Alto’s Odyssey review: More of the same great, great game

Six months after its iOS release date, Alto’s Odyssey is finally available on Android. It’s been a long wait, but not nearly as long as the first title. Android users were waiting a full year for that one.

Developer Team Alto has stuck to its guns and released a title that’s not much of a departure from the previous game — not that that’s a bad thing, since Alto’s Adventure has become a classic title since its release in 2015. Read on for the full Alto’s Odyssey review.

Sandboarding down the slopes

As opposed to the first release, which saw Alto snowboarding down the side of a mountain to gather up his escaped llamas, Alto’s Odyssey takes place in three separate biomes, each with their own unique scenery.

You start the game sandboarding down a desert level, and later on you encounter hot air balloons, waterfalls, temples, and more. Even better, many of these new elements can be interacted with.

Also read

How games make money: an interview with Noodlecake Studios, publishers of Alto’s Adventure

With The Bug Butcher recently released on Android, Noodlecake Studios may well have another hit on their hands, following the immense popularity of Alto’s Adventure. With several mobile games achieving stratospheric success in the last …

For example, you can bounce off of hot air balloons to gain a bit more air time, or slide along a temple wall to gain a quick speed boost. Ropes connecting hot air balloons also move, adding another element of difficulty.

The coolest addition by far is wallriding. Once you finish the first few levels, you gain access to a sandboard that lets you ride up the side of some vertical walls. Like all things in Alto’s Odyssey, the mechanic is smooth and satisfying to use.

Alto’s Odyssey features an amazing soundtrack. You’ll definitely want to put on your headphones before you strap in to another zen session of endless gameplay.

Gorgeous graphics

Although it’s plain to see, any review of Alto’s Odyssey would be remiss not to mention the game’s breathtaking graphics. Despite it’s simplicity, the game really manages to draw you in to the never ending descent.

Alto’s Odyssey is so gorgeous that Google Assistant decided to auto-awesome several screenshots.

Like the first game, the colors in the background shift as you play the game, giving the impression that time is truly passing. Beautiful sunsets, starry skies, and relaxing rainstorms all fill your screen at various points.

The game is so gorgeous, in fact, that Google Assistant decided to auto-awesome several of the screenshots I took while playing the game. Even without using the built-in camera feature to remove the UI, Google thought the sunset scenery would be something I’d like to see again. Google was right.

Even more new features

While basic gameplay hasn’t changed much from Adventure to Odyssey, there are a few small changes and improvements that make the game feel fresh after all these years.

First up is the removal of the hover feather, which lifted you just slightly off the ground. It gave you immunity to rocks blocking your path, but also slowed you down. It’s been replaced by a lotus flower power-up that simply makes you immune without slowing you down.

Another is the change to the angry elder that chases you in Alto’s Adventure beyond a certain point. Now your pursuer is an angry lemur. I’m not sure which one is more terrifying.

All of the changes, from wall riding to lotus flowers, feel more like polish than anything truly new. Team Alto essentially took an amazing game and made it slightly better for the sequel. It might not be terribly ambitious, but if it works, don’t fix it.

A return to free-to-play on Android

Like the first title in the series, Team Alto worked with Noodlecake to bring their iOS title to Android. As before, the price tag has been dropped to make it a more Android-friendly free-to-play title.

The game is primarily monetized through ads, which can be disabled with a one-time purchase.

This means that the title is primarily monetized through ads. When you crash, you can watch a 30-second ad to continue your run, and occasionally an ad will automatically play between runs. These can be eliminated with a single in-game purchase.

There are a few other options for purchases, like unlocking all new characters or doubling your coin income, but there isn’t any content that’s exclusively for paid players. Paying only slightly enhances an already excellent experience.

Alto’s Odyssey review: Conclusion

If you enjoyed Alto’s Adventure, Alto’s Odyssey is the same, but better. You could criticize Team Alto for not taking any chances with the new release, but when you have such a winning formula, why rock the boat?

Alto’s Odyssey is available now and can be downloaded for free by clicking below. What do you think of Alto’s latest descent? Does it live up to the original? Let us know in the comments!

Google Play Store: Download Alto’s Odyssey

Galaxy Note 9 will relieve your battery woes, per Samsung’s latest teaser

Can you feel the excitement in the air? We are mere weeks away from one of Samsung’s Unpacked event, taking place on August 9 in Brooklyn, New York. The company is expected to show off its latest flagship, the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, along with a few other surprises.

