Lock screen customization is dead

From start to finish, this kind of theming was a complete mess.

If you don’t like a launcher on Android, you get a new one. Hate your keyboard? Use a third-party keyboard. After all, Android is all about choice, and customization is an essential part of the Android experience… but lock screen customization is bad. Third-party lock screen customization is especially bad. There was a very, very brief moment in history when it was less bad, but it’s bad today.

And that’s OK, because it’s not worth your time.

Do you even see your lock screen anymore?

Lock screens used to be something we’d see dozens if not hundreds of times a day, so customizing them made a little more sense. These days, though, lock screens are more of a “blink and you’ll miss it” part of Android — quite literally on phones with Iris scanning like the Samsung Galaxy S9. With fingerprint sensors in most Android phones these days, you can go days without seeing the lock screen; you press your finger to the sensor while you’re picking the phone up, and by the time you put it up in front of your face, the phone is awake and unlocked.

Even before biometrics and widespread fingerprint sensors, though, the lock screen was already something we were seeing less and less thanks to Smart Lock and its many forms. Smart Lock can keep your phone unlocked while connected to a Trusted Bluetooth device — like the stereo in your car or your trusted smartwatch. It can keep your phone unlocked while you’re carrying it around, and you can unlock it with your voice using Google Assistant’s Voice Match. It can even keep your phone unlocked at your house or workplace — though you’d need to be very trusting of your coworkers to enable that.

Long story short, we don’t spend enough time on lock screens to bother customizing them anymore. And thank goodness, because lock screen customization was a hot mess.

Bad theming and worse security

Lock screen customization faced a lot of hurdles, but the only one that really mattered was this: most of the time it flat-out didn’t work. Third-party lock screen widgets were only really supported in the Jelly Bean era, and the vast majority of lock screen replacement apps that sprung up after that died aren’t worth the ads they come with and certainly aren’t worth paying any money for.

App screen replacements come with another set of security headaches since most require you to disable the system lock screen in order to use them. If you have any apps that require your phone to have a locking method — like Google Pay or corporately managed email accounts — lock screen replacements aren’t an option. Even if you don’t, they’re just a bad idea, and most of them aren’t as fast or as functional as the lock screen your phone came with. It’s not worth it.

The only lock screen theming worth your attention or time

Use Smart Lock. Use fingerprint scanners. Use iris scanners or face recognition if you want. Just don’t use a lock screen replacement, and don’t bother with any hacky lock screen widgets that haven’t been supported for years. It’s not worth your time. It’s not worth your effort. Just. Don’t.

If you really, really, really want to customize your lock screen, here are the things you can do:

• Set a custom lock screen wallpaper — most wallpaper apps and third-party launchers will let you set a wallpaper on the lock screen separately from the home screen wallpaper
• Add text to the lock screen via the Contact information option in the lock screen settings. Most people will set this to “If lost, contact X,Y, or Z”, but you could sneak a motto or quote in there instead.
• If your phone allows you to pick the style clock on your lock screen — Samsung and a few others do this — then go ahead and pick a lock screen clock that suits your wallpaper.
• Samsung also has what it calls “FaceWidgets”, a couple of simple, task-minded widgets that you can scroll through on the lock screen like Music controls and Next alarm.

But let’s face it, folks, the lock screen is something you’re going to see less and less of as Android continues to roll out quicker authentication methods and continues to expand Smart Lock. Just pick a wallpaper and clock style and get on with your life.

Android Messages for web desktop site is now live

The service isn’t working quite yet, but we’re getting somewhere.

In late-April, Google’s plans for turning Android Messages into something of an iMessage competitor were revealed. There are a lot of moving parts with this effort, but one of the big ones appears to finally be coming to light — desktop messaging.

If you head to messages.android.com, you’ll see a new website with a large bit of text saying you can “Text on your computer with Messages for web.” There’s a QR code to the right of this and instructions for scanning it through the Android Messages app on your phone.

As exciting as this is, you can’t actually do anything with the site. The “Messages for web” tab in Android Messages should be accessible after tapping on the three dots at the top right of the app, but this isn’t live at the time of publication.

Even so, we should expect all of this to go live anytime now. We first heard talk of a desktop site for Android Messages way back in February before Google made its announcement in April, and based on what we’re seeing right now, it looks like all Google needs to do is flip the imaginary switch to give us access to this new toy.

