if you’re using iOS and Android, but even then $20 for two lifetime licenses shouldn’t break the bank.

It’s tough to recommend Enpass over some of the other services, but if you need support for some more obscure platforms and are looking to save a few bucks in exchange for losing a few features, it’s probably the best budget-friendly password manager you can find.

Key items:

• Free desktop app, only pay for mobile
• Fingerprint support
• Extensions and autofill for mobile apps
• Extensions on major browsers
• Syncs through personal cloud storage (Dropbox, Box, etc)
• Material design, lightweight

Play Store Download Link

Closing

This list covers most of the popular and secure password managers available in Google’s Play Store, including some of the better free, paid, and subscription models.

Did we miss any of your favorites? Drop a comment and let us know.

Come comment on this article: Best password managers [2016]