To prepare for the event, Samsung is releasing a series of three teaser videos. Each day the Korean tech giant will release a new video each morning at 8 a.m. ET on its YouTube channel. The videos provide hints as to how the upcoming Galaxy Note 9 will solve common problems smartphone users experience every day.

Day 1

The first video appears to focus on battery life. The video shows a man whose phone with a nearly depleted battery desperately attempting to close apps and dim the screen to eek out a few more minutes. He digs through his backpack to find a battery pack, only to release he forgot to charge it. As he finally manages to find his charging adapter, we see his phone has died. The ad ends with at the text “Battery can’t keep up? A lot can change in a day. August 9th 2018.”

Samsung’s first teaser video appears to confirm rumors that the upcoming Note 9 will feature a massive 4,000mAh battery. That’s a pretty big jump from the 3,300mAh battery that shipped on its predecessor. If the phone does indeed have a 4,000mAh battery, it should easily be able to power the phone for a day with even the heaviest users; moderate users may be able to eek out a day and a half.

While a supersized battery is a nice addition for the upcoming Note 9, we’re more excited about rumored S Pen changes for 2018. According to several tipsters, the new S Pen will have Bluetooth functionality and will work as a long-range camera timer/clicker and feature music controls as well.

Of course, the Note 9 is not the only hardware we expect to be announced at Unpacked. There are rumors the Galaxy Tab S4 and Galaxy Watch will have their debuts as well. Make sure to check out Unpacked channel to learn all about Samsung’s upcoming hardware. And make sure you check our channel August 9 at 11 a.m. ET as we update live from the Unpacked event.

Editors’ Recommendations

• What to expect at Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event in August
• Samsung Galaxy Note 9: Everything you need to know
• Samsung Bixby speaker: Rumors and news

Intel’s soldered ninth-gen CPUs could give them even greater overclocking room

As we inch ever closer to the release of Intel’s next-generation CPUs, more and more details are emerging. Hot on the heels of a leak that suggests the Core i7 chips in the range won’t enjoy the benefits of hyperthreading, a new rumor claims that they and the top Core i9 CPUs, may have better cooling out of the box thanks to a soldered integrated heat spreader (IHS).

While many CPUs feature heatpaste between the actual core and the chunky metallic heatspreader exterior, many overclockers and enthusiasts will tell you that that’s far from the most efficient way to distribute excess heat. Some opt for a process called “delidding,” whereby they remove the heatspreader and replace the heatpaste with something better, but when the chip is soldered together instead, that’s no longer needed.

The two processors in particular which are said to enjoy this thermal benefit are the Core i7-9700K and the Core i9-9900K. German site Golem.de, via Hexus, claims that both have their IHS connected to the processor with solder, but that this benefit will be limited to the eight core CPUs in the ninth-generation range. That might be why the new CPUs are able to approach five gigahertz frequencies on a limited number of cores and could, in theory, unlock even greater overclocking potential for them for enthusiasts.

Six core CPUs will still use traditional heat paste, which may mean that a thermal improvement can be found by delidding them and replacing that material with one that is more conductive. That’s not always the case, as some chips just don’t benefit from it enough to risk potentially damaging your CPU.

All of this should be taken with a grain of salt, however, as almost all information about Intel’s next-generation CPUs is very firmly in the rumor camp for the time being. With an expected September release date, we won’t have long to wait to find out more and hear official details from Intel. Considering its recent track record of teasing higher performance than is realistically possible though, we’ll want to wait for independent reviews to make any concrete judgments on real-world performance.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Intel’s 9th-generation processor could launch next month with 8 cores
• The most common iOS 11 problems, and how to fix them
• 15 annoying iPhone 7 problems, and how to fix them
• Intel may debut a Core i9 desktop CPU for the general market in 2018
• You may never own a quantum computer, but IBM will still let you use one

These are the best golf apps for Android and iOS

Golf is a game of skill and it can prove frustratingly tough to drive, pitch, and putt your way round 18 holes in as few strokes as possible. Every golfer could use a little help now and then, so why not see what your smartphone can do? We picked out the best golf apps for Android and iOS that could make the difference between a bogey and birdie.

The R&A Rules of Golf (free)

Whether you’re new to golf, you want to settle an argument, or you’re teaching someone else, it’s useful to have a decent rulebook on your phone. The R&A was only formed in 2004 but takes its name from The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and is committed to supporting and promoting golf worldwide. This straightforward app is packed with rules, definitions, tips on etiquette, and even has a quiz to test your knowledge.