Are you excited to start using Android Messages for web?

Chrome OS to soon offer ‘integration’ with Android Messages

Google Pixel 3: News, Rumors, Release Date, Specs, and more!

Everything we know about what’ll likely be one of the year’s best phones.

Google first introduced its Pixel series in 2016, and since then, has been hard at work to establish itself as a serious player in the smartphone market. Google may be one of the most powerful and iconic companies in the world, but when it comes to hardware, is still very much a newcomer.

We saw vast improvements with the Pixel 2 compared to the original Pixel line, and we’re expecting to get that again with the Pixel 3. Google’s quickly learning what it takes to compete with the likes of Samsung and Apple, and seeing as how the Pixel 2 was one of 2017’s best phones, there’s a lot riding on this year’s entry.

Ladies and gentlemen, here’s everything we know so far about the Google Pixel 3.

The latest Pixel 3 news

June 18, 2018 — Case render confirms Pixel 3 XL design

Ice Universe on Twitter has built up a reputation for being pretty accurate about leaks/rumors in the mobile space, and on June 18, they shared a case render that further confirms the Pixel 3 XL’s design.

Like we saw with the hands-on photos on June 7 and 8, the Pixel 3 XL will have a notch in its screen, dual front-facing cameras, stereo speakers, rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, and a single rear camera.

It’s rather peculiar that Google’s choosing to use two cameras on the front while keeping just one on the back, but based on how excellent the Pixel 2’s single rear camera is, I don’t expect this will be a downside at all.

June 8, 2018 — Pixel 3 XL shown off in six more hands-on pictures

Less than a day after those first two hands-on photos of the Pixel 3 XL surfaced, six more have appeared.

These additional photos showcase the Pixel 3 XL from every possible angle, and when XDA Developers reached out to their forum member that shared them, they were able to confirm that the phone has a full glass back. In other words, it’s possible this year’s Pixel line may finally adopt wireless charging.

The front and back photos are pretty similar compared to what we saw yesterday, but the other images showcase a reflective glass frame around the phone, volume rocker and power/lock button on the right side, and a USB-C port and SIM slot on the bottom.

Also, as 9to5Google pointed out, that mysterious logo on the back of the Pixel 3 XL was used previously with old Pixel 2 prototypes.

When will the Pixel 3 be released?

In 2016 and 2017, Google held its hardware event on October 4. We don’t have a concrete date for this year’s event quite yet, but there’s no reason to believe Google will deter from this pattern.

Another October 4 event isn’t out of the question seeing as how that falls on a Thursday this year, but at the very least, we should be looking at some point in early October.

Pre-orders for the Pixel 3 will likely open shortly after it’s announced that same day with shipments going out at least a couple of weeks later.

How much will the Pixel 3 cost?

Over the past couple years, pricing for Google’s Pixel phones has remained mostly the same. The MSRP for the Pixel and Pixel 2 series is as follows:

• Pixel w/ 32GB — $649
• Pixel w/ 128GB — $749
• Pixel 2 w/ 64GB — $649
• Pixel 2 w/ 128GB — $749
• Pixel XL w/ 32GB — $769
• Pixel XL w/ 128GB — $869
• Pixel 2 XL w/ 64GB —$849
• Pixel 2 XL w/ 128GB — $949

I imagine we’ll see similar numbers with the Pixel 3, but don’t be too surprised if we get a Pixel 3 XL variant that crosses the $1000 threshold.

Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL

• Pixel 2 FAQ: Everything you need to know!
• Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL review: The new standard
• Google Pixel 2 specs
• Google Pixel 2 vs. Pixel 2 XL: What’s the difference?
• Join our Pixel 2 forums

Best Buy
Verizon
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Project Fi

Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s Collaborative Album Launches on Apple Music After Two Days of Tidal Exclusivity

On Saturday, Beyoncé and Jay-Z launched a new collaborative album called “Everything is Love” exclusively to Tidal subscribers, the streaming service that Jay-Z owns. Just under two days later, Everything is Love has now launched on Apple Music, Spotify Premium, and Amazon Music Unlimited, making this a very short timed exclusive for Tidal (via Variety). In two weeks, the album will be available on Spotify’s free tier.

