The best cheap Android phones

There’s never been a better time to buy a cheap Android phone and still get a top quality experience.

It used to be the norm that to get a good phone you’d have to spend a good chunk of change. But while the high end continues to progress at a predictable rate, the mid-tiers have suddenly become where the action is at. It’s easier than ever to get a quality Android smartphone without paying too much for it. We daresay you can call it a “cheap” Android smartphone at this point and not feel bad about it.

For around $250 it’s now possible to get a good phone by any standard. Here’s our roundup of the best you can get right now.

Article updated for April 2016 without making any changes to the lineup. These are still the best cheap Android phones on the market right now.

Motorola Moto G (2015)

Still one of the best value phones around

Pros

• Solid build quality
• No manufacturer bloatware
• MicroSD card slot

Cons

• No NFC
• Only a single speaker compared to previous model
• No quickcharge or wireless charging

Motorola is arguably responsible for reinventing the budget phone space when it tore up the rule book with the original Moto G. Now three generations in and it’s no more difficult to recommend to anyone looking for the best on a budget.

The hardware is more than ample for the price and Motorola’s signature software experience of value added to stock Android remains. The camera is improved on its predecessor, Moto Maker allows for some customization on the color schemes and all-in-all the essence of what made this phone great hasn’t gone away. It’s hard to do better at $200. And we’d definitely recommend the 16GB/2GB RAM model. It’s worth the extra.

Read more | Review | Accessories

See at Amazon See at Motorola

ASUS Zenfone 2

A surprise contender

Pros

• Great price
• Long battery life
• Decent camera

Cons

• Awkward button placement
• Cheap feeling materials
• Software won’t be to everyone’s taste

ASUS announced the Zenfone 2 at the beginning of 2015 but it would soon become one of the better value for money buys for the budget conscious smartphone buyer. With the cheapest model coming in at $199, for $299 you can get the highest-end variant with some specs that easily outdo even some of the most expensive phones on the market.

It’s not perfect by any means, with software that’s best described as an acquired taste, and some cost cutting in the materials used to build it. But make no mistake, you’re getting a solid phone with long battery life, a decent camera and more besides for not a whole lot of your hard earned.

Read more | Review | Accessories

See at Amazon

Alcatel Onetouch Idol 3 5.5

Upside down

Pros

• Use it either way up
• Long battery life
• Full HD 1080p display

Cons

• Some added bloatware
• Sluggish while installing apps
• The back cover doesn’t feel all that great

Alcatel OneTouch is another of those smartphone makers that can hold their heads high having made huge strides forward in 2015. The Idol 3 comes in two sizes, but it’s the larger 5.5-inch model that’s most impressive. For $250 you get a great looking 1080p display, a 13MP camera and some pretty hot sounding speakers with JBL audio.

The party piece of the Idol 3 is that you can use it either way up. The speakers on the front are both also earpieces and the phone’s user interface will flip depending which way up you’re holding it. Just remember which end the camera is before snapping a selfie.

Review | Accessories

See at Amazon

OnePlus X

Never settle

Pros

• Looks fantastic
• Simple, good looking software
• Full HD 1080p display

Cons

• Weak camera
• Lacking some important radio bands
• Below average battery life

OnePlus has traditionally gone hunting for the high-end but the OnePlus X is the first time it truly targeted the budget sector coming in at $249. What you get is a mixture of premium design with glass and metal both present encasing internal specs that would have been in flagship class phones not all that long ago.

The glass back makes the OnePlus X a slippery customer but the 1080p display and simple, unbloated software around the front makes up for it. In true OnePlus style you’ll need an invite to get one, but there are also open sales for 48 hours every week where you can buy one without any extra steps.

Read more | Review | Accessories

See at OnePlus

Wileyfox Swift

A Cyanogen powered marvel

Pros

• Absurdly cheap
• Great performance
• Decent battery life

Cons

• Not the strongest camera
• No NFC
• Annoyingly bright LED notification light

The Wileyfox Swift is the British company’s first Android phone and has every right to be taken notice of. It cost’s a ridiculously cheap £129 and packs Moto G matching hardware while undercutting it on price.

The display is nice, the battery life is pretty good, the overall appearance is on point and the software provided by Cyanogen is slick, speedy and bloat free. It’s not available officially outside Europe right now, but it’s absolutely one of the best cheap phones money can buy.