Download now for:

Android  iOS

18Birdies: Golf GPS App (free)

You can use this app as a GPS rangefinder, digital scorecard, and stat tracker. It also offers side games, rewards, and a lot of news about the golfing world. You can even share rounds and compete for a spot on the leaderboard or find out about local events to compete in. It also supports both Apple Watch and Android Wear. You will struggle to find more features in a free app. Spring for the premium membership at $5 per month and you’ll get access to discounts, advanced course data and stats, live weather information, and video lessons.

Download now for:

Android iOS

Zepp Golf Swing Analyzer (free)

This app is designed to help you to record your strokes and improve your golf swing. You can record swings, create highlight videos with tracer overlays and voiceovers, and share them. There is also coaching to help you improve and a library of pro swings to show you how it’s done. With the iOS version, you can get extra information from your Apple Watch on tempo, hand path, and hand speed, but for the full range of metrics you need to spring for the Zepp sensor at $150. The free app is worth using, though, and it also has score tracking with GPS.

Download now for:

Android iOS

Golf GPS by SwingxSwing (free)

This popular free app is a solid GPS rangefinder with thousands of golf courses in its database. It will help you with distances to the green on every hole and highlight obstacles to avoid with satellite imagery. It also works as a digital scorecard and keeps track of your handicap. If you want extras like wind speed and club recommendations you can subscribe for $4 per month. There is also support for the Apple Watch, allowing you to check distances, pars, and scores on your wrist.

Download now for:

Android iOS

Hole19 (free)

The 19th hole is usually a bar you retire to after a round of golf, but in this case, it’s a handy free app packed with useful features. There is a solid GPS rangefinder, digital scorecard, performance statistics tracking, and the option to check out tee times, find discounts, and book a round on many courses. With a nice, clean interface, the ability to chart your progress, and a lively community this is a golf app that’s worth checking out. It also supports the Apple Watch and you can subscribe to unlock more features.

Download now for:

Android iOS

mScorecard (free)

If you just want a relatively no-frills digital scorecard that calculates scores, handicaps, and stats for up to five players, then this app will suit you down to the ground. It offers satellite images and GPS to help you calculate distances and there is support for side games, but mainly it’s about tracking your strokes. You can also use it to analyze stats or rounds and share them with friends.

Download now for:

Android iOS

GolfNow: Tee Time Deals (free)

For tee times and discounted prices on rounds at more than 6,000 golf courses worldwide this app is a winner. You can book directly in the app, check course information and reviews, and get directions to courses near you. This app also includes a GPS rangefinder, digital scorecard for up to four players, and statistics tracking. It also supports Apple Watch and Android Wear. There is also a VIP membership option that offers a few perks and rewards, but it costs $200 for the year.

Download now for:

Android iOS

Golf Live 24 (free)

For fans of golf seeking the latest scores from the biggest tournaments around the globe, this free app has you covered. Scores come through in real time, complete with round results and player scorecards. This app covers more than 100 golf tournaments, making it easy to stay in touch with what’s happening in the world of pro golf. It’s free but you will have to put up with some ads.

Download now for:

Android iOS

Editors’ Recommendations

• The best apps for the 2018 World Cup
• The best money-transfer apps for Android and iOS
• The best iPhone apps available right now (July 2018)
• The best budget apps for Android and iOS
• The best moneymaking apps

How important is stock Android to you these days?

Is it better to have too many features or not enough?

Is there any debate in the tech space more tiresome than Android versus iOS? Maybe Mac versus PC? If you’re deeply entrenched in the Android world, there’s one other argument you’ve probably heard and maybe even participated in dozens of times over the last decade — stock Android versus … pretty much everything else.

For years, stock Android essentially just meant whatever the operating system looked like on Google’s own Nexus and Pixel phones — though these days even that’s a bit of a loose definition, with the Pixel getting its own unique features like Now Playing and Active Edge. Still, what we see on the Pixel 2 and Android One phones can be roughly equated to stock Android; it’s Google’s pure vision of Android, devoid of any unnecessary software additions from your phone’s carrier or manufacturer.

Depending on your stance, that barebones approach can either be stock Android’s strongest or weakest point; with such a short list of pre-installed apps, you get a great-looking clean interface that would please any minimalist, but you also start to miss out on features and innovations that other manufacturers have built into their “forked” versions of Android.

