You’ll want to keep this powerful $16 Bluetooth speaker with you at all times

Our friends at Thrifter are back again, this time with a powerful Bluetooth speaker at a killer price!

Bluetooth speakers are a great way to listen to music, podcasts and more at a louder volume than your phone can offer. TaoTronics has discounted its offering down to just $15.99, which is the lowest price this speaker has hit yet. With two powerful 7W drivers and 2 high-performance acoustic drivers, you should get a pretty good sound quality out of the portable speaker and with the built-in 4000mAh battery, it can play for up to 8 hours on a single charge.

The speaker also has a 3.5mm jack on it so you can easily play from devices that don’t have Bluetooth, and the buttons at the top of it allow for easy control of the audio even if you don’t have access to the phone or tablet. With over 600 reviews the speaker has a 4.6 out of 5 star rating at Amazon.

See at Amazon

For more great deals on tech, gadgets, home goods and more, be sure to check out our friends at Thrifter now!

Smaller Android Wear smartwatches are coming soon, says Intel VP

In an interview, Intel’s Jerry Bautista chats modular smartphones, why you’d want a Tag Heuer Connected Modular, and whether we’ll see more smartwatches under 45mm.

The Tag Heuer Connected Modular smartwatch is not for us plebeians. Its existence is intended for the true watch collectors who see time-keeping as its own bonafide art form. And can you blame them? Watches are mechanical works of art. As a little girl, I used to admire the edges of the hulking watches my Dad would wear; the way the leather straps seemed to waterfall from the watch lug.

That’s the kind of fawning that Tag Heuer is counting on for its latest Android Wear 2.0 release — especially from the diehard watch fans. This Connected Modular employs a sort of modular form wherein you can easily swap out lugs, straps, and the chassis as you please. The idea is that if you’re going to invest in a smartwatch — or any watch, really — it should suit daily, no matter the circumstance.

I managed to have a quick chat with Jerry Bautista, the Vice President of Intel’s New Technology Group, at the Connected Modular launch event in San Francisco. The smartwatch runs an Intel Atom Z34XX mobile processor. Bautista didn’t reveal too much, but he did tease the idea of smaller watches on the horizon, and offered a bit of conjecture into why watch fans might find themselves attracted to this particular Android Wear release.

Is modularity really what the smartwatch world needs right now?

Bautista: When you wear something, it’s a statement of you, of your personality, of your style, where you’re going. Modularity, with regards to different straps, lugs, and even added bling, include those elements of style.

Modularity is also important because, in the future, you can imagine that Android will change, silicon processes do change, and different kind of sensors will [arrive], and even though those elements will get smaller, this will stay the same size. This whole system works well. When new technology comes in, we fit it in here somehow.

A three-year-old watch, a three-year-old phone – it feels obsolete. And so, if I spend the kind of money that I would on this [Editor’s note: Upwards of $1,600], I would not be very happy to be stuck with this forever.

Why choose a modular smartwatch when other modular-type devices have floundered?

Bautista: [This particular watch is] an heirloom type device, it’s something you get for graduation or a new job. You hold it on for years. The ability to swap out the digital part with a new one is part of that.

Why is it so big? Will we ever see watches that aren’t 45mm?

Bautista: I can’t say too much, but there are future watches planned that are smaller in size. There are other designs planned.

-——

Are you excited for smaller Android Wear watches, and will they make you more likely to buy a new one? Let us know in the comments!

Android Wear

• Everything you need to know about Android Wear 2.0
• LG Watch Sport review
• LG Watch Style review
• These watches will get Android Wear 2.0
• Discuss Android Wear in the forums!

How one artist is reinventing the music album with VR

Nick Koenig is no stranger to musical innovation. The artist, better known as Hot Sugar, has been dabbling in the art of “associative music” since his teens. As he describes it, the technique involves taking found sounds and “manipulating them into more.” Basically, he can turn just about anything into music.