In relation to Apple Music, The Carters have had a somewhat rocky relationship with Apple’s streaming music service. Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” album never launched on Apple Music and remains available for Apple customers only as a $17.99 paid download in iTunes. Although Jay-Z quietly removed many of his albums from Apple Music in April 2017, most eventually came back, and his own album “4:44” had one week of Tidal exclusivity before appearing on Apple Music last summer.

Tidal has had a rough couple of months as well, beginning with a report last December that claimed the company was facing money problems due to “stalled” user growth, and could run out of working capital in six months. Nearly six months later, Norwegian news site Dagens Næringsliv reported that Tidal was months behind on its royalty payments to record labels.

Furthermore, Tidal last month confirmed to its customers that it was investigating a “potential data breach” on the platform. The company said it had gone so far as to hire an “independent, third party cyber-security firm” to find out what happened. It’s still unknown how widespread the potential breach was and what aspects of Tidal users’ data might have been compromised. Tidal CEO Richard Sanders said that the company would share the results of the security firm’s discoveries “once completed.”

Amid the turmoil, Tidal exclusives have grown short or ended completely, as with Kanye West’s latest album “ye,” which launched on Apple Music, Spotify, and Tidal on the same day. In 2016, West launched “The Life of Pablo” as a Tidal exclusive, but eventually allowed the full album to stream on Apple Music and other services.

Years later, West reportedly sought to end Tidal’s exclusivity rights over his new music and break from the service. West claimed he was owed “more than $3 million” because his album “resulted in 1.5 million new subscribers to Tidal, for which he was supposed to get a bonus”, but Tidal never paid. At the time of those claims, sources close to West said the artist successfully ended exclusivity rights with Tidal and cited “Tidal’s failure to honor its financial obligations.”

Tidal’s subscriber base isn’t known, but it is believed to be much smaller than Apple Music (50 million including those on free trials) and Spotify Premium (75 million). Major exclusives like The Carters’ new album likely help increase the company’s paid subscriber count for both its $9.99/month standard sound quality tier and $19.99/month Hi-Fi tier, despite the short exclusivity window. Still, with a 30-day free trial and no confirmation of subscriber numbers, it’s unclear how many new users will stick around.

Tidal subscribers will have one advantage over other users, since the bonus track “Salud” remains a Tidal exclusive.

Tags: Apple Music, Tidal
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Apple Seeds Third Beta of iOS 11.4.1 to Developers

Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming iOS 11.4.1 update to developers, one week after seeding the second beta and three weeks after releasing iOS 11.4, an update that introduced AirPlay 2 and Messages in iCloud.

Registered developers can download the new iOS 11.4.1 beta from Apple’s Developer Center or over-the-air once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Developer Center.

No new features were discovered in the first two iOS 11.4.1 betas, suggesting it focuses on bug fixes and performance improvements to address issues discovered since the release of iOS 11.4.

We’ll update this post should we discover any new features in the third iOS 11.4.1 beta, but we’re not expecting major changes now that Apple has shifted its focus to iOS 12, which is also available to developers for beta testing purposes.

Related Roundup: iOS 11
Discuss this article in our forums

Apple Seeds Third Beta of tvOS 11.4.1 to Developers

Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming tvOS 11.4.1 update to developers for testing purposes, one week after seeding the second tvOS 11.4.1 beta and three weeks after releasing tvOS 11.4, an update that introduced support for AirPlay 2.

Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models, the new tvOS 11.4.1 developer beta can be downloaded onto the Apple TV via a profile that’s installed using Xcode.

No new features or changes were discovered in the first two tvOS 11.4.1 betas, suggesting the update focus on fixes for bugs that have been discovered since the release of tvOS 11.4.

Apple’s tvOS updates have historically been minor in scale, and Apple does not often provide us with detailed notes outlining what’s new. We’ll update this post should anything be found in the third beta.

Apple’s work on tvOS 11 is winding down as the company is now focusing on tvOS 12, which was unveiled at the Worldwide Developers Conference in early June.

Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 12Buyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Neutral)
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Winnebago and Motiv Power Systems partner with all-electric outreach vehicles

San Francisco-based Motiv Power Systems introduced an all-electric mobile blood bank on June 15, following an electric bookmobile Motiv delivered to the Oakland Public Library in May. Developed in partnership with Winnebago Industries, the eBloodmobile will tour California this summer to demonstrate the vehicle’s ability to run on battery power alone, saving diesel fuel and reducing tailpipe emissions to zero.

