All the OK Google commands and How to use them

Google Assistant is a very powerful tool we should all learn to wield properly. Even if you’re not deeply invested in the Google ecosystem, it’s still a nice tool to have, as it’s one of the most flexible and capable voice assistants, not just for Android, but for any device in general. Nowadays, it’s integrated into phones, TVs, tablets, and smart home devices, and smart displays, and even trigger it from wired earphones!. Hell, you can even find it on some “dumb phones” now, thanks to KaiOS. But what exactly is the extent of Google Assistant? What exactly can you do by saying “OK Google” and talking to your smartphone?

Spoiler alert: a lot. But if you’ve ever wondered this, then in this article, we’re gonna give a quick rundown on some of the most useful “OK Google” commands you can utter to your Google Assistant, be it for making your life a little easier or just getting a laugh from you. Follow along!

Essential OK Google commands

First up, we’re going to start with some basic functionality that you can ask the Google Assistant. You can ask it to launch an app, either pre-loaded or downloaded. So for example, if I wanted to ask it to open WhatsApp, for example, I can say “Ok Google, open WhatsApp”. This also works for opening websites and searching the Internet by asking the Google Assistant to open whatever URL you want by just saying “go to website.com”, or asking it to search anything you want by saying “search for [search term]”.

• Ok Google, open [App Name]
• Go to [Website URL]
• Search for [Search Term]

You can also configure, enable, and disable some hardware features as well. For example, you can ask the Assistant to turn on or off Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or your flashlight/torch without having to touch your smartphone. Additionally, you can also tweak the volume higher, lower, or to a specific percentage.

• Ok Google, turn on/off Bluetooth/Wi-Fi/the flashlight
• Turn the volume up/down/to [number] percent
• Mute the volume

Ok Google Camera Commands

There are lots of scenarios where you might want a way to use your phone’s camera hands-free. For example, you might set it on a tripod to take a picture of yourself and you don’t have another person to take the picture for you. Or, maybe you just want to take a selfie hands-free for whatever reason (maybe your phone is too big and it’s too hard to use with one hand). And this is where the Google Assistant comes in handy. You can, for example, ask it to take a picture or take a selfie, or even record a video, without having to press the shutter button yourself.

• Ok Google, take a picture
• Take a selfie
• Record a video

Ok Google Alarms, Timers, and Reminders Commands

 

Need to quickly set an alarm or timer but your phone’s in your bag or in your pocket and you might forget later? Don’t worry, the Google Assistant also has you covered on that front, provided you ask it to help you out. You can use it to quickly set an alarm, read you aloud your current alarms, or turn off all active alarms by just kindly asking your phone to do so, without having to access the Clock app.

• Ok Google, set an alarm for [time]
• Set a repeating alarm for [time] on [days]
• Show me my alarms
• Turn off all alarms

You can also set timers just like you would set alarms, and configure them exactly the same way. You can set one for the amount of time you want, or ask Google to show you your timers, or simply turn them all off.

• Ok Google, set a timer for [length of time]
• Show me my timers
• Turn off all timers

Last but not least, you also have the ability to quickly set reminders as well as recurring reminders for anything you want, anytime you want.

• Ok Google, remind me to [task and time/location]
• Remind me to [task name] every [day/time]
• Note to self

You can also set calendar events or check out calendar events you’ve previously set, as well as checking out things like tracking packages and upcoming appointments.

• Ok Google, create a calendar event
• Where’s my package?
• What’s my next appointment?
• What does my day look like?
• What does my day look like on [insert day]?

Ok Google Messaging/Call Commands

You can use the Google Assistant to quickly call and text people in your contacts with your voice, completely hands-free. But how do you go about that? Well, first of all, you can call people, as long as they’re in your contacts, by quickly asking it to call.

• Ok Google, call [Contact Name]
• Call [Contact Name] on speakerphone

Texting is also possible by dictating the Google Assistant the name of your contact and the content of your message. You can also ask it to show you your latest messages, send an email, and much more, as well as retrieving information about your contacts such as their number and their birthday.

• Ok Google, text [Contact Name and Message Content]
• Show me my messages
• Send email to [Contact Name], subject [your subject], message [email message content]
• Listen to voicemail
• Find [Contact Name]’s number
• When is [Contact Name]’s birthday?

You can even go as far as to interact with other apps. You can, for example, post something to Twitter or message someone on WhatsApp through the Google Assistant.

• Post to [Social Network Name]
• Text [Contact Name] on [App Name]

Ok Google Music/Media Commands

What if you’re driving and you want to change the song that’s currently playing on your smartphone? Or what if you’re using a smart speaker and want to play a song? Then the Google Assistant will do that for you and much more. You can ask it to play a specific artist, song, album, or even a playlist of one specific music genre on your music platform of choice. Additionally, you can also ask it to identify a song for you. Or just ask it to play music, plainly and simply, and let it guess what you want to hear.

• Ok Google, play [Artist/Album/Song/Genre]
• What’s this song?
• Play some music

You can also do the same with movies. Have Netflix installed? Then you can ask it to play a specific movie or series, or if you’re more of a moviegoer, you can also ask what movies are playing.

• Ok Google, watch [Movie Name]
• What movies are playing tonight?
• Where is [Movie Name] playing right now?

Ok Google Navigation/Travel Commands

The Google Assistant can assist (no pun intended) you with things like navigation, travel, and much more, thanks to Google Maps integration. You can, for example, ask it to navigate to a specific location or address, or ask it for directions to that address either if you’re walking or biking there. You can also ask it to find a specific landmark and have Google tell you where it is and how to get there, and it can also give you directions for, say, if you want to find the nearest Chinese food restaurant, and show the menu of that same restaurant.