Now with The Melody of Dust, a new project co-produced with Viacom NEXT and premiering at SXSW this week, he’s taking that concept into virtual reality. We’ve seen music videos and other experiences in VR — most famously from Bjork, one of the most tech-savvy artists working today. But this is notable for being the primary method of hearing an album, instead of a separate VR project. And no, it’s not as easy as just hitting “play.”

The Melody of Dust starts in a castle-like room. Since it’s an HTC Vive experience, your first instinct is to start walking around and interacting with the space. Pretty quickly you’ll notice that just about every object you can pick up — be it a bird, a glass or a vase — produces a different tone. After some time, a vortex erupts in the room and you can throw those objects in. And for every three things that you toss, you get a different melody.

None of this is spelled out for you. Like a good adventure game, it’s up to you to explore The Melody of Dust. Once you’ve loaded up the vortex enough, you get to hear one of 87 different songs Koenig mixed for the experience. As you can probably guess, the song you get depends on what you’ve actually through in.

“I’m looking at it as a new music listening experience,” Koenig said. “It’s like jumping into a new venue for listening to the music.” While he’s planning to release a traditional album with 13 of the experience’s songs, Koenig sees The Melody of Dust as his true new album.

While it’s not the most visually rich experience I’ve seen, it’s conceptually fascinating. I played through it without hearing about Koenig’s grand vision for the future of interactive music, but even without that philosophical setup I still enjoyed exploring the environment and hearing the sounds every object created. I was relying on pure intuition and the minor triggers from the game, but I still got a sense of what Koenig was aiming for. It’s the sort of thing that would reward a few play-throughs, especially once you know that you’re supposed to experiment to hear new songs.

“The technology is constantly evolving, 360-degree video to Vive is already a whole different thing,” Koenig said when I asked him about his thoughts on VR’s potential as a new medium. “As this continues developing, the future of most media will be some iteration of this sort of thing… That’s why we’re not afraid of jumping the gun and doing an album on a platform most music fans don’t even own. I have faith in a few years it’ll be just as relevant, or at least unique.”

Given the expense and scarcity of VR equipment, there’s a good chance most of Hot Sugar’s fans will hear The Melody of Dust album without even catching a whiff of the virtual component. But Koenig doesn’t seem too concerned about that. He’s more interested in trying something new than being traditional. And with The Melody of Dust, he has a shot at being a pioneer in a whole new medium.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from SXSW 2017.

Toy drones don’t stand a chance against a $3 million missile

A Patriot missile costs around $3 million. A commercial quadcopter? Let’s say roughly $200. But which one would win on the battlefield? General David Perkins, Commander of the US Army Training and Doctrine Command, knows the answer to this hypothetical David and Goliath match-up — because it’s already happened. During a military symposium, he touched on a strike made by a US ally, where the consumer drone “did not stand a chance” against the twenty-year old missile. With all due respect, sir, we could have told you that.

“On the kinetic exchange ratio, the Patriot won,” he said, adding that: “I’m not sure that’s a good economic exchange ratio.” General Perkins said that this was why the US army is looking at other (non million-dollar missile) solutions, especially electronic and cyber warfare approaches.

ISIS is already repurposing commercial drones into bombers, and the army itself is planning to outfit its own soldiers with tiny drones. On the defensive side, the army’s ‘Phaser’ can destroy entire drone swarms with microwaves from a satellite dish. You know it’s a big deal when the military pulls Maverick out of retirement to battle drones.

Via: BBC

Source: AUSA (YouTube)

Russia’s space agency preps for its first manned moon landing

NASA, the US government and American space corporations aren’t the only ones with their eyes on the moon. Russia’s Space Agency (Roscosmos) has begun planning for its first manned lunar landing, starting with a recruitment drive for potential cosmonauts. The agency is looking for six to eight trainees with a background in engineering or aviation, or those who already have experience working in the space industry. All interested candidates will go through several stages of psychological, physical and medical tests during the selection process. The chosen eight will have to undergo some intense training until four remain. Those who get the job will pilot Russia’s next-gen reusable manned spacecraft Federatsiya.

