Mobile

Xiaomi’s A-series just got a new member, the stock Android lineup welcoming the Mi A3. The phone is somewhat odd, offering a number of upgrades over last year’s Mi A2, but also a few downgrades. The Mi A3 is powered by the Snapdragon 665 chipset based on the more efficient 11nm manufacturing process, but also sporting a slower CPU than the Mi A2’s S660. The display is virtually…

When I reviewed the Xiaomi Mi Band 3, I was convinced that it was one of the best Google Fit companions. What I didn’t expect was Xiaomi to make what you could consider iterative changes and still make the Mi Band 4 feel like a must-have wearable. For starters, considering that Wear OS is still really in a state of disrepair, things couldn’t be more different in the fitness band (or fitness…

While the budget phone category continues to grow in the United States, the rest of the world already offers a wealth of options for affordable, high-quality hardware. The Xiaomi Mi 9 SE is another such device that is genuinely superb for the money, yet lacks wide North American availability. The release of the Pixel 3a globally was fantastic for the entire market, as its low pricing and…

When Samsung unveiled the Note 9 a year ago, I was surprised by how much I liked it. Sure, it didn’t bring many fresh features — mostly just refinements in areas where the Note line already excelled. There was more power than before, longer battery life, a larger display and more built-in storage. Plus, some camera improvements made the Note 9 more capable in low light. These upgrades…