• Ok Google, navigate to [Location Name or Address]
• Give me [Walking/Biking] directions to [Location Name or Address]
• Find [Name of Landmark]
• Where is [Landmark Name]?
• Where’s the nearest [Type of Business]?
• Show me the menu for [Restaurant Name]
• Call [Business Name]
• Book me an appointment at [Business Name]

Are you going to travel soon? Then you can also ask for travel-specific commands, such as having the Assistant show you your flights, directions to your hotel (which can be greatly useful when arriving to a foreign country), as well as doing quick conversions and showing you attractions of that place. You can also get specific information for your flight, and specific information of a country’s businesses and attractions.

• Ok Google, show me my flights
• What’s the flight status of [Airline] flight [flight number]?
• Where is my hotel?
• What is the time zone in [Place Name]?
• What’s the tip for [total bill amount]?
• Is [attraction/business] open now?
• What are some attractions in [City/Place/Around Here]?
• What is [amount of money in foreign currency] in [your currency]?
• When does [attraction/landmark/business] close?
• Distance from here to [landmark/location]?
• How far away is [place name]?

Ok Google Weather Commands

Telling the weather has always been one of the headlining features of the Google Assistant, and even in its precursor, Google Now. It has always been showcased by showing the weather. So yes, this functionality exists, and it works pretty darn well. You can ask the Google Assistant to tell you how’s the weather in your current location or in a specific location, and ask it to tell you a whole bunch of details regarding the weather. You can also use some creative ways to ask if it’s going to rain, if you’re into that sort of thing.

• Ok Google, what’s the weather like?
• What’s the weather in [Location] for [day or time period]?
• What’s the temperature?
• When is [sunrise/sunset]?
• Do I need an umbrella today?
• Is there a chance of rain [today/tomorrow/date]?
• When is [sunrise/sunset] in [place name]?

Google Assistant Information Commands

Want to inform yourself on a specific topic? Then the Google Assistant can help you out. While it used to be that you had to Google something in order to know it, nowadays chances are that, if something is common, public knowledge and it’s a simple question, the Google Assistant can just spit out the answer right away. But how well does it work exactly? Well, here are just some examples of what you can ask the Assistant, ranging from movie trivia to stock trading and everything in between.

• Ok Google, who’s the producer of [Movie Name]?
• How old is [Famous Person]?
• What is the square root of [number]?
• Who acted in [Movie Name]?
• Who wrote [Book Name]?
• What time is it in [City/Location]?
• What’s the runtime of [Movie Name]?
• When was [Movie Name] released?
• When is the next [Team Name] game?
• Who won the Oscar for Best Actor of [Year]?
• Did the [Sports Team] win today?
• Who invented the [Invention Name]?
• How do you say [Word or Phrase] in [Language]?
• What is [Company Name] trading at
• What’s [Company Name] ‘s stock price?

Games with Google Assistant

The Google Assistant can also have fun with you if you want to! You can play some mini-games as well, such as solitaire and tic-tac-toe, or just let it decide.

• Ok Google, play [solitaire/tic-tac-toe]
• Ok Google, I’m feeling lucky
• Ok Google, spin the wheel

Would you like an actual game instead? Like, a triple-A title? Then it’s also possible to ask this to the Assistant if you’re a Google Stadia user: just ask it to play the game of your choice and, as long as it’s in Stadia’s ever-growing catalog of games, it will open it.

• Ok Google, play [Game Name]

Bonus – Google Assistant Easter Eggs

Aside from just games, there’s a lot you can ask the Assistant if you want to have a laugh or two. It’s peppered with Easter eggs back and forth, waiting for you to discover them. It’s not just the classic “tell me a joke”: Google has actually implemented a lot of pop references and cool features into the service for you to find in classic Google fashion, ranging from movie references to memes. Here are just some of those easter eggs, in no particular order.

• Ok Google, read me a poem
• Ok Google, tell me a joke
• Ok Google, what is the loneliest number?
• Meow like a cat
• Is the cake a lie?
• Who is the walrus?
• Spell Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
• How do you like your coffee?
• Is your refrigerator running?
• What am I thinking right now?
• What’s your favorite Pokemon?
• Sing a song
• Do a barrel roll!
• All your base are belong to us
• Who’s on first?
• Beatbox
• What is the meaning of life?
• Ask me a question
• Surprise me
• Here comes dat boi
• Who’s your favorite superhero?
• What is love?
• Mischief managed
• Can you rap?
• Askew / Tilt
• Are you friends with Siri/Alexa/Cortana?
• Do you know of GLaDos?
• When am I?
• Clean my room
• My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard
• What is [Actor/Actress Name] Bacon number?
• Who you gonna call?
• Set phasers to kill

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These were some of the most essential Ok Google commands everyone should know of. While it’s far from all of them (putting together such a list is very hard), knowing all of these tricks should allow you to take full advantage of the complete potential of the Google Assistant. The service’s functionality is constantly improving and constantly being refined, so we’re always getting new cool, interesting commands, and features, 4 years into its initial release.

Are you a Google Assistant user? If so, what do you like the most about it?