Since flying to space is pretty demanding not just mentally, but also physically, Roscosmos is looking for people with a high standard of fitness. Applicants must be 35-years-old and below, with a minimum height of 4’11” to a maximum of 6’2″ and who don’t weigh over 199 pounds. Sergei Krikalyov, the agency’s executive director of manned programs said “There will be no discrimination based on skin colour or gender.”Russia’s first manned moon landing isn’t scheduled until 2031, but the agency is launching a manned test flight in 2023 from its new spaceport.

Source: Tass, Roscosmos, The Guardian

YouTube boosts the quality of online VR video

When you stream VR video online, you usually have to sacrifice visual quality. There’s a lot more data, so something has to give. However, that isn’t stopping Google’s YouTube and Daydream groups from improving what you see. They’re introducing a new projection technique, the equi-angular cubemap (EAC), that promises to increase the practical level of detail for 360-degree footage. Where conventional methods produce pictures that are only sharp in certain areas, EAC is extremely consistent — it distributes an equal number of pixels across all angle changes. It may not be as theoretically sharp in certain areas, but there are no glaring weak points.

Google wants to help others improve VR projections, too. To that end, it’s proposing a Projection Independent Mesh standard that would simply tell a video player how to project the raw VR info. The approach would use extremely small amounts of data (just 4KB for EAC), so it wouldn’t require gobs of bandwidth or new hardware. You can find a draft version of the standard on GitHub.

At the moment, you’ll have to use an Android device to watch videos that use EAC. Desktop and iOS viewing is coming later, Google says. And unless it’s a specially optimized video, you probably won’t see it — YouTube still ingests clips based on a conventional projection format. This upgrade is more about the long-term future of VR rather than an immediate upgrade.

Source: YouTube, Google

Russian spies indicted in massive Yahoo account breach

When Yahoo claimed that state-sponsored hackers were behind the 2014 breach that exposed 500 million accounts, it may have been understating the significance of what happened. The Justice Department is reportedly indicting four Russians over the intrusion, two of which (Dmitry Dokuchaev and Igor Sushchin) work for the country’s FSB intelligence agency — yes, the US believes two spies were directly involved. This represents the first time that the US has directly charged Russian officials with cybercrimes, rather than targeting professional crooks.

The other two accused are ‘ordinary’ hackers who were reportedly hired by Russia to help out. One, Alexsey Belan, was arrested by Russia in December for allegedly passing info to the CIA. The other, Karim Baratov, was arrested in Canada on March 14th. Baratov may be the only one to face trial over these particular claims — there’s no extradition treaty with Russia, after all, and it’s doubtful the country would willingly hand over FSB agents even if there was. The US has historically relied on sanctions and travel limitations as punishment for Russian cybercriminals.

The charges are believed to include economic espionage, trade secret theft, wire fraud and generic hacking charges, reflecting a US belief that this was part of a spying campaign targeting activists, journalists and officials. If so, the indictments are likely to exacerbate the already high tensions between the US and Russia. American agencies are already pointing the finger at Russia over claims that it tried to influence the election through hacks — now, they’d be accusing it of perpetrating one of the largest breaches in recent memory with particularly sinister motives.

Source: Washington Post, AP

Facebook Begins Worldwide Rollout of its Main Snapchat Clone ‘Facebook Stories’

The deluge of stories revolving around Facebook copying Snapchat might hit a zenith today as the social media company begins to launch “Facebook Stories” worldwide, this time in the main Facebook app for iOS devices (via TechCrunch). Previously, Facebook created a facsimile of Snapchat’s day-long, vanishing post idea in Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram, which gained 100 million users following the Snapchat-like update last year.

The idea is identical in Facebook Stories, where users will now be able to post a photo or video through a new UI at the top of the Facebook mobile app. Their friends can see the post over the next 24 hours and reply to it within Facebook Messenger. Continuing the trend, last week that app launched “Messenger Day” for users to create the exact same disappearing posts, but centered on creating plans with friends. Facebook originally tested out Facebook Stories in Ireland.