Samsung has built a reputation over the years with its heavy-handed approach to software, and while it always runs the risk of overloading users with too many features (or doubling Google’s services with redundant features in its own apps), it’s also led to a number of great new features, some of which eventually made their way to stock Android — namely split-screen multitasking. Similarly, HTC’s Edge Sense technology, first introduced on the U11, was integrated into the Pixel 2 and 2 XL.

Stock Android tends to be great if you live that Google-powered life.

A lot of the best features in various phones don’t make it to stock Android at all, though. The LG V30 still has the uncontested best camera app for recording video, with a wide range of manual video controls and even the ability to shoot in Cine-Log. The BlackBerry KEY2 lets you selectively store photos in an encrypted locker that won’t upload to cloud storage or appear in your gallery. The Galaxy S9 allows you to create a separate instance of certain apps like Snapchat for quickly and easily managing multiple accounts.

Stock Android is great; it remains my personal preference in most cases since I live a mostly Google-powered life. However, depending on your needs it isn’t necessarily the complete package. As a video producer and enthusiast, I would love to be able to take advantage of the V30’s video capabilities, but alas — stock Android’s options are very limited when it comes to filming. Even if you operate exclusively on Google services, it’s easy enough to disable or hide the majority of unwanted apps on a non-stock phone and still benefit from the additional features included.

That, of course, begs the question — is stock Android still important to you (assuming it ever was in the first place)? Has the smooth, clean experience of the Pixel won you over, or are you more interested in having as many useful features as possible, regardless of the resulting clutter? Let us know in the comments below!

Samsung’s first official Galaxy Note 9 teaser video hypes long battery life

A perfect way to kick off the two-week countdown to launch.

We’re now just two weeks away from the launch of the Galaxy Note 9, and that means Samsung is getting its hype machine into full force. Today the company released its first official teaser video for the phone, and it’s all about the battery life prospects of the upcoming flagship. Warning: this 30-second clip may be traumatic for some of you.

We’ve all been there. We’ve had our phones dying at the worst possible time, with an important meeting, call, appointment or transport on the line. Samsung has always poked fun at other phones’ batteries — primarily Apple over the years — as a way to promotes its wireless charging feature and Adaptive Fast Charge system, but in reality it has mostly offered just average battery life on its phones.

The Note 9 really should have the best battery life of any Samsung phone.

All of the leaks up to this point point to the Galaxy Note 9 having a much larger battery than its predecessors, perhaps in the 4000mAh range, which has been an area where the last couple generations of Note left a lot to be desired. Not only was battery life simply average rather than exceptional, but the batteries have been marginally smaller than their Galaxy S+ counterparts — which just didn’t make much sense for a phone that’s supposed to be the biggest and best in every respect.

Samsung putting emphasis on battery life with its first teaser video bodes well for the Note 9, because you’d expect that Samsung would want to make its first marketing message one that it knows it can deliver on. We’ll see for certain when Samsung unveils the Galaxy Note 9 on August 9 — and you know Android Central will be there to offer all of the coverage you desire.

Samsung Galaxy Note 9

• Samsung Galaxy Note 9 rumors: Release date, specs, price, and features!
• Is it best to buy the Galaxy S9 or wait for the Note 9?
• Do you plan on upgrading to the Note 9?
• Galaxy Note 8 review
• Join our Galaxy Note 9 forums

How do you save/remember all of your passwords?

Please use one uppercase letter, a number, symbol, and emoji.

Whether it’s for your bank account, Twitter profile, or Pokemon Go, passwords are required for just about all of the apps and websites we use. That shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, but even so, having to remember all of these can be a royal pain.

So, what’s a person to do to keep from going insane while not forgetting hundreds of different login credentials?

Some of our AC forum members recently started talking about this very topic, and these are a few tips they recommend for safe-keeping of all your passwords.

Rukbat
07-23-2018 02:05 PM

“

The only thing I don’t like is subscriptions. KeePassDroid is safe, uses fingerprint (or password) unlock, creates long random passwords, and lets you keep the data file in the cloud so other devices can use the same password file – with no payment. (True, no 2FA, but important apps, like bank apps, should be doing that on their own.)

Reply

B. Diddy
07-23-2018 10:20 PM

“

I also routinely recommend the Stone Age method of just writing down important passwords and keeping them in a safe at home!