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Realme Watch S Pro Review: Realme finally got it right

Realme entered the fitness wearables segment in India with the launch of the Realme Band earlier this year in March. Although the fitness band wasn’t as well-received as Realme may have expected, the company pushed forth and launched a second fitness wearable, the Realme Watch, in May. The Realme Watch did bring some significant improvements over the Realme Band, we didn’t find it to be as polished of a product as some of its competitors. So when we first got word that Realme was gearing up to launch two premium smartwatches in India, we kept our expectations grounded. After having used the Realme Watch S Pro for a little over a week, I can safely say that Realme has learned from its mistakes and has finally created a product that can hold its own against competitors from Xiaomi and Amazfit.

Realme Watch S Pro: Specifications

Specification	Realme Watch S Pro
Dimensions & Weight	257.6 x 46 x 11.1mm (with strap) 63.5g (with strap)
Materials	Stainless steel case, silicone strap
Strap	Standard 22mm quick release
Display	1.39-inch AMOLED touch display 454 x 454 pixels 326 ppi 450 nits Gorilla Glass 3
Compatibility	Android 5.0 or iOS 9 and above
Sensors	PPG heart rate sensor 6-axis accelerometer Gyroscope Geomagnetic sensor
Connectivity	Bluetooth 5.0 BLE Dual-satellite GPS
NFC payments	No
Battery	420mAh, proprietary charging dock
IP rating	5ATM water resistance, IP68
Colors	Black

Note: The Realme Watch S Pro was loaned to us by Realme India for the purpose of this review. The review was written after a week of use. Realme did not have any input regarding the content of this review.

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Realme Watch S Pro: Design & Display

The Realme Watch S Pro offers a premium design that’s befitting of its price tag. It has a 46mm stainless steel case with two buttons on the right edge that control all of its functions. While the case is almost as thick as that of the Mi Watch Revolve, it doesn’t have a raised lip around the display. This, coupled with the matte black finish, makes it seem like the Watch S Pro is a bit smaller than the Mi Watch Revolve and it doesn’t look as massive on my wrist. However, I would’ve still preferred a smaller 42mm or 44mm variant.

Much like the Mi Watch Revolve, the Realme Watch S Pro packs a 1.39-inch AMOLED display in the chunky 46mm case. The display is surrounded by a slim bezel within the case and a thicker bezel around it, which features dial marks that aren’t as subtle as the ones found on the Mi Watch Revolve. To prevent scuffs and scratches in everyday use, the display on the Watch S Pro is protected by Corning’s Gorilla Glass 3.

The display on the Realme Watch S Pro is quite vibrant and it gets sufficiently bright for optimal visibility in direct sunlight.

The Realme Watch S Pro comes in a single black color variant with a black silicone strap. But if you’re not a fan of the muted all-black look, you will be able to purchase three other color variants — Orange, Blue, and Green — early next year. The company also plans to offer premium vegan leather straps for the watch, which will be available in four color options — Orange, Black, Blue, and Green. In case you don’t like any of the aforementioned strap options, you’d be glad to know that the Realme Watch S Pro uses standard 22mm quick-release straps. So, you’ll be able to pick any of the numerous third-party options available online based on your personal taste.

Now that we’ve talked at length about the design of the Realme Watch S Pro, let’s take a closer look at its display. The 1.39-inch touch-sensitive AMOLED panel on the watch offers a resolution of 454 x 454 pixels, a pixel density of 326ppi, a peak brightness of 450nits. As you’d expect, the display is quite vibrant and it gets sufficiently bright for optimal visibility in direct sunlight. This is something that Realme has struggled with in its previous offerings, and I’m glad to see the company taking steps in the right direction.

The Realme Watch S Pro offers 5 levels of brightness settings and an auto-brightness mode. I used the smartwatch on level 3 for the majority of my testing and I didn’t face any visibility issues. As with the Mi Watch Revolve, the Realme Watch S Pro comes with an always-on display feature, which displays the time, date, and day on the display in either a digital or an analog format. But I wouldn’t recommend using this feature if you have raise-to-wake turned on, as it takes a significant toll on the watch’s battery life.

Realme Watch S Pro: Features

As with most other smartwatches in the sub-₹15,000 price range, the Realme Watch S Pro is nothing but a fitness tracker with a large display. It offers pretty much all the fitness tracking features you’d find on the much cheaper Realme Watch, but you can expect to see better tracking capabilities because of the premium hardware.

In terms of sensors, the Realme Watch S Pro features a 6-axis accelerometer, a geomagnetic sensor, a gyroscope sensor, a PPG heart rate sensor, and a wearing monitor sensor. These sensors enable features like continuous heart rate monitoring, blood oxygen monitoring (SpO2), sleep tracking, step tracking, and 15 sports modes (including a new swimming mode). Additionally, the Watch S Pro offers notification support, a sedentary reminder, a water reminder, an alarm clock and stopwatch, music playback controls, camera shutter controls, a compass, breathing exercises, and a Find My Phone feature.

You can keep a track of all the aforementioned features on the watch and the Realme Link app. On the watch, you’ll find five widgets to the right of the home screen, including activity tracking, weather, sleep tracking, heart rate monitoring, and music playback controls.

As seen in the images, the widgets give you a quick overview of each of these features, and you can get more detailed info on the Realme Link app. The sleep monitoring widget is the only exception, as you can swipe up on it to see detailed information about last night’s sleep. Along with these widgets, the watch also shows you incoming notifications for apps that have been whitelisted in the Realme Link app. These notifications are displayed on the watch face as soon as they arrive, and you can view them later by pulling down the notification shade as you would on your Android device.