The Facebook Stories update isn’t yet available to all users, but begins its worldwide rollout today.

Tag: Facebook
Discuss this article in our forums

Apple May Announce 9.7-Inch ‘iPad Pro 2’ as Early as Next Week

Earlier this week, a well-known research firm that requested confidentiality told us that, based on their own sources, it expects Apple to announce new products later this month, most likely during the week of March 20. The research firm did not say which products it expects, or the manner in which they will be announced.

Following our report, some Japanese analysts have predicted that a second-generation 9.7-inch iPad Pro will be announced next week, according to Japanese blog Mac Otakara. The analysts are reportedly basing this prediction on supply chain information and the lack of a scheduled Apple event next week.

Given that Apple usually invites the media to a launch event at least 10 days beforehand, and if the information we were provided about Apple announcing new products as early as next week is accurate, it is possible the so-called “iPad Pro 2” could be announced via press release rather than at a launch event.

A press release could be an appropriate manner for Apple to announce a new 9.7-inch iPad Pro, given that rumors suggest it will be an iterative upgrade. One of the only rumored additions to the 9.7-inch iPad Pro is quad microphones, while Mac Otakara suggests it could have a faster Apple A10X chip.

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo expects Apple to launch a low-cost 9.7-inch iPad Pro this year, likely with its current Apple A9X chip. He did not mention an entirely new 9.7-inch model. If the 9.7-inch iPad Pro is essentially only getting a price cut, then a press release as early as next week would be fitting.

Apple similarly issued a press release when it dropped the price of the fourth-generation iPad to $399 in March 2014. Apple’s current low-cost 9.7-inch model, the iPad Air 2, starts at $399, while the 9.7-inch iPad Pro starts at $599.

Beyond the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, Apple is rumored to launch an all-new 10.5-inch iPad Pro with slimmer bezels and an updated 12.9-inch iPad Pro in the near future. A few reports claim a new 7.9-inch iPad Pro could also be released, but some analysts disagree and do not expect the iPad mini 4 to be updated.

The 10.5-inch iPad Pro is expected to have slimmer bezels, and there is a slim chance it will have no Home button, allowing it to have the same overall footprint as the 9.7-inch iPad Pro. This design could foreshadow the rumored 5.8-inch iPhone. The tablet is also rumored to have a higher-resolution display and quad microphones.

The updated 12.9-inch iPad Pro is said to feature a 12-megapixel rear camera and True Tone display like the current 9.7-inch model, using advanced four-channel ambient light sensors to automatically adapt the color and intensity of the display to match the light in the surrounding environment.

While it is becoming clear that new iPads are on the horizon, Apple’s exact launch plans remain convoluted.

If Apple still plans to host an event later this month as one increasingly unlikely rumor said, it would most likely fall between Monday, March 27 and Friday, March 31, given the 10-plus-day buffer for inviting the media.

At this event, the rumor said Apple will unveil its new iPad Pro lineup, a larger iPhone SE model with 128GB storage, and new Apple Watch bands. The report also claimed Apple will add a red color option for iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, which could be part of its charitable (PRODUCT)RED campaign.

Of course, the event could be later. Taiwanese website DigiTimes claims Apple is planning to unveil the 10.5-inch iPad Pro at an early April event to “mark the inauguration of Apple’s new headquarters in California,” but it is unlikely that the supply chain sources cited would know this specific information.

It is also unclear if Steve Jobs Theater would be ready for an April event, as Apple indicated it opens “later this year” while employees start moving to the new campus next month. The latest drone footage by Duncan Sinfield shows that the theater is still under construction and surrounded by mounds of dirt.

Steve Jobs Theater is shown around the 1:45 mark
Apple could hold an event elsewhere, or even wait until WWDC 2017 in June. Or, just like a low-cost 9.7-inch iPad Pro, a red iPhone 7, 128GB iPhone SE, and new Apple Watch bands could certainly be announced by press release or an update to Apple’s website in the meantime.