The eBloodmobile has a similar layout to blood collection outreach vehicles powered by diesel fuel. The demonstration model has four patient beds, two interview rooms, and small waiting and recovery areas.

According to Motiv Power Systems, diesel-powered blood bank vehicles burn eight gallons of fuel per collection day while idling. The engines run on idle to provide power and climate control for the mobile collection site. In the course of an average 10-year daily usage life for such vehicles, using electric power instead of an internal combustion engine (ICE) would save about 34,000 gallons of diesel fuel a year and eliminate the ICE’s harmful emissions.

The eBloodmobile is the first example of Motiv’s partnership with Winnebago. The two companies intend to develop a range of specialty medical vehicles such as mobile asthma treatment centers, dental clinics, and methadone clinics. The partnership will also build community service outreach vehicles in various categories.

Traditionally, when mobile medical clinics and other outreach vehicles arrive at their points of service, they are set up in central locations convenient to walking traffic. And those locations highlight the problems.

“Diesel exhaust emissions while idling remains a pervasive problem for mobile outreach vehicles aimed at serving communities, especially for our most vulnerable populations like children and medical patients,” said Jim Castelaz, Motiv Power Systems founder and CEO. “It’s quite common for these vehicles to spend eight hours idling, in addition to running diesel generators, in order to provide the power needed to run electrical equipment and climate controls. An all-electric vehicle provides clean, silent, and vibration-free energy to power onboard equipment.”

The partnership will construct all-electric outreach vehicles by placing one of Winnebago’s three all-electric zero-emission commercial shell Superstructure Interlocking Design platforms on the appropriate Motiv EPIC Dearborn chassis.

In May, Motiv Power Systems delivered an all-electric multipurpose bookmobile, the Oakland MOVe, to the Oakland Public Libary. Designed to create the atmosphere of an outdoor living room, the pop-up bookmobile has side panels that open outward to expand the truck to 31 feet in length and 14.5 feet in width.

The Oakland MOVe provides access to books, areas to work on laptops and tablets, electronic charging stations, Wi-Fi hotspots, and more. The bookmobile also has shade umbrellas and portable seating. Bringing the library out into the street, the group hopes to interest and engage youth in the library’s materials and services while simultaneously modeling the environmental cleanliness of electric vehicles.

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the MOVe, Oakland City Mayor Libby Schaff cast a wider perspective when she said, “This vehicle is part of how we will achieve our goal of how to be diesel free by 2033.”

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AMD will only release Ryzen APU graphics drivers every three months

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

AMD has made its plans for Ryzen APU graphics driver releases a little more clear with a statement from an AMD representative. He suggested that updates to Ryzen APU graphics drivers would come every three months and will only come as WHQL certified releases, with no options for beta drivers in between.

One of the big changes AMD made in recent years to try and keep pace with its big graphics rival, Nvidia, is to release graphics drivers much more regularly. For the most part it’s stuck to that commitment and now AMD fans are treated to regular driver releases and feature improvements for its Radeon Software back end. But APU owners don’t get to enjoy quite as frequent updates.

In fact, since the release of the Ryzen 2200G and 2400G APUs earlier this year, they’ve only received one update — not counting the motherboard firmware fix for non-boot issues. It debuted in May and it seems like owners may need to wait until August to receive another.

According to “AMDMatt,” an AMD representative on the Overclockers UK forum, the plan is to give AMD Ryzen APU owners a new driver update at a quarterly frequency. When asked by another forum member why there has been no support for the APUs under the most recent two driver releases, AMDMatt said that, “APU drivers are updated every 3 months as WHQL releases only.”

Other forum members weren’t greatly pleased by this news, and highlighted how important hot fixes or optimizations for new games could take months to arrive, leaving those running the APU in the lurch when it comes to new releases. Considering APUs are underpowered graphically compared to the dedicated graphics cards of even a few years ago, those running the Ryzen with Vega chips don’t have much graphical muscle to counteract a lack of optimization.

This news raises questions over how AMD and Intel plan to update their “Kaby Lake G” processors, which combine an Intel CPU with an AMD Vega graphics core on a single die. While a recent update gave owners hope that more frequent updates would be released for the hardware in the future, it may be that that chip is forced to languish with irregular updates as well.