The Watch S Pro also has a quick settings menu that you can access by swiping to the right of the home screen. It includes five quick settings tiles to enable/disable the power saving mode, flashlight, DND mode, and raise-to-wake features. The fifth tile lets you quickly adjust the display brightness.

You can access the rest of the features by swiping up on the home screen and opening the app drawer. Here, you’ll find the alarm clock, settings, compass, workout modes, weather, heart rate monitoring, breathing training, stopwatch/timer, SpO2 monitoring, camera shutter controls, Find My Phone, and your workout records.

It’s worth noting that you can quickly access the workout modes by clicking the bottom button on the watch. The settings option in the app drawer includes always-on display settings, a screen off timer option, a raise-to-wake option, vibration intensity customizations, DND mode settings, and a System tab to restart, turn off, and reset the watch.

In terms of customizations, the Realme Watch S Pro comes with over 100 unique watch faces. To switch between the watch faces installed on the watch, you can tap and hold on the home screen and then swipe through all the available options.

In case you don’t like any of the pre-installed watch faces, you can open up the Realme Link app, and sync a new watch face to the watch. Additionally, the app gives you the option to use any image of your choice as a watch face. However, you can only select a digital watch face with a custom image.

Along with the watch face customization, the Realme Link app gives you access to all the fitness tracking data collected by the watch. It also features some additional settings to turn on/off the sedentary reminder, water reminder, music playback controls, and Find My Phone features, whitelist apps for the smart notifications feature, and set a step goal. Furthermore, it includes a handy user guide to help you figure out all of the watch’s features.

My experience with the Realme Watch S Pro

While the Realme Watch S Pro isn’t as feature-rich as the Mi Watch Revolve, it delivered a significantly better user experience. I faced absolutely no software issues with the smartwatch and I found its fitness tracking features to be more or less accurate. To check its accuracy, I used it alongside the Apple Watch Series 3 for a couple of days. And in almost all scenarios, the results delivered by the Watch S Pro didn’t deviate more than 5-7%.

For instance, during a 20-minute indoor walk session, the Realme Watch S Pro recorded 2191 steps, 1.70km covered, an average heart rate of 113 BPM, and 137 kcal burnt. The Apple Watch Series 3, on the other hand, recorded 2231 steps, 1.65 km covered, an average heart rate of 122 BPM, and 93 kcal burnt. As you can see, the number of calories burnt was the only metric that showed a larger deviation, but that’s quite acceptable given the significant price difference between the two smartwatches.

I wasn’t able to compare the sleep tracking performance between the two watches, as wearing both to sleep was a bit uncomfortable. But I did keep an eye on my sleep schedule over the last week, and the overall results seemed reasonably accurate. However, I did notice one inconsistency during my testing. On one particular day in the last week, I randomly woke up at around 4 AM and I couldn’t go back to sleep until 7 AM. But the watch didn’t record this instance accurately and showed that I was asleep throughout the night.

It’s worth noting that I wasn’t able to test the GPS performance of the Watch S Pro as I didn’t venture out of the house because of the current pandemic scenario. So, I can’t comment on its accuracy or its impact on battery life. My sports mode testing was also limited to indoor activities and you may get different results with outdoor activities.

My experience with the Realme Watch S Pro was completely bug-free and enjoyable. It just worked.

All of the Watch S Pro’s remaining features also worked as intended. Raise-to-wake was responsive, so I didn’t feel the need to turn on the always-on display feature, the camera shutter and music playback controls worked as you’d expect, and the SpO2 monitoring also delivered consistent results. All in all, my experience with the Realme Watch S Pro was bug-free and enjoyable.

The Realme Link app also performed quite well and, while syncing watch faces did take an awfully long amount of time, my overall experience was quite positive. The app was responsive, didn’t take too long to sync data from the watch, and displayed all the metrics in an easy to understand fashion.

Battery life & charging

Realme claims that the Watch S Pro offers 14 days of use on a single charge with continuous heart rate monitoring turned on and, in my testing, I found the claim to be more or less accurate. With a week of use, the Watch S Pro’s battery only depleted to 54% with heart rate monitoring set at 5-minute intervals, screen brightness set to level 3, always-on display turned off, no GPS use, and a daily indoor workout of 30 minutes.

This leads me to believe that the watch could easily last two weeks with a similar use case. However, if you turn on the always-on display feature and make frequent use of the watch’s GPS functionality, the battery won’t last the rated 14 days. The charging performance of the included proprietary charging cradle was satisfactory, and it managed to get the 420mAh battery from 50%-100% in about an hour.

Should you buy the Realme Watch S Pro?

If you’re in the market for a premium fitness tracker in the sub-₹10,000 price range, the Realme Watch S Pro is, in my opinion, a good buy. Although it doesn’t offer as many fitness tracking features as the similarly priced Mi Watch Revolve (review), all the features that it does offer work as intended without any unwanted bugs. On top of that, it offers IP68 dust and water-resistance rating and a better six-axis accelerometer, that you don’t get with Xiaomi’s offering.

In case you’re open to slightly older hardware, I would still recommend getting the Amazfit GTS (review) and Amazfit GTR (review) over the Realme Watch S Pro, as they offer almost as many features and you can get them for as low as ₹7,999 during sales. And if you’re willing to spend a couple of thousand bucks extra, the new Amazfit GTS 2 and Amazfit GTR 2 are significantly better options, as they offer a bunch of additional features like Amazon Alexa support, onboard music storage and playback, and more.