Related Roundup: iPad Pro
Tag: macotakara.jp
Buyer’s Guide: 12.9″ iPad Pro (Caution)
Discuss this article in our forums

Best Android phones: These are the Androids you’re looking for

Android now makes up a huge proportion of the smartphone market. Unlike Apple where you have the choice of a smaller or larger iPhone, in Android you have some serious decisions to make when it comes to buying a new phone. Android celebrates variety and you have phones at all prices, with a wide range of specifications and functions, meaning the buying a new Android phone is something of a challenge.

Here we’re only interested in Android phones, pure, unadulterated Android hardware. We’ve phones at all prices, sizes and specification, but broken down to reflect the experience of owning and living with that Android device, so you can select the best one, based on extensive reviews we’ve conducted.

The Android market is constantly changing, so we’ll update this list with the best phones we review and as we roll into 2017, there are many devices that a just about to launch.

These are the best Android phones you can buy today.

In brief, here are the best Android phones that we’re going to be talking about:

• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
• Google Pixel XL
• OnePlus 3T
• Google Pixel
• Samsung Galaxy S7
• HTC 10
• Huawei P9
• Honor 8
• Samsung Galaxy A5
• Moto G4
• Huawei Mate 9

Our top recommendation

Here’s our recommendation for the best Android phone on the market:

Pocket-lint

1. Samsung Galaxy S7 edge

Buy for £486 from Amazon UK, $591 from Amazon US

The phone that everyone has been talking about is the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge. This handset brings wonderful dual edge design in a range of colours and a staggering Quad HD AMOLED display, which is one of the nicest displays you’ll find on any phone. It’s compact, the battery lasts and the camera gives you excellent results time and again. The S7 edge is also water resistant and offers contactless charging: about the only feature it misses out on is USB Type-C.

Samsung’s phone has a thorough reworking of Android, but it’s considered. Although this is very much a Samsung feeling and about as far removed from the Google experience as you can get, it’s very well polished and stuffed full of enhancements that make it a pleasure to use day in, day out. About the only shortcoming is that sometimes you might find the very edges of the display don’t respond quite as well as the flat section.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 edge is soon to be replaced by the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, but that means that prices will likely keep falling – and this is still an accomplished phone that looks great and is lovely to use.

Read the full review: Samsung Galaxy S7 edge review

Best of the rest…

The Samsung Galaxy S7 edge isn’t for everyone though, although it is our top recommendation. There are plenty of other great Android phones on the market to consider whatever your budget. They have ranging pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages.

Here are the best alternatives:

Pocket-lint

2. Google Pixel XL

Buy the Pixel XL for £896 from Amazon UK, $928 from Amazon US

Google comes out all guns blazing with two new phones, the Pixel and the larger Pixel XL. It’s the larger phone that has the great appeal with a 5.5-inch Quad HD display and greater battery life than the smaller model. The Pixel XL has been in demand, offering a pure Android experience uncluttered with changes and additions. About the only drawback is the lack of a microSD card slot.

Pure Android means you’re first in line for updates and the chance to run Android as it was intended. But that’s not the big draw. For many, it’s the camera experience. Without too much song and dance, and sidestepping the gimmicks, the Pixel XL has a fast shooting camera that delivers excellent results.

The design might not be for some with that divided back and it’s also expensive: as we said previously, Google has struggled to have enough stock to meet demand, so you might struggle to get your hands on one.

Read the full review: Google Pixel XL review

Pocket-lint

3. OnePlus 3T

Buy from Amazon UK, $433 from Amazon US

For many, the OnePlus 3T is the best Android phone of the year. This is a device that offers many premium features, like a metal body, the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 chipset and a fantastic camera experience, but at a fraction of the price of the big name rivals from Samsung and Google.