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Key settings you need to change on your brand-new iPhone X, 8, or 8 Plus

So you snagged yourself a shiny new iPhone X, or maybe you’ve gone for the more classic lines of the iPhone 8 — no matter which new Apple iPhone you picked, there are several settings you should immediately tweak to get the best out of it.

Turn on battery percentage

If you find yourself squinting at that little bar at the top right of the screen wondering just how much battery life you have left and whether you need to top up before you head out, then it’s time to turn the battery percentage on. It’s a little weird that this isn’t turned on by default, but it’s easily sorted. Go to Settings > Battery and toggle on Battery Percentage. Now you will see a clear percentage next to the battery bar.

Set Auto-Lock

Your screen is the biggest battery drain around and you don’t want people snooping people on your iPhone when you put it down — both good reasons to set your Auto-Lock as low as possible. On the other hand, it’s so frustrating when you’re using your iPhone, get momentarily distracted, and look back to find your screen locked. Whatever the sweet spot is for you, Auto-Lock can be found in Settings > Display & Brightness.

Hide unwanted apps

If you want to get rid of an app, then simply long-press on the icon for it until your app icons start wiggling and then tap the X in the top corner to uninstall. For some stock apps this will hide or disable them — they’re not really uninstalled — and you can always bring them back via the App Store.

If you have an app you don’t actually want to get rid of, but you don’t want it appearing as you scroll around, then we suggest creating a folder. Tap and hold on the app icon until they all start wiggling, then drop it on top of another app icon to create a folder. Name it whatever you want. If you add more apps to the folder, then you can move the app you want to hide to a later page in the folder, making it even less likely to be found.

Schedule Do Not Disturb

Don’t let your iPhone be the boss of you. We all need some downtime and that is why it’s important to schedule periods when your iPhone won’t alert you. At the very least you should set this up for the hours you usually sleep, but we recommend scheduling it to go quiet for a couple of hours at night when you usually wind down. Go to Settings > Do Not Disturb and toggle on Scheduled, then select your Quiet Hours.

If you’re worried about some important calls or messages not getting through, then scroll down on the Do Not Disturb page and you can set up Allow Calls From and toggle on Repeated Calls.

Set blue light filter

Apple calls this feature Night Shift and what it does is to filter out the blue light and make the screen warmer, which can help you fall asleep more easily after reading on your iPhone late at night. Go to Settings > Display & Brightness> Night Shift and you can toggle it on, but we recommend toggling on Scheduled and picking times that suit you or selecting Sunset to Sunrise.

Back up your photos

For many of us, our photos are the most precious things on our iPhones, so it’s worth making sure that yours are being backed up. You can do this by going to Settings > Photos and toggling on iCloud Photo Library.

Apple is a little stingy when it comes to storage space in the cloud, giving you just 5GB for free. You might find that your iCloud fills up fast and maybe you don’t want to pay for more space. Consider installing the free Google Photos app. You can toggle on Back up & sync during the setup process and Google gives you 15GB for free. You can also get another 5GB for free from Microsoft OneDrive or Amazon Prime Photos. Both apps are free and offer automatic photo backup.

Adjust 3D Touch sensitivity

With 3D Touch, you can press on the screen to peek at further options for some apps and jump to shortcut actions. It can be really useful once you get used to it, but it definitely takes a little practice. You will get a feel for it faster if you tweak it to suit you. Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > 3D Touch and you can choose from Light, Medium, and Firm and practice on the test image below.

Set your email signature

Do you really want “Sent from my iPhone” as the signature on every email you send? Probably not. It’s easy to change, simply go to Settings > Mail > Signature and you can delete the message and switch it for something else or leave it blank.

Customize Control Center

You can swipe up from the bottom of the screen to access the Control Center for shortcuts to things like the Torch and Wi-Fi. Some of these are fixed, but you can also customize a few by going to Settings > Control Center > Customize Controls. Tap the green plus icon next to anything you want to add or the red minus icon next to anything you want to remove.

Set up Emergency SOS

No one wants to imagine that the worst will ever happen but if it does, you will be glad you set up Emergency SOS. Go to Settings > Emergency SOS and toggle on Auto Call. If you press and hold the side button and either volume button, your iPhone will call 911 or the appropriate emergency service in your region.

It’s worth setting up Emergency Contacts via the Health app, where you can also add details on any medical conditions you have and things like your blood type. If you add Emergency Contacts, then they will also receive a message automatically when you trigger Emergency SOS to let them know that you called the emergency services. You can add them by opening the Health app and tapping on the Medical ID tab at the bottom right.