Realme Watch S Pro

The Realme Watch S Pro is a premium fitness tracker that offers a bright and vibrant display, a good selection of features, and great battery life.

₹9,999 at Flipkart

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Samsung Galaxy A51 5G’s One UI 3.0 beta based on Android 11 goes live in Korea

Over the past few months, Samsung has been hard at work rolling out the latest One UI 3.0 and Android 11 updates to its flagship smartphones. The company has so far rolled out stable Android 11 updates to the Galaxy S20 series, Galaxy Note 20 series, Galaxy Fold series, and more. With most of the recent Galaxy phones now on the latest version of Android and One UI, the South Koren smartphone maker has now turned its attention to the mid-range lineup. Yesterday, the company opened up a beta program for the Galaxy M31, inviting select users to get a taste of Android 11. Now one more mid-range device has joined the list: Galaxy A51.

In a post over at Samsung Community forums, Samsung has announced the launch of the One UI 3.0 beta program for the Galaxy A51 5G. Do note that the beta program is limited to the Korean model (SM-A516N) only. Interested users can participate in the program by heading over to the Samsung Members app and enrolling their device. After enrollment, the Galaxy A51 5G users should receive an OTA of One UI 3.0 beta based on Android 11. The first beta build with version number A516NKSU3ZTL9 has already gone live for registered users. Keep in mind that installing beta software will wipe your data, so make sure to take a full backup beforehand.

Samsung Galalxy A51 5G XDA Forums

The Galaxy A51 5G is the first in the Galaxy A series to receive a One UI 3.0 beta. We don’t know when Samsung plans to extend the beta program to other regions. According to Samsung’s One UI 3.0 update roadmap, the Galaxy A51 5G is slated to receive the stable Android 11 update in Q1 2021 in certain regions. However, seeing how the Galaxy S20 FE received its stable update ahead of the schedule, it’s entirely possible the Galaxy A51 5G owners may receive the final version well before the planned date.

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These are the Best Huawei Phones you can buy right now

Huawei has, in recent years, risen up to be one of the biggest smartphone brands in the world. Even today, they’re still one of the major players in the Android ecosystem. But we’re all familiar with the woes Huawei has experienced in the past months, too: the company was placed on the United States’ entity list in 2019, greatly limiting their ability to do business with most U.S. companies. Huawei phones have had to change significantly as a result. But, as it turns out, they’re still making phones, and they’re still among some of the best Android phones out there. So today, we’re summing up some of the best Huawei phones currently on the market.

If you don’t mind the lack of Google apps and don’t mind diving into Huawei’s own ecosystem of apps and services head-on, then this might be a pretty easy decision. If you absolutely need Google apps, though, it might be a little tougher. But nonetheless, we have an option for everyone. We’ve categorized some of the best options, with and without Google apps, for you to choose from, although we’ll mostly focus on devices with Google apps as those will provide the best experience in the Western market. We’re also linking to Amazon listings: Since Huawei devices are not officially available in the U.S. and recent developments point at that not happening any time in the near future, these will be third-party sellers.

With that out of the way, read on to know more!

Navigate this guide:

• Best with HMS: Huawei P40 Pro
• Best with Google Apps: Huawei P30 Pro
• Best Features: Huawei Mate 20 Pro
• Best Bleeding-Edge: Huawei Mate Xs
• Best for Most People: Huawei P30
• Best Mid-Range: Huawei Nova 5T
• Best Budget with HMS: Huawei P Smart 2021
• Best Budget with Google Apps: Huawei P30 Lite
• Best Large: Huawei Mate 20 X

Best with HMS: Huawei P40 Pro

The Huawei P40 Pro is currently among the best Huawei has to offer. It has a beefy Kirin 990 processor that still stands very competitive with other flagship 2020 processors, and it comes with a 50MP camera setup that provides a camera experience that is up to the task for almost every scenario you can possibly imagine. It also packs Android 10 with EMUI 10 out of the box, comes with a decently-sized 4,200 mAh battery, up to 8 GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage, a 90Hz panel that is curved to all 4 sides… I could go on and on: this phone really throws in everything and the kitchen sink.

It’s only Achilles heel? The lack of Google apps might break the experience for a lot of users. It’s not only the Play Store that Huawei P40 Pro users will be missing out on, but a lot of Western apps actually rely a lot on Google Play services and Google Mobile Services frameworks in order to function properly. So you could experience anything from delayed notifications for some apps to straight-up apps refusing to even open. Huawei has attempted to fix this with their own Huawei Mobile Services, but there’s still some progress to be made on that end.

If you don’t mind dealing with a lack of Google apps and you’re ready to fully embrace the Huawei ecosystem, though, or you don’t mind going through weird hoops to get them installed on your phone, then you should absolutely go ahead and grab this phone.

Huawei P40 Pro

The Huawei P40 Pro comes with a Kirin 990 processor and beefy specifications that are up for the task for almost anything you might think about, and then some more. It's an amazing bargain, as long as you're willing to cope with a lack of Google apps.

View on Amazon

Yes, this category is not selecting any of the new Mate 40 devices. The Mate 40 Pro as well as other phones in this new series are scarcely available in China, Huawei’s home market, and no plans have been announced for other regions. That makes the phone incredibly difficult to purchase, and consequently, not the best option within the scope of this list.