Reply

Mooncatt
07-24-2018 08:12 PM

“

I’ll use browser auto-fill for non-secure data like my name and address, but not for passwords. They are generally seen as vulnerable and often store the passwords in plain text. A good password manager will not store any info in plain text and perform all encryption/decryption locally so your info isn’t vulnerable on their servers. Ideally the only time your password is available in plain text…

Reply

Itsa_Me_Mario
07-25-2018 02:33 PM

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I use a letters and numbers long phrase type password as my master-password on LastPass myself, they make it too easy to be better than I would be at trying to manage hundreds of passwords myself.

Reply

What about you? How do you save/remember all of your passwords?

Join the conversation in the forums!

Gechic On-Lap Monitor review: A second screen for everything

The monitor for people who never have enough monitors.

Ask anyone who knows me, and they’ll tell you I’m a bit of a monitor hog. My desktop sports a 43-inch ultrawide because I was tired of the bezels in multiple monitors. My laptop never has enough screen real estate for my workflow. I was raised on multiple monitors, and never really grew out of it.

The one place I don’t have this problem is when I’m gaming, but my console tethers me unnecessarily to the living room. When I went looking for a fairly inexpensive way to be portable with my console, I found a monitor that not only lets me game on the go but also acts as a fantastic secondary monitor when I’m working remotely. It’s called the Gechic On-Lap monitor, and while I’m probably never going to use it “On-Lap” there are a ton of other places it’s going to get used.

Gechic On-Lap Monitor

Price: $299

Bottom line: This monitor is great for just about everything, especially when you’re not particularly close to the ideal power set up.

The Good

• Lightweight, easy to travel monitor
• Great battery life
• Ports for just about everything

The Bad

• Speakers are loud, but not great
• No USB-C port

See at Amazon

Perfectly portable

Gechic On-Lap Monitor What I like

I don’t often take my PlayStation 4 Pro out of the house, because why would I? Most of the televisions in the hotel rooms I stay in when I travel are locked down so I can’t really connect anything, and I’m not usually in the room for particularly long. The monitors built in to my minivan (#DadLife) when I’m taking my kids on long trips are way too small for the experience to be enjoyable for anything but a movie, and I already have a DVD player in the house. I would take my console with me way more places if it made sense to do so, but even on the train, the chances of my having access to two power outlets are slim.

This monitor removes a lot of these arguments by design. The 7800mAh battery powers this 11.6-inch 1080p display for at least four hours (Gechic claims 4.5 but I landed closer to the 4 mark most days) with no problem. The panel itself has an anti-glare matte coating on it so I can use it just about everywhere, and the 178-degree viewing angle lets the person sitting next to me play as well. I took this on a four-hour train ride from Baltimore to New York City and it kept my family entertained the entire trip.

The best part about this display is I can use it with basically anything. The ports on the side support DisplayPort and Mini HDMI, with cables in the box to connect to both with ease. I was able to use this to extend the display on my laptop when I wasn’t gaming, and it all just worked. With the headphone jack on the side of the display, I was able to immerse myself in what I was doing, with no need to involve wireless headphones.

I’m also barely scratching the surface of what this display offers. There’s a port on the back for more permanent mounting solutions where hanging cables off the back is inconvenient. You can also connect to cameras for a huge display when shooting video, and the carrying case gives you multiple leaning angles depending on where you are sitting or standing when using it.

Gechic On-Lap Monitor What I don’t like

Having a battery-powered portable monitor that doesn’t suck makes me feel like I’m in the future, right until I try to charge it. Right next to the other ports is a Micro-USB port for charging, which in 2018 kind of sucks. It means the monitor doesn’t charge very quickly (almost three hours to full) and really highlights what a missed opportunity USB-C included would’ve been. Not only would it charge much faster, but USB-C could have been another display out option for those of us living the dongle life.

This monitor fits nicely into its travel case and carries well, but the speakers on the top of the monitor suffer from the same thing most lightweight displays suffer from: tinny audio and occasionally a rattle alongside the bass. It’s not the worst set of speakers out there, but you’re probably going to want to use your headphones if you have them. If the audio quality doesn’t bother you, the good news is these speakers do get very loud if you need them to. Not a bad option for doing something outside if you don’t have speakers or headphones, but not necessarily the choice I would make.

4.5
out of 5

If you need a portable monitor for anything, a laptop or a console or just so your kids have something to watch movies while you’re doing something with the actual television in the room, this is a solid option. At $299, you’re absolutely paying for the privilege of portability, but it’s worth it for those of us who aren’t in the living room as often as we’d probably like.

