Huawei P9 review

Huawei wants to play with the big boys. The Chinese company wants to be taken seriously as a competitor to Apple and Samsung, but right now it's rooted firmly among the second tier of Android manufacturers, competing with the likes of Sony, LG and Motorola in western markets.

A reputation for pairing high-end specs with lower prices than some of its competitors, backed up with some solid marketing, has enabled Huawei to start standing out a little from the crowd. And now the company hopes the P9, plugged with an ad campaign starring none other than Superman (Henry Cavill) can take it to the next level.

But Huawei still needs to impress people. No one buys a phone from a manufacturer they barely know without doing a little research first. Huawei knows it, and the P9 has the specs on paper, and a focus on camera technology, that will catch the eye of even the most discerning prospective purchaser.

Huawei Mate S review

Say hello to the Huawei Mate S, the world's first smartphone with Force Touch technology. Kind of.

'Force Touch' I hear you quizzically ponder, 'isn't that Apple's thing?' Well yes, it's the fancy screen tech you find in the Apple Watch and the trackpad of the new MacBook - and yes, Huawei was the first to stick it in a smartphone.

Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge hidden tips and tricks

We've stumbled across great many hidden features that not just everyone might know. 

Some of these are neatly hidden away in complex menu system of TouchWiz. The last one is a treasure trove of features, indeed, and it can always surprise you with a neat trick up its sleeve. What's more, many of the tips right below will certainly amp up your power-user game!

Best iOS apps 2016

2016 is underway and a whole two months are behind us already!

They might have moved fast, but a whole lot happened, so we’ve whittled through the iOS app updates and new launches to bring you a more highly-curated list than ever before.

In short, the apps on this list are the ones worth checking out.

Huawei P8 Lite review

From the iPhone to a $20 Nokia, every smartphone is made in China. Motorola attempted to bring manufacturing back to the US with the launch of the original Moto X, but that ended up only lasting a year. The inescapable truth is that China keeps costs low, and in the quest for more profits, every little bit counts.

A number of Chinese brands have tried making a splash in the US and UK from Lenovo to OnePlus. While it would be great to see Xiaomi finally offer its smartphones and tablets in the West, the saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" comes to mind. Huawei, on the other hand, has already broken out of its shell by launching an online store last June, and selling the Ascend Mate 2 to customers in the US.

Huawei Ascend G620S review

Key Features: 5-inch 1,280 x 720 pixel IPS screen; 
Android 4.4.4 with Emotion UI 2.3; 
Snapdragon 410 1.2GHz CPU

Manufacturer: Huawei

What is the Huawei Ascend G620S?

The Huawei Ascend G620S is the latest stab at updating the vision of the ideal budget phone that Motorola nailed so well with the Moto G. It costs around £120, but has a decent 5-inch screen, 4G and a 64-bit processor.

It’s not too bad for the price at all. We only wish it didn't seem quite so deliberately limited to show it’s a lower-end model. It uses a rather old version of Huawei’s custom UI, making the Huawei Ascend G620S seem a little dated in parts.

Still, for the price it’s not too shabby at all.

Facebook reportedly building ‘Moneypenny,’ a personal assistant for Messenger with a twist

Facebook is working on a personal digital assistant of its own, designed specifically for use with its popular Messenger mobile software.

Referred to internally as “Moneypenny” after Miss Moneypenny, a secretary to M in the James Bond films, it will reportedly allow Facebook Messenger users to perform tasks like checking the weather, buying products and more.

10 best mobile phones in the world today

We check out every phone under the sun, putting the ones that matter through our rigorously vigorous testing process to create our indepth mobile phone reviews.

However, with so many to choose from, we've spent hours whittling them down to a top ten, taking into account the power, specs, design and most importantly: value for money, although we'll always point you in the direction of the latest handsets - after all, nobody wants to be carting around a phone that doesn't get any updates in a year's time, right?

So whether it's one of the many slick Android handsets, the latest iPhone or one from a range of other cool operating systems, we've extensively tested them all so you don't have to!

Here are our rankings for the best smartphones around.

Apple Pay confusion: when will it launch in the UK?

HSBC has let slip that Apple Pay will be coming to the UK on Tuesday July 14 – confirming rumours that we'd be seeing Apple's contactless payment method on that date.

When Apple announced Apple Pay was coming to the UK, it was rather vague about dates, simply stating that it would reach these shores in July.

How to jailbreak iOS 8.3 with TaiG 2.1.2 + Cydia Substrate

The TaiG 2.1.2 untethered jailbreak tool was just released to much fanfare. This is the version of the tool that works as you would expect. It’s compatible with the latest version of iTunes, and works with Cydia Substrate out of the box.

Sadly TaiG 2.1.2 is still Windows only. In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to jailbreak iOS 8.3 with TaiG 2.1.2 in mere minutes.

Samsung Galaxy S6 tips and tricks

Samsung didn’t see the kind of sales it hoped for with last year’s Galaxy S5, so this year the Galaxy S6 is a radical departure. A number of prominent features from last year’s device have been removed, and others are disabled by default to make for a cleaner experience. You don’t have to bend over backwards to get Samsung out of your face.

But there’s still plenty you can do to make the Galaxy S6 even better. Just go through these S6 tips and tricks and you’ll be ready to rock.

HTC One M9 tips and tricks

The HTC One M9 is one of the most desirable phones of the year. Its beautifully-crafted alluminium body makes it the perfect mobile to show off.

However, it does a whole lot too. As well as running Android 5.0 Lollipop, it has a new version of the custom HTC Sense UI that adds a bunch of features of its own. 

Here are our top HTC One M9 tips and tricks to help you get the most out of HTC’s 2015 flagship Android.

Best Android Tablets 2014

With Christmas just around the corner, plenty of you are currently on the lookout for a lovely Android tablet that'll bring a smile to the faces of your loved ones. This year has seen plenty of brilliant new models released, including the Tesco Hudl 2 and Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5, meaning that purchasing a good tablet is now cheaper and easier than ever. The power on offer in the top-end models has gone through the roof, while budget devices have improved massively. Unfortunately, this means that picking one has now become a very difficult task.

If you know that the iPad Air 2 or a device running Windows isn’t for you, then this is the place to be. Check out all of our top picks from the list below.

Alcatel OneTouch Idol Alpha review

Key Features: 4.7-inch 1,280 x 720 pixel IPS screen; Android 4.2; 13-megapixel camera with LED flash
Manufacturer: Alcatel

What is the Alcatel OneTouch Idol Alpha?

The Alcatel OneTouch Idol Alpha is a bit of a departure from the phones from the Alcatel OneTouch stable. It’s higher-end, offering a more design-led approach than normal.

Some of its choices are rather odd, though, and its core hardware just isn’t quite good enough in one too many areas to justify the fairly elevated £300 SIM-free price. While Alcatel OneTouch is known best for its affordable phones, this one simply isn’t cheap enough. Even if you find it at a knockdown price, it suffers from a few serious issues.

Huawei Honor 6 review

Key Features: Octo-core Kirin 920 CPU; 5-inch Full HD screen; Android 4.4.2 with EmotionUI
Manufacturer: Huawei

What is the Honor 6?

The Honor 6 sees Huawei return to a place it used to thrive: affordable phones. But the definition of an affordable phone has changed in recent years.

Where Huawei’s budget classics were £100 phones, the Honor 6 is a budget 4G £250 alternative to top-end phones such as the Galaxy S5, Xperia Z3 – and even the iPhone 6. There are plenty of quirks to either fix or learn to live with, but the value on offer here is quite excellent.