The OnePlus 3T offers a fairly clean Android experience, but offers additional customisation through the Oxygen OS. In recent times, OnePlus has been fast to update too, meaning you have the latest from Android to make things just that little sweeter.

But there’s no avoiding the price. Even in this guise, an update over the original OnePlus 3, the slight increase in price still gives you a much better deal than many of the big names. Some might criticise the full HD display as being sub-premium, but the draw of Dash Charge will make up for it.

Read the full review: OnePlus 3T review

Pocket-lint

4. Google Pixel

Buy the Google Pixel for £699 from Amazon UK, $705 from Amazon US

The smaller of the Pixel pair, there’s a lot going for this 5-inch handset. Top of the list for many will be the uncluttered Android experience, free from additions or tinkering, just as Google intended. Then there’s the great camera, that like the Pixel XL, just gives you great results.

The smaller handset takes a bit of hit when it comes to the battery, but this is still a keen performer. It has the added advantage of being cheaper than the XL, but you drop to a 5-inch Full HD display, making this a phone that looks rather expensive.

However, like other phones at the top of this list there’s plenty of power on offer, making this a great Android workhorse.

Read the full review: Google Pixel review

Pocket-lint

5. Samsung Galaxy S7

Buy for £419 from Amazon UK, $509 from Amazon US

Often overlooked, the regular flat Samsung Galaxy S7 offers a more compact 5.1-inch display, but sticks to the high specs of the S7 edge. It loses out slightly on design, so it lacks the glamour of the bigger model. There’s also rumours that this flatter design will be dropped when the Galaxy S8 is launched – so this could be the last Galaxy S of this style.

Like the S7 edge, you get Android Nougat (recently updated) but it’s totally owned by the Samsung TouchWiz makeover it gets. Samsung knows what it’s doing better than most, however, and of all the smartphone skins on Android, Samsung’s is now one of the slickest and most useful.

Aside from all those things, the Samsung Galaxy S7 has plummeted in price and it’s still a great smartphone, making it a tempting prospect, despite its age.

Read the full review: Samsung Galaxy S7 review

Pocket-lint

6. HTC 10

Buy for £492 from Amazon UK, $527 from Amazon US

HTC 10 has a lot going for it, the serious solid metal body being top of the list. This is a phone that offers top spec with a 5.2-inch Quad HD display, wonderful sound quality and battery life that’s surprisingly good. It now sits on Android Nougat with HTC Sense providing some light customisation, but closer to Android than its ever been before.

The camera is perhaps a notch down from the best, struggling at times to compete and there’s a general feeling that HTC isn’t as exciting as it once used to be. It was fast to update to Nougat, however and has also been one of the first phones to get the Google Assistant update.

The HTC 10 is a great phone and the price is falling, but we’re expecting great things from HTC’s next phone Ocean, that’s due to be announced soon, which might leave the HTC 10 feeling a little dated.

Read the full review: HTC 10 review

Pocket-lint

7. Huawei P9

Buy the Huawei P9 for £400 from Amazon UK, $451 from Amazon US

Huawei’s coming of age moment appears to be on us, with the P9 being its most accomplished device to date – and a best-selling star of 2016. The P9 does what many phone-makers are avoiding these days: puts a manageable, palm-sized phone in your hand. With a 5.2-inch display and ultra-slim build, it’s not an unwieldy handset, which is a huge part of its appeal.

Flip the phone over and you’ll see a pair of cameras on the rear. These aren’t just any old optics: Leica has paired up with Huawei to deliver an interesting colour and monochrome sensor arrangement, plus all the bells and whistles post-production options you could want.

There’s ample power and reasonable battery life, but the P9 isn’t as accomplished as some of the other phones on this list given its software, which is Huawei’s EMUI (over the top of Android). This is a substantial re-skinning of Android, adding a lot of changes to the UI. This adds plenty of features, but it also changes a lot of things that arguably don’t necessarily need changing. It’ll update soon to EMUI 5.0, which will see some improvements.