See at Amazon

Huawei devices get banned from downloading VLC on the Play Store

You’ve got Huawei’s custom software to thank for this.

Huawei’s been in hot water for most all of 2018 thanks to various legal disputes with the U.S. government, and now the company’s facing repercussions for its heavy-handed custom Android skin.

On July 25, VLC creator VideoLAN announced on Twitter that the popular media player app can no longer be downloaded by Huawei devices on the Google Play Store.

PSA: @HuaweiMobile phones are now blacklisted and cannot get VLC on the Play Store.Their ridiculous policy of killing all background apps (except their own) breaks VLC audio background playback (of course).See https://t.co/QzDW7KbV4I and many other reports…@HuaweiFr

— VideoLAN (@videolan) July 25, 2018

As mentioned above, the reason for this decision has to do with Huawei’s EMUI Android skin that aggressively kills non-Huawei background apps — thus resulting in a less-than-ideal experience when trying to use VLC for background playback.

VideoLAN goes on to note that this change affects all Huawei devices (not just newer ones), and if you still want to use VLC, you can always download the APK file directly from its website.

It’s possible VLC will be made available for Huawei phones later on down the road if Huawei decides to change the way third-party background apps are handled, and seeing as how this is one of the largest apps in its class, maybe this will be a big enough statement for some real change to take place.

Download: VLC (free)

Top 6 reasons to buy a flagship over a mid-range phone in 2018

And if the phone doesn’t have these, you should question why.

There are many parts of the smartphone experience that are a matter of personal preference — like screen size, specific internal components, expandable storage, certain exterior materials, software features and the like. All of those areas provide smartphone companies with room to differentiate and make unique devices with interesting selling points. Just one of those choices could make or break your decision to buy the phone.

But no matter your preference in each of those areas, you should expect a certain level of base features and capabilities — particularly when the price tag goes above $600.

Dust and water resistance

This is the simplest thing to expect nowadays. Just about every phone and tablet that’s more than a couple hundred dollars inherently has some level of water ingress protection, but higher-end phones go so far as to actually be tested and certified up to a certain point.

You may think you’re careful and your phone doesn’t need to have dust and water resistance, but sometimes this is out of your hands — and the phone should be protected from it. There are varying levels of protection, and it’s a little annoying to try and decode, but look for your phone to have an “IP” rating of 57, 58, 67 or 68. The first number, 5 or 6, relates to dust protection, while the second number, 7 or 8, refers to water protection.

You don’t really need to know the details of the exact circumstances phones are tested to reach each level, but just know that “splash proof” definitely isn’t the same as having a proper full IP rating noted above.

How ‘waterproof’ is my phone? What those IP numbers really mean

Samsung led the way for mainstream adoption of IP resistance ratings as a “must-have” feature, and the Galaxy S9 and S9+ are still advertised heavily as having the feature. Nowadays, all of the best phones have water resistance ratings — though the Galaxy S9 and S9+ do it while keeping a headphone jack.

See Galaxy S9 at Amazon

A screen completely usable in daylight

We often focus on screen size and resolution, which are also important in their own right, but neither really matters if you can’t see the phone out in the sun. Likewise, a good camera doesn’t do you a ton of good if you can’t actually see the viewfinder and operate the buttons with sun beating down on the screen.

You shouldn’t be afraid of the sun — and knowing is about more than just nits.

A rising tide of mobile display quality has lifted just about every phone up to an acceptable level of daylight visibility, but it isn’t universal just yet. Look at the synthetic brightness level — quoted in nits — of the phone you’re considering, but know that that doesn’t tell the whole story. There are many other parts of the display components, tuning and software that make a difference in daylight visibility. Every phone looks great and seems really bright indoors, but if at all possible go get it out in the sunlight to see what it’s really like. Read reviews and look for remarks specifically about daylight visibility — you should expect to be able to use your phone unencumbered outdoors.

Samsung’s Galaxy S9 once again leads in this respect, and it’s for two reasons. Is SuperAMOLED display has high contrast and generally great brightness — but it also has an automatically-triggered sunlight mode that boosts the contrast and brigthness when it detects harsh sun, meaning you’ll always be able to see the screen. The LG G7 deserves a mention here as well, because it has a brightness boost mode that pushes its screen up to an insane 1000 nits of brightness — unfortunately, it doesn’t trigger automatically like Samsung’s screen does.