Review | Accessories

See at Amazon

Huawei Honor 5X

Honor lands Stateside

Pros

• Premium design and construction
• Fingerprint scanner
• Good quality display

Cons

• EMUI still broken in places
• Sluggish at times
• Launches on Android 5.1

The Honor 5X is a perfect example of where the $200 price point smartphone market is headed. For a remarkably good $199, the first Honor phone to officially launch in the U.S. packs a metal body, decent screen and fingerprint sensor. The hardware certainly feels worthy of a higher price point.

The only drawbacks to the Honor 5X come in the software. Huawei’s EMUI is still an acquired taste with some questionable features and things that still don’t work quite as we might hope. But, there’s a lot of good stuff, too, and some really useful features baked in. And it’ll be available from January 31 in the U.S. with a European launch as yet unknown at the time of writing.

Review | Accessories

See at Honor See at Amazon See at Newegg

Medium attracts The Awl and other influential publishers

Medium started as a no-fuss blogging site for passionate writers seeking good design and a larger audience. Over the last three years, however, the platform has slowly expanded and become a home for larger publications too — both established brands and smaller ones conceived by Medium. Today, the company has announced that a whole slew of small but influential websites are migrating to its platform. These include The Awl, Pacific Standard, Femsplain, The Banana Boat, NewCo Shift and The Bold Italic. Time Inc’s Money and Fortune magazines will soon follow.

At the same time, Medium is launching a bundle of new features called “Medium for Publishers,” aimed at smaller outlets that are considering a switchover. These include the ability to edit a blog’s color, layout and general navigation, offering a small but significant level of customisation. The package also offers tools for content migration, meaning sites can move over and easily keep their old news stories and features. “Of course, we preserve timestamps and links,” the company writes in a blog post.

More importantly, Medium is starting to tinker with monetisation. Publishers that deliver exceptional work will be eligible for “Promoted Stories”, which are sponsored by brands such as Bose, Nest, SoFi, Intel and Volpi Foods. It’s not clear how much money will be changing hands — Medium says it’s a “first step” that will be expanded over time. A “limited” number of publications will also have the option to offer their readers a subscription. Medium is calling these “Memberships,” which unlock specific articles and other related “perks.” Serious Eats, True Magazine and Great Jones Street are among the first to gain access to the feature.

Medium is targeting smaller publications that want to focus on producing good journalism, rather than maintaining their own site. The company offers its own CMS, for instance, as well as native mobile apps and a modern commenting system. The biggest question mark remains around funding, however. With a custom site, newsrooms have ultimate control and better advertising opportunities. Medium now needs to prove that newspapers and online magazines can be sustained on its platform, either through ads or subscriptions. If it can, more and potentially larger companies will start considering whether they should switch across too.

Source: Medium

The best drill

By Doug Mahoney

This post was done in partnership with The Sweethome, a buyer’s guide to the best things for your home. Read the full article here.

After using 16 drills to drive 1,669 3-inch screws and bore 345 1-inch holes, we’re convinced that the best drill for around the house is the Bosch PS31-2A 12-Volt Max. It’s smaller and lighter than other 12-volt tools we tested, and its battery life far outlasts the competition. It drilled twice as many holes and drove nearly 50 percent more screws on a fully charged battery than the other drills we tested. It also drove screws evenly and without issue, even through tough knots. Other 12-volts often had issues fully sinking the screws flush with the wood.

Who should get this

The tested drills. Photo: Doug Mahoney

A 12-volt drill is a kitchen-drawer tool. It’s good for a lot of things around the house—putting up hooks, building bookshelves, swapping out light fixtures, and maybe straightening a saggy gutter. It’s not the perfect tool for constant heavy-duty use, but it can certainly replace a few rotted deck boards or help with the framing needed to install a new window. If you’re a rabid DIYer with plans to build a deck, a doghouse, and a tree house this summer, we recommend getting a stronger 18-volt drill (more on this later). It offers longer battery life and more power.