If you’re hungry for more, then check out our iPhone X tips and tricks or read up on iPhone 8 tips.

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Sony Xperia XZ2 review: Too much phone, too little value

A phone that’s more and less than the sum of its parts.

It started not with a whimper but a bang. My first Xperia XZ2 unit had issues. So did a second. They were pre-production models, as many review units were, but I held off reviewing the phone until I knew I was using the same hardware and software that would ship to consumers.

I may not insist on that same handicap for other models, but the Xperia XZ2, like all Sony phones, needs a booster. They’re at an inherent disadvantage — one of Sony’s own making, mind you — because of lean distribution and, until recently, hardware limitations.

So when the Xperia XZ2 went on sale in April for $799, I knew I had to wait. The early adopters would pick it up anyway, but the masses, unsure what to do in a market awash in competitive devices, would likely sit. And wait.

Wait for the early bugs to be fixed. Wait for the inevitable price drop.

And now, in mid-June, we have our first major price drop, to $699 USD, along with a couple important bug fixes. Do these things make the Xperia XZ2 worthy of your time? And does it stand out in a very crowded market?

Sony Xperia XZ2

Price: $699 on promotion ($799 MSRP)

Bottom line: Sony has made a beautiful phone that fails to stand out in a very crowded smartphone market. Even at $699 unlocked, it doesn’t offer great value.

Pros:

• Excellent performance
• Sony’s software impresses
• Lovely design and solid all-glass construction
• Camera takes great photos, even in low light, and dedicated shutter button is so, so useful
• Sony’s Dynamic Vibration Engine is super cool

Cons:

• Sony’s camera app feels slow and dated
• Lacks software niceties like face unlock and fingerprint gestures
• Phone is incredibly, disastrously slippery
• Not available at U.S. carriers & no Verizon/Sprint support
• It’s very thick and heavy

See at Amazon

Sony Xperia XZ2 What’s great

Operating System	Android 8.0 Oreo
Display	5.7-inch LCD, 2160x1080Gorilla Glass 5 18:9 aspect ratio
Processor	Snapdragon 845 64-bitAdreno 630
Expandable	microSD up to 400GB
RAM	4GB
Rear Camera	19MP Exmor RS, hybrid AF960FPS FHD slow-mo, 4K HDR video
Front Camera	5MP f/2.2 23mm wide-angle
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.0 + LE , NFC, USB 3.1, GPS
Battery	3180mAh
Charging	USB-CQuick Charge 3.0Qnovo Adaptive Charging Qi wireless charging
Sound	Stereo S-Force front speakers
Water resistance	IP68
Security	Rear fingerprint sensor
Dimensions	153 x 72 x 11.1mm
Weight	198 g
Network	1.2Gbps (Cat18 LTE)
Colors	Liquid Black, Liquid Silver, Deep Green, Ash Pink
Price	$699 (at publishing)

The Xperia XZ2, like the smaller XZ2 Compact (which I love), feels much more modern and inviting than its Z, X, or XZ predecessors (my goodness Sony has made a lot of phones in the past few years). The gentle curvature of the glass somewhat obscures a fairly stout frame, but it lends the phone an organic warmth that I really enjoy looking at.

Sony’s always emphasized symmetry, sometimes to its detriment, but in a sea of notched and off-kilter smartphones, this one stands out as being deliberately even.

The 1080p display is elongated to a 2:1 aspect ratio, and while the panel won’t win awards for fidelity, it hits the high marks of a flagship, including HDR10 support (on Netflix and Amazon Prime), and an array of color gamut tweaks to suit everyone’s tastes.

The screen is bordered by slight, but very present, bezels, affording Sony the opportunity to improve its already-great S-Force stereo speakers. These speakers are incredible; they’re loud and full for a smartphone, and don’t distort at high volumes. They’re exactly the kind of showcase one expects for a phone that promotes entertainment.

Sony’s audio prowess extends to the headphone-wearing crowd, too. Despite lacking a headphone jack, Sony’s audio settings are plentiful and diverse, with an array of manual equalizer options (including virtual surround sound options of dubious merit) that do make a difference.

While few are going to understand the differences between DSEE HX and ClearAudio+ — enabling one cancels out the other — anyone with a pair of wired or wireless headphones is going to get superb audio quality from this phone.