However, its successor, the P10, has already been unveiled – so you might want to hold fire and check out the newer, more colourful handset. Or its P10 Plus larger-scale option for just €50 more.

Read the full review: Huawei P9 review

Pocket-lint

8. Samsung Galaxy A5

Buy the Galaxy A5 for £338 on Amazon UK, $349 on Amazon US

The Galaxy A5 is a solid, elegant smartphone coming in at comfortably under £400. It’s easily one of the most complete mid-rangers Samsung has ever made and offers an experience close to that offered by the more high end Galaxy S series phones. It competes directly with the likes of the Honor 8, but bringing you added Samsung gloss.

Its AMOLED display is bright and punchy, the design looks and feels great and the Exynos 7880 processor is more than powerful enough to get you through any of your daily tasks. In short, it’s a Galaxy for people who don’t want to spend the money on a Galaxy S7, but don’t want to compromise.

The biggest drawback might be the dominance of the OnePlus 3T at these more affordable prices. Only about £40 more expensive, the OnePlus is more powerful, but the Galaxy A5 sells itself on delivering a Samsung experience, with the added benefit of a microSD card slot.

Read the full review: Samsung Galaxy A5

Pocket-lint

9. Honor 8

Buy for £369 from Amazon UK, $299.99 from Amazon US

For a mid-level device, the Honor 8 lays down some solid specifications given its £370 price. But what will really hook you in from the off is its design: that glossy, ultra-shiny rear catches the light like nothing else on the market (well, except for the HTC U – but that came later).

As a day-to-day phone, the design and ability of this mid-ranger are considerable. It’s an upgrade that really sets itself apart from its predecessor and shows you needn’t spend a small fortune for a decent handset.

There are some slight downers, though: the battery life could be better, the processor performance lags a little at times and it doesn’t offer the perfect graphics for gaming.

That said, there is plenty of merit in the Honor 8. If its design is a bit too sheeny-shiny for you then there are similar-priced competitors, such as the OnePlus 3T (£400) which may appeal yet more.

Read the full review: Honor 8 review

Pocket-lint

10. Motorola Moto G4

Buy for £149 from Amazon UK, $199.99 from Amazon US

Motorola’s Moto G4 is the fourth generation of the popular Moto G and it’s bigger and bolder than the original. A 5.5-inch display is seen this time round, and it’s a little more expensive too, starting at £169, but you still get a lot of bang for your buck.

The Moto G4 might not be as fast as the flagships on this list, but its octa-core processor and graphics are capable of handling most tasks and battery life is good. The Moto G4 is the king of the budget handsets and although there is the option of the G4 Plus with its improved camera and fingerprint sensor, the Moto G4 is a phone that shouldn’t be ignored.

But before you set your sights on this phone, the replacement has been announced, the Moto G5. Hitting shelves in March 2017, it’s a little more expensive, but brings some enhancements.

Read the full review: Motorola Moto G4 review 

Pocket-lint

11. Huawei Mate 9

Buy for £597 from Amazon UK, $719 from Amazon US

Where the P9 goes small, the Mate 9 goes all-out large. With a 5.9-inch design (marginally smaller than the 6-inch design of its predecessor), the Mate 9 is one big-in-the-hand Full HD handset. Shame there’s not more resolution at this scale, but the metal build quality fits just what we’ve come to expect from Huawei.

Similar to the P9 there’s dual camera technology (although this isn’t the Leica version) and a slightly updated EMUI software, which works effectively enough but will grate on some. What the Mate 9 does better than its Huawei cousins is stack in the power: it was the first phone to bear the Kirin 960 octa-core chipset, coupled with more-than-capable graphics processing. We’ve never had an issue with the way it handles.

That big size also means a capacious battery. If two-day life is what you’re after then, well, look no further: the Mate 9 is designed to last day in, day out without giving you the battery fear before the end of a working day. That makes it worth its €699 asking price, which while not cheap is less than many of its big-screen rivals.

Read the full review: Huawei Mate 9 review