See Galaxy S9 at Amazon

A camera that is usable in all lighting

There’s a never-ending battle over smartphone camera quality, and it’s one that we as consumers ultimately win from as smartphone cameras are really great nowadays. If you’re looking to buy a $600+ phone, it shouldn’t have any major compromises in camera quality — no matter the lighting.

We can compare high-end phones and quibble over their intricate differences because photos are ultimately subjective works of art. But no matter the phone you’re looking at, it should be able to capture a scene in any lighting without noticeable blur, graininess, discoloration or visual aberrations. It doesn’t have to be the most beautiful photo you’ve ever seen, but at this price point you should absolutely have the confidence to know that every photo you take is at least above average. After that point, you can start to nitpick about specifics — and probably pay $2-300 more to get the best.

Best Android phone cameras

The Google Pixel 2 is coming around on a year old, yet it still amazes us with its ability to turn low-light scenes into something beautiful every time — and you don’t have to think, just point and shoot. The Huawei P20 Pro deserves a mention, too, as all of its advanced shooting modes and multiple sensors can take amazing photos in all conditions.

See Pixel 2 at Best Buy

A speaker that’s loud and doesn’t distort

You can forgive a company making a cheaper phone for skimping on the speaker system because it’s one of those areas where it won’t make or break a buying decision. But if you’re paying extra for a phone, you can expect that the company spent the few extra cents for a better speaker or even the extra engineering time to work in dual speakers.

You shouldn’t expect room-filling sound, but it should get plenty loud and not distort.

The speaker doesn’t need to offer room-filling sound. And in this age of thinner and thinner phones, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to do so. But you should be able to quickly tell if the speaker is good enough — just play whatever local music is on the phone, or open up a YouTube video, and crank the speaker to max. Is it louder than you’d need when the phone’s in your hand? Does it max out volume without distorting and crackling? That’s the bare minimum to expect in this level of phone.

The LG G7 has the best speaker offering right now, thanks to its innovative use of the entire phone as a cavity for the loudspeaker. Whether it’s just sitting on a table or propped up on a larger opening to amplify, it’s about as good as a small Bluetooth speaker. The Pixel 2 XL has a more traditional dual speaker system, and it gets pretty loud with a full sound profile.

See LG G7 at Amazon

64GB of storage (or more)

I think it’s totally reasonable in 2018 to use a phone with 32GB of internal storage, even if you don’t have an SDcard slot available to expand it. So long as you’re not saving multiple movies or several massive games on your phone, you won’t run out of space. But when you spend extra money on a phone to get the best specs, you should expect at least 64GB of storage.

Storage is inexpensive for manufacturers. It’s totally understandable if the company doesn’t offer multiple storage options, because managing those SKUs is expensive, but that one model it does sell better have 64GB or more. It’s not so much for today, but really for the next year or two you use this phone — as files pile up and apps get larger, you don’t want to feel the squeeze of running out of storage on your big-money smartphone.

Every one of our favorite high-end phones has 64GB of storage, but some offer you an option for even more. The Galaxy S9 and S9+ can be had with 256GB of storage, if you buy from Samsung directly. The OnePlus 6 is also available with 256GB.

See Galaxy S9 at Samsung

Two years of platform updates

This is a tough one, because it requires both an analysis of historical information and also confidence in promises from companies. If you’re buying a phone that’s this expensive, you should have the expectation that the phone will get the next two major Android platform updates.

This requires some research and trust in the company you’re buying from.

There are of course updates in between these platform jumps that matter as well: monthly security updates. Very few manufacturers are releasing these updates on a consistent monthly basis, but quite a few are getting to them roughly on a quarterly basis. Look back at the news for the previous major phones from a manufacturer — are they getting updates out? What frequency have they landed on? These things are important for the longterm health of your phone, and something you should expect when you spend extra on a phone.

The only way to know for certain that you’ll be getting software updates for at least two years is to buy a Google Pixel 2 or 2 XL. The OnePlus 6 is also a pretty good bet in this regard, as the company has really upped its software support in recent generations.

See Pixel 2 at Best Buy

How do you rank these features?

It’s clear that you should expect this level of base features on an expensive phone in 2018 — the only question is how you rank them personally. Which of these is an absolutely no-budge option for you? Are you willing to give any of them up to get something else?

These are the best Android phones

Update July 2018: We’ve added our top picks for phones with each of the must-have features for a flagship phone.