How we tested

Lotsa screws and lotsa holes… Photo: Doug Mahoney

We spent two days testing 16 drills on a pile of lumber (six 12-volts and 10 18-volts). For the driving test, we counted how many 3-inch drywall screws each drill could sink into 3 inches of wood on a fully charged battery. For the drilling test, we outfitted each drill with a new 1-inch spade bit and drilled holes through 1½-inch-thick 2-by-10s until the battery wore out. This is an aggressive task for the 12-volt drills, but we wanted a direct comparison against the 18-volt drills to truly see their capabilities matched against one another. Also, we wanted to test the upper end of the 12-volts to see which models could handle the occasional foray into more ambitious work.

We kept an eye on each drill’s performance and handling, asking questions like: How often does it stall out? How much does it struggle? How does it feel in the hand? We also used the drills in more unstructured settings as we built a wall, repaired a chicken coop, fabricated two bookshelves, put down a floor, and outfitted a workshop with shelving.

Our pick

The Bosch PS31 was the most compact and powerful 12-volt drill we tested. Photo: Doug Mahoney

The Bosch PS31-2A 12-Volt Max is the best drill for around the house. Not only is it the lightest, most compact drill we tested, but it’s also among the strongest, and it completely blew away the competition in terms of battery life. Starting from a full charge, it drilled twice as many holes as the second-place drill and drove almost 50 percent more screws. It consistently drove the screws completely into the wood and barely struggled at all when going through dense knots, unlike many of the other drills we looked at. Even though it’s a smaller, 12-volt tool meant for around-the-house work, it performed as well as many of the larger 18-volt tools we tested, offering enough power for occasional use on ambitious projects.

Runner-up: Good price, less power

The 12-volt Porter-Cable is a nice drill with good features. It just doesn’t have the power or endurance of the Bosch PS31. Photo: Doug Mahoney

If the Bosch PS31 is unavailable, the next best option is the Porter-Cable PCL120DDC-2 12-Volt Max Drill/Driver, which was our former pick. Beyond the Bosch, the other 12-volts all had very similar results in our tests, so the Porter-Cable gained the edge because it’s priced consistently lower than other drills with similar features. Since first recommending the drill three years ago, we have used this tool regularly and never had any issues. It’s the only 12-volt that has both a belt hook and onboard bit storage. It’s larger than the Bosch PS31 and doesn’t have as much power and stamina, so we ultimately prefer the Bosch. But the Porter-Cable offers solid performance, reliability, and features at a consistently excellent price.

Upgrade: For faster work on tougher jobs

For heavier DIY work, the Bosch DDS181 is a great combination of power, comfort, and features. Photo: Doug Mahoney

If you need a tool that can reliably drill large holes and sink long screws, we recommend the Bosch DDS181-02 18-Volt Compact Drill/Driver Kit. It was the only 18-volt drill we tried that placed at or near the top in both our drilling and driving tests. It particularly excelled in the drilling test, boring 33 percent more holes than the second-place 18-volt drill. Compared with the smaller, 12-volt Bosch (our main pick), this drill completes tougher jobs much faster, doing the same work in less than half the time. For small, around-the-house tasks, having this added speed and power is unnecessary, but for more production-oriented work, like putting down decking, it makes a noticeable difference. The 18-volt Bosch is a comfortable tool to hold, its well-placed LED spreads light better than most drills, and it includes handy features like a belt hook and a battery-life gauge.

Upgrade runner-up: Power for a bargain

The 18-volt Porter-Cable doesn’t have the power of the Bosch, but it did perform very well, especially considering it’s relatively inexpensive. Photo: Doug Mahoney

If the 18-volt Bosch isn’t available, or if you’re looking to save a few dollars, we also like the Porter-Cable PCCK600LB 20-Volt Drill/Driver Kit. It isn’t the most powerful drill in its class, but it makes up for what it lacks in power with easy usability and excellent value. Unlike most of the competition, it offers a complete set of features, including an LED, onboard bit storage, a belt hook, and a battery-life gauge. This Porter-Cable can’t quite hang with the Bosch DDS181’s performance, but it holds it own against everything else in the category.

This guide may have been updated by The Sweethome. To see the current recommendation, please go here.

Twitter for iOS Gains Message Button to Make it Easier to Share Tweets Privately

Twitter today announced the addition of a new “Message” button to the Twitter apps for iOS and Android, giving users a simpler method for sharing tweets through Direct Messages to start private conversations.

