Table of contents for January 2026 in Tech Advisor

The latest Pixel Drop is here, bringing several new features to Pixel smartphones. Google has commenced rolling out its latest Pixel Drop, which is the name it gives to major Pixel smartphone software updates laden with fresh features. Here are the main additions you can expect. NOTIFICATION SUMMARIES Google has put its powerful AI to use in offering bite-sized summaries of incoming notifications right there in the notification shade. This means you can get the gist of a lengthy message or conversation at a glance, without even opening the app. We’ve seen something similar from Apple in recent versions of iOS, though it’s often not very useful. Here’s hoping Google’s provision gives more useful insight. From late 2025, Google says you’ll be able to silence lower-priority notifications. PERSONALISED PHOTO EDITS…

WhatsApp has released a dedicated app for the Apple Watch smartwatch, and not before time. The immensely popular Meta-owned messaging service has waited more than 10 years to supply an app to Apple’s also-immensely-popular smartwatch, but it’s finally here. Over on the official WhatsApp blog (tinyurl.com/5ya3mh76), the company outlines some of the features and benefits to downloading the free app. Naturally the main positive is that you’ll be able to check and respond to your messages (even really long ones) without needing to bring your iPhone into play. It’s possible to view more of your chat history on screen when you’re reading these messages, too. But there are some other cool features that have been added to this dedicated app. FEATURES You’ll also be able to see who’s placing those…

Apple’s iPad line-up is the most extensive it’s ever been. There’s the cute and compact iPad mini (A17 Pro), the excellent everyday iPad (A16), the powerful and portable iPad Air (M3) and at the top, you have the iPad Pro. Until recently, that was the iPad Pro (M4), but Apple has now introduced a more advanced processor to this slab in the M5, whilst also improving connectivity and adding, for the first time on iPad, fast charging. If you have the iPad Pro (M4), it’s highly unlikely you’ll be upgrading, but if you have an older iPad Pro, another iPad, or you’re new to iPad entirely, there’s a lot to love in the iPad Pro (M5). Having used it since it was announced, here’s why it cements itself as best…

Tablet computers are now more powerful than ever, with some being capable of operating heavy-duty productivity apps and even serving as a laptop replacement in some cases. Regardless of the type of tablet that you’re after, you can lean on our expertise to choose from one of the best tablets currently available. It seems strange to think now that when tablet devices first hit the scene, it was quite a spectacle to see them provide a seamless web browsing experience, as well as the chance to indulge in some entertainment, whether that was a spot of YouTube or a quick round of Angry Birds. Nowadays, it’s a completely different story. With tablet-friendly versions of Final Cut Pro, Microsoft Office and more, you can get through an entire working day with…

You could soon be able to remove Google’s contentious At a Glance widget from your Pixel smartphone home screen. For several members of the Tech Advisor team, you’d have to pry their Google Pixel 10 phones from their cold dead hands. But even these Pixel converts would admit (indeed, grumble loudly) that there’s an annoyingly persistent flaw with the Pixel Home Screen layout. It continues to be impossible to remove the At a Glance widget from the main Home Screen on a Pixel phone. Google’s multi-functional widget might be extremely useful (I’m a fan, personally), but the fact that you can’t opt to replace it with something else (or indeed nothing) is deeply irritating. And while we’re at it, why does it have to take up so much space? GLANCING…

Following a few years of absence, Oppo returned to the UK market with the Oppo Find X8 Pro in late 2024. At the time, I said it was probably the best camera phone you could buy. Now, its successor has landed, with a fresh design and upgrades all over, and I couldn’t be more excited. This model sports the latest Dimensity 9500 chip, a gargantuan 7,500mAh battery, a new camera system (including a 200Mp telephoto), and a photography kit with an attachable telephoto extender. All signs point towards it being one of the best camera phones of the past 12 months. I’ve had this phone for almost a month, and I’ve been using it as my primary handset the majority of the time. I’ve tested absolutely everything and flown around…

What do people actually want from an Android tablet? It’s a question that’s been on our minds for a few years now, and judging from the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11, it’s been on Samsung’s too. After a year in which the company dropped the regular model from its premium tablet range, leaving only the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10+ to accompany the flagship Ultra model, the South Korean manufacturer has decided on yet another new approach. This time around, there’s no Samsung Galaxy Tab S11+, with only a Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 and a Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra to choose from. With prices starting from £799, you’re getting a highly capable 11-inch tablet with strong performance, a bright screen, powerful software, and a bundled-in stylus. But aside from Samsung’s line-up…

As someone who tests phones for a living, my SIM card rarely stays in the same device for more than a month. On average, I’ve switched to a new smartphone around 10 times in the past year, and on more than 50 occasions in the past five years. That’s a lot! In 2025, switching from one Android phone to another is easier than ever before. Simply connect your two devices and almost everything will be handled for you. The only thing you really need to worry about is messaging apps such as WhatsApp, which require a separate backup. However, that doesn’t mean your work is done once you land on the home screen. In many ways, it’s only just begun. The process of fine-tuning and tweaking everything to your liking…

The Samsung Galaxy Ring is about to get a powerful new mixed reality feature, just as two new smart ring competitors join the fight. Android Authority (tinyurl.com/2kzc6c96) has uncovered code in the latest update to the Galaxy Ring Manager app that refers to a “Ring gesture for glasses”. Samsung, of course, recently announced its Galaxy XR headset, which is the first hardware to run on Google’s Android XR mixed reality platform. While there’s no further information here, the reference would certainly seem to indicate that you’ll be able to use your Samsung Galaxy Ring for gesture-based control of the Galaxy XR headset. SOUNDBAR STREAM It’s a good job Samsung is filling out its smart ring’s feature set, because it’s set for some fresh competition. Two former Meta employees have launched…

Last year’s Pixel 9 Pro Fold brought with it some massive changes, but with the launch of the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, Google is sticking to its tried and tested design. At a glance, you might struggle to tell the two apart, aside from the fetching new colour options. However, looks can be deceiving, and the latest foldable Pixel has some significant changes beneath the surface. Like the rest of the Pixel 10 line-up, it gets the Pixelsnap magnet treatment, Tensor G5 chipset, and some new software features. It also has a bigger battery, faster charging, better durability and brighter screens. It must be said, though, that the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is launching in a very different landscape from last year’s model. Samsung wowed us with its ultra-thin and…

Smartwatches are well and truly part of our daily tech ecosystem, and time flies if you’ll excuse the pun, because Google is already on its fourth generation of Pixel Watch. It took Google a while to get into the game, despite making software for wearables for such a long time previously, but the Pixel Watch quickly established itself as one of the best alternatives to the Apple Watch. The Pixel Watch 4 might look similar to the last model, but that’s no bad thing and Google has made various improvements and upgrades which are hard to see at a glance. With the Galaxy Watch 8 series from Samsung proving something of a disappointment, the Pixel Watch 4 might be the best Wear OS smartwatch of the year. I’ve been using…

Even if the display of your phone or tablet with iOS/iPadOS or Android is damaged and operation is impossible, there are various ways to recover your data. However, there is no guarantee of success. The first step to recovering the data should always be to connect your normal charging cable to the smartphone and connect it to the PC or Mac. In many cases, this will allow you to access the data on the device and synchronise it with the PC or Mac. With a bit of luck, you will be able to save the data on your iPhone and Android smartphone if you have not already set up synchronisation with iCloud or Google Drive. Unfortunately, the mobile phone can sometimes be seen on the PC or Mac, but the…