Best with Google Apps: Huawei P30 Pro

The Huawei P30 Pro is a fairly old device by now, being released in the first half of 2019. But it has two things going for it. First, it’s still very capable even today, with a Kirin 980 processor and an amazing camera just as we’ve come to expect from Huawei. The P30 Pro’s camera actually made a lot of headlines back in the day, and it’s still pretty good even today. And second, it was Huawei’s last flagship to release prior to most U.S. sanctions being applied to the company, meaning that this was the last Huawei flagship with full support for Google apps.

Google services are essential for a smartphone and its Google-reliant app ecosystem to work properly in the Western market, which is why Huawei has re-released the phone several times, even through 2020, when they’ve had newer smartphones up for sale. It’s still an amazing phone and one that you should absolutely check out now if you like Huawei’s hardware.

Huawei P30 Pro

The Huawei P30 Pro has a Kirin 980 processor that, while an aging platform, is still a very capable SoC. It's also noteworthy for being one of the last Huawei smartphones to launch with Google apps, making it a compelling device even well into 2020.

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Best Features: Huawei Mate 20 Pro

The Huawei Mate 20 Pro is actually an even older device, clocking in at 2 years old now, but it’s as good as it gets when it comes to a device with Google apps. It actually features the same SoC in the Huawei P30 Pro, the Kirin 980, meaning that performance on both devices should be pretty much on par for the most part. And the cameras should be able to perform pretty well too, although maybe not up to the level of the Huawei P30 Pro as that one came with revamped cameras.

The Huawei Mate 20 Pro also has support for 3D face unlock within the device’s massive notch as well as 40W charging, so this is definitely one of the 2018 devices that have aged really well. Check it out now!

Huawei Mate 20 Pro

The Huawei Mate 20 Pro has the same Kirin 980 processor in the Huawei P30 Pro, and it comes with features such as 3D face unlock, which the P30 lineup doesn't have, while taking in other trade-offs.

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Best Bleeding Edge: Huawei Mate Xs

Huawei’s first shot at the foldable market came with the Huawei Mate X, but everything about that device screamed “first-gen”, not to mention all of the widespread issues that came for the very few people who did buy this phone. The Huawei Mate Xs, though? It’s better. The Huawei Mate Xs comes with an outward-facing foldable display just like its direct predecessor, and the newer device refined a lot of aspects over the previous one. It has a sturdier hinge, a more durable display, better folding action, and a faster processor, and packs a Kirin 990 processor instead of a Kirin 980.

Unfortunately, though, the first Huawei Mate X already came without Google apps, and so does the Huawei Mate Xs. But if you’re willing to look past that and check out a smartphone with a radically different form factor to what we’ve seen from manufacturers such as Samsung and Motorola, then go ahead and buy it. Just keep in mind that it costs a pretty penny, even compared to other foldable phones, and if you’re in the U.S, then you’ll have to pay even more.

Huawei Mate Xs

The Huawei Mate Xs is Huawei's second foray into foldable smartphones, with a Kirin 990, an outward-folding panel, and more. It doesn't have Google apps, though, and the price can be a deterrent for most people.

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Best for Most People: Huawei P30

The Huawei P30 is actually a good middle ground for people that don’t need all of the camera fluff that comes with the Huawei P30 Pro, are aiming for a lower price point, and just want a device with flagship specifications that does the job and does it well. For all of those reasons, the regular Huawei P30 ticks the right boxes. It still has the excellent Kirin 980 SoC, features a flat display instead of the curved one in the Pro, up to 8 GB of RAM, and 256 GB of storage, and the camera is still great, just maybe not as versatile as the one in the Pro version.

The Huawei P30 is actually cheaper than ever now, and it’s definitely one of our top picks for the best Huawei phones, so check it out!

Huawei P30

The Huawei P30 was the company's mid-tier flagship for 2019, packing most of the goodies in the Huawei P30 Pro, such as the same Kirin 980 SoC, while cutting down on other aspects like the camera, the display, and more. It's an option worth considering if you want close-to-flagship performance at a lower price.

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Best Mid-Range: Huawei Nova 5T

The Huawei Nova 5T is one of the last Huawei phones to pack Google apps being released with that same Kirin 980 processor that allows the phone to get flagship performance on a budget. The Huawei Nova 5T does differ a lot from other, more premium offerings from Huawei, and that is made evident starting on things like the camera: the phone features a conventional 48MP camera like the ones we’ve seen on other mid-range devices, it has a smaller battery rated at around 3,750 mAh, and the display is actually a Full HD panel instead of a Quad HD.

Still, the Kirin 980 processor packs a big punch in a relatively small price point, delivering a very decent overall package. It’s one of the best Huawei phones right now, so go check it out!

Huawei Nova 5T

The Huawei Nova 5T is one of the strongest value propositions by Huawei in some time, with a flagship-class Kirin 980 processor, a 48MP camera, a punch-hole front camera, and much more.

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Best Budget with HMS: Huawei P Smart 2021

The Huawei P Smart 2021 is one of the newest devices on this list, and it actually has more in common with other devices than you might think. Looking at it from the front gives off strong Xiaomi/Samsung vibes with a centered punch-hole display, something that Huawei has yet to use on other devices. But it’s a decidedly budget smartphone. The device is powered by the Kirin 710A with up to 4 GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. It fares better in other departments, such as the camera, providing an amazing (in budget terms) and versatile experience with a quad 48MP panel. The battery is also rated at 5,000 mAh, and with the Kirin 710A, it should be able to provide amazing battery life.

Of course, it doesn’t have Google apps so you’re subject to the same restrictions as some devices in this list, but if you’re curious about dipping your toes in the HMS ecosystem and you don’t have money to splurge on a flagship, this is your best bet.