That Sony emphasizes marketing nonsense over actual hardware virtues — DSEE HX, which upconverts low-quality music streams to high-quality, is less enticing to me than a clean DAC and ultra-powerful amplifier, both of which are present here — is to its detriment, but the good news is that, absent headphone jack aside, this is an audiophile-friendly handset.

I’m also a big fan — and I seem to be largely alone here — of Sony’s Dynamic Vibration Engine, the super-powerful haptic motor that pulses along to music, movies, and any other sound-producing content.

Sony’s figured out that people want vibration motors that aren’t just strong but accurate; this one is both.

It’s not something I use all the time, but I tend to leave it on, especially if I’m cupping the phone in my hand to watch a movie trailer or Netflix show. Sure, it’s less effective when paired with a low-key sitcom than a pulse-pounding episode of Luke Cage, but I’d rather have the option to turn it off than not have it at all.

Over the last few years, I’ve become increasingly sensitive to poor, sloppy phone haptics, and I’m delighted companies like Sony and LG are pushing the market into Apple-like territory. But just because a vibration motor is powerful doesn’t necessarily mean it’s agile, and thankfully this one is both, offering light, accurate touches when typing or receiving a notification.

The camera story is, like the phone’s design, all about evolution. We have the same 19MP 1/2.3″ IMX400 the company’s been using for two years now — 1.22-micron pixels, ƒ/2.0 wider-than-normal lens — but the output is dramatically different thanks to a few good decisions by Sony.

First, the phone no longer uses its own processing engine, deferring instead to Qualcomm’s excellent image signal processor inside the Snapdragon 845. Sony’s also making it easier to capture a great shot, using its dedicated camera memory and fast processor to capture a burst of photos every time the shutter is pressed. When movement is detected, the gallery will offer a selection of four photos to choose from, and I usually found at least one good one in the bunch.

The change works, though it’s not a slam dunk. The robust manual mode tends to offer a better “auto” shooting experience than Sony’s well-worn Superior Auto, which identifies the dominant theme of a particular scene (Backlight, Macro, Landscape, Document, Action) and adjusts accordingly. The phone makes smart decisions most of the time, but not every time, particularly in scenes with blown-out areas that require HDR, something Superior Auto is reluctant to apply.

It’s not necessarily that the hardware is outmatched — the 1/2.3″ sensor is larger than every phone camera on the market save the Huawei P20 Pro, though the ƒ/2.0 lens is somewhat a limiting factor and there’s no OIS — but that Sony’s camera app makes poor exposure decisions. Resulting photos are punchy and colorful but often darker than they need to be.

A couple low-light samples taken with the Sony Xperia XZ2.

In low-light situations, the Xperia XZ2 fares well, but is again outclassed by competitors like the Pixel 2 and P20 Pro. So why is this in the “What I like” column? Because in previous years, Sony wouldn’t even be in the low-light conversation; now the XZ2 at least holds its own. I need to trust the camera in my pocket to give me a usable shot in almost any condition, and the Xperia XZ2 offers that.

Analyzing a low-light shot

Huawei P20 Pro (left) | Sony Xperia XZ2 (right) — Use your left/right keys to switch between photos.

In the direst and darkest of conditions, the XZ2 performs well against what is arguably the most capable low-light camera on the market, the Huawei P20 Pro. I took this photo in near pitch-dark, and the XZ2 ramped up ISO to 12,800 with a shutter speed of 1/8, eking a fair amount of color and quite a bit of detail. The P20 Pro, on the other hand, takes things to ISO 25,600, but at a shutter speed of 1/10.

Huawei P20 Pro, 100% crop (left) | Xperia XZ2, 100% crop (right)

The P20 Pro is much less noisy despite an ISO twice as high, and it resolves considerably more detail, but the XZ2 excels, too. It also proves that, under the right conditions and with some patience, the Xperia XZ2 can be a consummate camera in low-light situations.

That confidence extends to the photo- and video-taking process, too. I love Sony’s retention of the physical shutter button, and prefer it in almost every shooting scenario. Being able to quickly remove the XZ2 from my pocket with my finger already on the shutter key, camera app at the ready, is a user experience I miss dreadfully when I move on from Sony phones.

One of the smoothest Android phones out there, period. Sony knows its way around software optimization.