Sending a tweet to a user through a Direct Message is a feature that was originally implemented in 2014, but using the feature required long pressing on a tweet in the timeline and choosing the correct option, a method that wasn’t intuitive, especially to new users.

Today’s change will add a Message button directly adjacent to the standard Reply, Retweet, and Like buttons, making it more accessible.

Every day, millions of people send Direct Messages to communicate privately with friends, family, experts, brands, and anyone else they find interesting on Twitter. In fact, we’ve seen the number of messages sent grow over 60% in 2015. And the number of Tweets shared privately has grown even faster, at 200% in just the second half of last year.

With all this interest, we’ve also heard from many of you that it could be easier to share a Tweet using Direct Message. So now — in just a few taps — you can share unique Twitter content from your timeline right into your private conversation.

Twitter plans to make the Message button available through an update that will be released later today. The Twitter app for iOS can be downloaded through the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Tag: Twitter
Discuss this article in our forums

New Roku Streaming stick: Performance boost and new private listening mode via app

Roku has overhauled its small streaming stick in the US as the company looks to deliver more power to users keen to make their TVs smart.

The new stick will get a whopping eight-fold processing power boost, private listening through the Roku mobile app, and dual MIMO wireless for greater connectivity to your home wireless network.

Costing $49.99, the updated stick will sport more processing power than Amazon Fire TV stick and Google Chromecast claims Roku.

The new performance boosts, something that will be welcomed by current Roku stick users have been made possible partly thanks to a operating system update: Roku OS 7.1, also announced today.

Roku OS 7.1 adds a number of new features including enhancements to the search and discovery experience by adding new categories within Roku Feed that enable customers to view popular TV Shows and Movies in one place.

Similar to the existing Movies Coming Soon feature, consumers can now easily view these new categories to discover popular movies and TV shows across a variety of streaming channels on the Roku platform. They can then choose to watch a popular movie or TV show immediately, or Follow it in the Roku Feed to receive automatic updates when the availability or price changes, or the movie or TV show becomes available to watch for free.

A new feature, likely to be the envy of other Roku users, will allow users of the new Roku Streaming Stick to connect the stick to an app on their iPhone or Android smartphone and listen through headphones.

Roku has confirmed that the Roku OS 7.1 will be rolled out to all other current generation Roku players through a software update that is expected to be completed this month. The update is expected to be rolled out to Roku TV models shortly after. However the private listening via headphones feature will not be supported on other devices.

The new Roku Streaming Stick is available for pre-order today from http://www.roku.com. As is usually the case with Roku, it will be available later this month in Best Buy, Walmart and others in the US.

There is no news as to when it will be released in the UK.

PS4 Remote Play comes to your computer on April 6th

At last, PS4 Remote Play is coming to your computer. Sony has confirmed that the console’s big 3.50 system update is arriving on April 6th with the game streaming feature intact, giving you a chance to play console titles from your PC or Mac. You can’t play beyond 720p (albeit at 60 frames per second if you like), and you’ll need to connect your DualShock 4 controller over USB, but this could still be a big relief if you can’t wait to play on your TV. And don’t worry if you have no interest in Remote Play — there’s much more on tap.

The 3.50 upgrade also gives you much more control over when and how you join your friends. You can create scheduled events that automatically add your friends to a party, which should be handy for that big Destiny raid or Rocket League tourney. You can see what everyone in a party is playing, too, and get notifications when specific friends are online. And if you’re determined to play by yourself, you can choose to appear offline so friends don’t get the wrong idea. While you’re going to need this update no matter what (if you want to play online, at least), it sounds like it’s worth grabbing sooner than later.