Huawei P smart 2021

The Huawei P Smart 2021 is a budget device from Huawei that brings the HMS experience to the budget side of the spectrum, with a Kirin 710A, 4 GB of RAM, Android 10, and up to 128 GB of storage. It also has a 5,000 mAh battery as well as a 48MP quad rear camera.

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Best Budget with Google Apps: Huawei P30 Lite

Again, yes, this phone has had successors in the form of the Huawei Mate 30 Lite and the Huawei P40 Lite, but we’re again focusing on phones that can actually be used in the Western market (plus, we’ve already mentioned a budget HMS alternative), and the P30 Lite is as good as it gets. It features a Kirin 710 processor which performs pretty similarly to some devices in the lower-end segment of the Snapdragon 600 series. It also features up to 8 GB of RAM and up to 256 GB of storage for good measure. It has a 48MP rear-facing camera setup with both ultrawide as well as depth sensors and can be updated up to Android 10 with EMUI 10 on top.

It’s not an amazing device in terms of specifications, but you can easily grab one for under $200. It should be able to take on the most essential tasks and more, which is why it earns a spot on our list of best Huawei phones.

Huawei P30 Lite

The Huawei P30 Lite is a budget device that promises to come close to the experience the higher-end P30 devices provide, coming in with a Kirin 710 processor, up to 128 GB of storage, and a 48MP camera, and more.

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Best Large: Huawei Mate 20 X

If you’re part of the crowd that thinks size really matters, then you will be very well served by the Huawei Mate 20 X. The device has all of the same features that come with the other devices in the Mate 20 family, but the screen size gets a bump to a massive 7.2 inches. While this goes into the unwieldy territory, the result is an amazing device with a gigantic display for media consumption, watching videos, you name it. It has a Kirin 980 processor as well as all of the goodies that you’d expect from other Huawei phones, such as great cameras and an overall premium experience.

The Huawei Mate 20 X is, even today, an amazing device, and the screen size is unmatched if you’re into that sort of thing. It’s one of the best Huawei devices out there. It even has 5G, although your mileage may vary if you’re getting one of these in the U.S. Check it out!

Huawei Mate 20 X

The Huawei Mate 20 X has a massive 7.2-inch display that, while unwieldy, is a boon for consuming videos and other content. It also has most of the same internals as other Mate 20 devices do, and also features 5G connectivity.

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There’s a lot to like about the devices on our list. If you’re a fan of Huawei hardware, Huawei makes available their own ecosystem of apps and services so you don’t have to rely on actually having Google Play or Google apps in your device in order to get it to work. If you’re expecting it to use it more like other Android devices in the west, though, there’s also a lot of slightly older, yet still, very competitive devices that are fully supported by both Android updates from Huawei and full Google app support in tow.

The Huawei P40 Pro is this list’s crème de la crème with the best specs and features overall, while the Huawei P30 Pro is still very competitive in terms of performance while still providing Google apps. From there, we have everything from bleeding-edge devices with premium price points, such as the Huawei Mate Xs, all the way down to devices like the Huawei P Smart 2021 and the Huawei P30 Lite if you’re looking for something a little bit more affordable.

What do you think about our choices here? Let us know down in the comments!

The post These are the Best Huawei Phones you can buy right now appeared first on xda-developers.

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HBO Max adds 4K HDR support on Android TV and Google Chromecast with Google TV

Just in time for the holidays, HBO Max is treating its subscribers to a sweet surprise. A new update is rolling out to HBO Max users on Android TV and Google Chromecast, which finally adds support for 4K HDR content.

The support for 4K (via 9to5Google) comes as part of the v50.8.1.240 of the HBO Max app for Android, and it also adds support for Dolby Vision and Atmos formats. Although there’s no 4K or HDR content to stream on the streaming service at the moment, the good news is that the forthcoming release of Wonder Women 1984 will be available in 4K HDR, making it the first-ever title on the platform to be available in 4K. HBO says it’s working on adding more 4K titles to its catalog in the coming months.

We’re bringing holiday cheer with this update. HBO Max will now support 4K UHD, HDR, and Dolby Atmos on select devices and titles. We’ll be releasing even more 4K UHD titles throughout 2021—so stay tuned—we know you’ve been asking for this!

The 4K HDR support will be available only on select devices, with “supported Android TV” devices and the newest Google Chromecast with Google TV also on the list. Here are all the devices that will support 4K HDR streaming on HDR Max:

• Supported Android TV devices
• Chromecast Ultra
• Chromecast with Google TV
• Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K
• Amazon Fire TV Cube
• 4K Fire TV Edition smart TVs
• AT&T TV
• Apple TV 4K

HBO Max: Stream HBO, TV, Movies & More (Free⁺, Google Play) →

Wonder Woman 1984 is scheduled for release on Christmas Day. It will be simultaneously released in movie theatres and on HBO Max in the US. It will be available for streaming on the service for 1 month from the release date at no additional cost. HBO Max is owned by WarnerMedia, the parent company of Warner Bros. Officially launched in May 2020, the streaming service is currently only available in the U.S. and certain other territories.

The post HBO Max adds 4K HDR support on Android TV and Google Chromecast with Google TV appeared first on xda-developers.