Similarly, I trust the speed and performance of the XZ2 in general. Other than a few blips, the Snapdragon 845 and 4GB RAM combo proved rock solid in my two weeks testing it, and the 64GB of storage proved ample. The 3,180mAh battery may seem small compared to others in its class, but Sony has always managed to pull off feats of pure magic when it comes to uptime, and that’s no different here.

I don’t recall a single day using the phone that it dropped below 30% before I went to sleep, and most days I managed to stay above 50%. Sony doesn’t seem to be doing anything too fancy here, either — no Huawei-style app shaming — but whatever it’s doing, it’s working.

Finally, in the plus column, call quality was excellent and cellular speeds were similarly delicious — Sony worked with Bell in Canada to optimize the XZ2 for gigabit speeds, and it shows. I was regularly able to hit speeds above 200Mbps on Bell’s network.

Sony Xperia XZ2 What needs work

There isn’t a tremendous amount to complain about with the Xperia XZ2, but for all of the company’s design prowess, the Xperia lacks a couple of major amenities that I’ve grown accustomed to having on similarly-priced (and cheaper) hardware. Yes, there’s wireless charging and waterproofing, but the phone lacks face unlock, and the fingerprint sensor doesn’t support navigation gestures. That’s especially frustrating because the fingerprint sensor itself is way too low — in fact, the camera is where you’d expect the fingerprint sensor to be. Awkward.

It’s also quite bulky, at over 11mm thick and 198 grams, which is reassuring from a quality perspective but onerous from a usability standpoint.

A few other frustrations muck up the experience, like disastrous rotation detection, which puts the phone in the wrong orientation literally every time it’s placed on a surface. I’ve never wanted to throw my phone so often than when encountering this bug — I ended up turning off auto-rotate entirely.

Worse is the camera’s complete inability to perform touch-exposure. This has a very obvious effect on photo output, as you have to “trust” the phone to pick the correct lighting values for a particular scene. Unfortunately, the phone is quite dumb, at least in this respect.

Let me give you an example: I’m in a relatively dark room with a bright light source — a window, or a bright lamp — and want to take a photo of something in the room. On practically every other phone, you can tap in the darker area to force the scene to re-expose, blowing out the ultra-bright area (so they go white) and leaving the rest of the scene looking properly lit.

With the Xperia XZ2, that’s not possible, not even in manual mode (exasperatingly, there are five metering options, including touch metering, but none of them work at all). On a phone with aggressive HDR, this wouldn’t be a problem, but the XZ2’s HDR mode is too subtle when it’s on, and there’s no force-HDR mode in Superior Auto.

Finally, the phone is incredibly slippery. I have great reflexes, so I was able to catch it mid-air when, cradling it in my neck during a phone call, it vaseline-jumped from the crook of my neck. Disaster averted, but I immediately ordered a case, and it’s like using a different phone entirely.

Sony Xperia XZ2 Should you buy it?

There are many, many good Android phones on the market right now. The Sony Xperia XZ2 is a very good phone, but it’s not even close to being the best one you can buy. It’s too thick and heavy, and despite a very attractive design, the minor distractions contribute to marring the whole experience.

Sony’s focus on entertainment continues to be its strength; from a superlative display to incredible sound and a unique, gratifying vibration motor, there’s plenty to like from a consumption perspective. Moreover, Sony’s come a long way with its camera, though it’s one or two software updates away from really competing with the Samsungs and Huaweis of the world.

There’s also the question of Stateside availability. Unlike its smaller XZ2 Compact counterpart, the XZ2 doesn’t work on Verizon, which significantly limits its attractiveness to the U.S. market. That means it’s just AT&T and T-Mobile — something OnePlus 6 owners have to contend with, but there’s a major price delta between the two phones. (In Canada, the phone is sold by Bell and Freedom Mobile, but thanks to Canada’s recent rule change, it’s unlocked out of the box and will work on every national carrier.)

Then it comes down to competitors: at $699 (which is a promotional price), the Xperia XZ2 offers a decent value proposition. At $799, it’s not worth your time, especially with devices like the Galaxy S9 and LG G7 in the same ballpark, and the OnePlus 6 eating its lunch at $529.

3.5
out of 5

The Xperia XZ2 is Sony’s best flagship ever, but as much effort as the company has spent catching up to the competition, it still feels a year behind.

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