Source: PlayStation Blog

Starz launches its own streaming service with offline viewing

The home of Blunt Talk, Outlander and Black Sails is copying HBO and Showtime by launching its own streaming service. Priced at $8.99 a month, Starz is letting its users watch the channel’s original series and licensed movies on-demand. The big difference between Starz and rivals like HBO and Netflix is that this service will let users download and watch titles offline. That way, you’ll be able to marathon the latest Disney movies like Age of Ultron and The Force Awakens on a long haul flight. In addition, if you already pay for Starz through your cable subscription and aren’t ready to cut the cord yet, you’ll be able to get free access to the app.
Starz may have some exciting movie titles in its roster, but it’s hard to feel as if paying for yet another streaming service is worthwhile. After all, reducing the wasted cost of having to shell out for channels you never watch was one of the key points of cord cutting. Unfortunately, with each additional service that launches, cherrypicking your favorite channels is becoming less and less economical. For instance, if you wanted to sign up with the big seven platforms (including Netflix, HBO and Starz) you’d be spending close to $70 a month. That’s not exactly a big saving when you can get an equivalent FiOS bundle for less than $80. Maybe it is our fate to always be spending for content that we’ll never, ever, ever watch.

Via: Variety

Source: Starz

Lyft Line expanding to six more cities

Today, Lyft announced that its Line shared ride feature will launch in six new cities. The service will roll out in Denver, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Jose, Seattle and Newark starting April 11.

Line matches riders going along a similar route with the same driver. The draw to share a ride with a complete stranger is a fare that’s up to 60-percent cheaper than a regular Lyft ride. Now those cheaper — and a bit more crowded — rides will be available in more cities.

The ride-sharing company noted that on April 15, Line will be available in 15 metropolitan areas. It said it chose the new cities because they were some of its fastest growing markets. While its expanding this service, Lyft also recently announced a Carpool feature for commuters in a partnership with Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission to get even more people to share rides.

Source: Lyft

HTC starts shipping its Vive virtual reality headset

Oculus may have gotten a little head start by shipping its Rift virtual reality headset almost two weeks ago, but HTC’s VR gadget is heading to customers today. The HTC Vive is heading out to folks who pre-ordered the $799 device that arrives with two location sensors and a pair of wireless controllers. The company confirmed reports of payment processing issues a few days ago, promising to send out shipments based on position in the pre-order queue. Of course, Oculus is facing shipping delays of its own due to “unexpected component shortage.”

Even with the payment trouble, HTC met its “early April” shipping goal after beginning the pre-order process at the end of February. If you’re looking for an idea of what do expect from the Vive, here’s our full review and the story of how HTC and Valve teamed up to build the gear.

Thank you to everyone for your support. We are proud to announce the Vive is now arriving at homes around the world. pic.twitter.com/yjynYYPhBD

— HTC Vive (@htcvive) April 5, 2016

Source: HTC Vive (Twitter)

Every message in WhatsApp is completely encrypted

Surprise! WhatsApp, one of the most popular online communication services in the world, now uses end-to-end encryption on every device and for every message, whether it’s voice, text, photo, video, group or one-on-one. Open Whisper Systems, an organization that aims to advance secure communication technology, worked with WhatsApp over the past year to implement a full-coverage encryption system. Today, WhatsApp users will see notices in their conversation screens as their messages become secure.

The news comes during a tense time for encryption talk. A standoff between Apple and the FBI fizzled out just days ago when the bureau announced it didn’t need Apple’s help to crack the security features of the iPhone 5c used by one of the San Bernardino shooters. Apple campaigned for weeks in favor of encryption; CEO Tim Cook called the FBI’s demand to unlock the secure iPhone unconstitutional. The FBI, in turn, called Apple’s rhetoric corrosive.

Now, the second-most popular messaging app in the world is covered by a similar form of end-to-end encryption.

“While we recognize the important work of law enforcement in keeping people safe, efforts to weaken encryption risk exposing people’s information to abuse from cybercriminals, hackers, and rogue states,” WhatsApp writes. We’ve reached out to the FBI for comment on today’s announcement.

Facebook bought WhatsApp in 2014 for $19 billion, largely to take advantage of its 450 million-plus userbase. Today, more than 1 billion people use WhatsApp across the globe. And now, they all use end-to-end encryption.

The WhatsApp team has been slowly rolling out security services since November 2014 at least, when it announced end-to-end encryption for text messages on Android. It’s possible that terrorists used WhatsApp and another encrypted messaging service, Telegram, to help coordinate the deadly attacks on Paris in December.

“Building secure products actually makes for a safer world, (though) many people in law enforcement may not agree with that,” WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton tells Wired. He adds that secure communications allow people to safely become whistleblowers, or talk with doctors or business partners without the fear of eavesdroppers.

Via: Wired

Source: WhatsApp