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ASUS ROG Phone 3 Development Update: LineageOS 18.1, TWRP, and Google Camera ports

The ASUS ROG Phone 3 is undoubtedly one of the best gaming smartphones of 2020. The device ticks all the right boxes with its Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus SoC, 144Hz AMOLED display, 6,000mAh battery, up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM, and 512GB of fast UFS 3.1 storage. In an effort to boost the aftermarket development scene, the Taiwanese OEM promptly released the kernel sources and the bootloader unlock tool for the ROG Phone 3. Moreover, ASUS’ developer program means that the company even goes one step beyond by sending select developers units of its devices for development purposes.

ASUS ROG Phone 3 XDA Forums

ASUS ROG Phone 3 Review: The King of Gaming Smartphones is back

Now, owners of the phone will be glad to know that many custom developments have already popped up for the device over the last few weeks, including an unofficial build of TWRP, several Google Camera ports, and an Android 11-based custom ROM.

Unofficial TWRP

The first step required before you can step into modding your ROG Phone 3 is to unlock the bootloader. The next step is to flash a custom recovery image that will allow you to then flash custom ROM or kernel images as well as allowing you to make full system backups in case anything goes wrong. That’s where the unofficial build of TWRP compiled by XDA Recognized Developer Captain_Throwback comes in. Just check out everything it does in the XDA forum thread link!

Download unofficial TWRP for the ASUS ROG Phone 3

Unofficial LineageOS 18.1

XDA Senior Member aleasto was among the list of developers to receive a device from us, and thanks to that, we now have an unofficial build of LineageOS 18.1 based on Android 11. Although the ROM is fairly usable at its current stage, the fingerprint sensor is not working. If you want to bite the bullet anyway, grab the ROM from the following link.

Download unofficial LineageOS 18.1 for the ASUS ROG Phone 3

Google Camera port

Fans of the Google Camera mod will be glad to know that several stable ports are now available for this phone. The ports, which are based on Google Camera v7.3 and v8.0, reportedly works quite well with little to no issues. As per the forum post (linked below), you’ll be able to enjoy all Google Camera features on your ROG Phone 3 using these ports. However, you might encounter some issues while recording slow-motion video.

Download Google Camera ports for the ASUS ROG Phone 3

Along with the aforementioned releases, Kirisakura kernel’s developer Freak07 and CleanSlate kernel’s developer tbalden have also published Android 10-compatible custom kernels for this phone. Since both of them received the device from the company, it is expected that their custom kernels based on Android 11 should be available for the ROG Phone 3 sometime soon.

The post ASUS ROG Phone 3 Development Update: LineageOS 18.1, TWRP, and Google Camera ports appeared first on xda-developers.

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Bliss OS 14 brings Android 11 to your x86 desktop PC

The first alpha build of Bliss OS 14 is out, making it one of the first Android 11-based ROMs supporting the x86 environment. The build is obviously not stable, but it is proof that the developers are heading in the right direction. For those who don’t know, Bliss OS is an open-source Android project that is available for most Chromebooks, Windows/Linux PCs, or tablets released in the last 4 years and incorporates many optimizations, features, and expanded device support. In short, it gives a new life to your old and aging laptop, desktop, or tablet device.

The build includes a ‘minimal’ version of Bliss OS that uses kernel 5.8, mesa 20.1.0, etc. The developers have managed to extract libndk_translation and GApps from Google’s emulator images. While it is a work in progress, the developers have also managed to overcome some of the early issues to run ARM and ARM64 apps on the PC builds. The source code can be accessed over here.

Who’s bringing Android 11 to your PC? We are
Introducing Bliss OS 14 Alphas, from #AndroidGenericProject https://t.co/oISDIAZWL9@stayblissful pic.twitter.com/vbUsfS2xkJ

— Jon West (@electrikjesus) December 22, 2020

Android 11 does not allow users to hide the navbar. Hence as a workaround, “we have to use the old qemu.hw.mainkeys as a backup plan, so there is a script (toggle_nav.sh) that can be used to disable/enable the soft navbar and use Taskbar if you prefer. Just remember that you will need to remount / as RW (mount -o remount,rw /dev/loop(0) /) Use cat proc/mounts to see where / is mounted for your install.”

One of the newest members at the Bliss OS team and creator of Gearlock, @AXIM0S has also added Rusty-Magisk to the ROM allowing for a built-in compatibility layer with Magisk. Having said that, most of the magisk modules are not functional but development is ongoing. Recently, team Bliss had updated Bliss OS to versions 11.12 and 11.13, bringing support for ARM64 emulation and Magisk.

Here is also the build info shared via the official forum:

All Builds Include:

• Updated to Kernel-5.8
• Script for disabling navbar
• Taskbar (Desktop Mode Launcher)
• Launcher3 (normal tablet mode launcher)
• Lots more, check the changelog

Known new issues:

• Sleep states aren’t working right on a few machines. Some can cause SystemUI to restart.
• Some machines still have volume/sound issues, use 3rd party EQ or volume control.
• Bluetooth on some devices
• Rotation not working on some devices
• Most magisk modules
• Some ARM/ARM64 apps still do not work. Gimme logs
• No Alt-f1/f7 console this round. If you need to mount as RW, or need access to root console, please boot in debug mode or add DEBUG=(0/1/2) for logging level.
• Some soundcards still start up quiet AF, please use an EQ app like Volume Booster by Goodev or follow the last instructions from Android-x86 docs/groups.
• Widevine is not working yet, enjoy most other video formats for the moment
• Firefox browser force quits on some machines.

Try out Bliss OS on your machine and share your experience!

The post Bliss OS 14 brings Android 11 to your x86 desktop PC appeared first on xda-developers.

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