Rooting an Android phone unlocks a level of customization stock firmware can't touch, but the real power comes from the modules layered on top. After years of flashing and re-flashing, these four make the cut every single time.

I have been using smartphones for just about as long as Android has existed. Countless phones have lived in my pockets, and I begrudgingly put cases on many of them. However, screen protectors are where I’ve always drawn the line—until disaster finally struck.

Virtually every modern smartphone is big, but there was a time when companies made extra-wide phablets (a portmanteau of "phone tablets") and were proud of it. Samsung's early Galaxy Note models are the classic examples, but there were several others that made screen width their selling angle. Now, they're coming back.

Tablets are great. You can use them for anything from browsing the web to watching your favorite shows. They're incredibly versatile, but that versatility can come at a cost. There are plenty of things that a jailbroken Kindle can do better.

SIM cards are a relic of an age where multiple people had to share a single phone, and the cards themselves were enormous. These days, SIM cards are tiny and technically unnecessary thanks to the rise of eSIMs.

Most people don't think about their phone-to-car connection until it stops working in the middle of a trip. Suddenly, you're poking at a touchscreen, doing exactly what you were trying to avoid. Getting Android Auto to play your music the moment you start driving sounds simple, and parts of it are. However, it takes some deliberate setup and a few spots where things can quietly break.

Android Auto puts your phone under an incredibly heavy workload, and summer heat only makes things worse. After only a couple of hours on the road, you've probably picked up your phone and noticed that it isn't just warm—it gets almost too hot to hold.

Many cellular carriers proudly claim to have unlimited data plans, but that's misleading: in many cases, you'll face throttling once you pass a cap. You might have to pay extra to restore the service you expect, and features like hotspot tethering or cellular smartwatches might have their own restrictions.

When I carried around a Samsung Galaxy phone every day, I used Samsung Wallet for tap-to-pay. Now that I've switched to a Motorola Razr Fold, I'm using Google Wallet. In the process, I've learned the one key distinction that makes Google Wallet a more practical option in day-to-day life.

Android Auto is supposed to make driving easier, but that quickly falls apart if it's more annoying to use than your phone. This is especially true if you find yourself dealing with sluggish animations, delayed inputs, and an interface that takes ages to open apps.

The beauty of Android is the huge ecosystem of awesome open-source apps available for the platform. There is an entire app store called F-Droid that exclusively features free and open-source apps. Some of these apps are so good that I would pay for them if they weren’t free. I’m sharing a few here.

Back in the day, Android phones were a lot more daring. Companies experimented with all kinds of wild designs, features, and even pricing. Among all the phones that tried to stand out over the past decade, one captured the enthusiast fanbase like no other: the coveted OnePlus One.

No one likes a phone that's starting to lag, glitch, or slow down, especially when it's a fancy high-end Samsung Galaxy. No matter which phone you have, the way we use these devices all day, every day, can eventually slow things down. Fortunately, there's one easily overlooked setting that'll keep your Galaxy feeling fast and new.

OnePlus is officially exiting the U.S. and Europe after months of shrinking its presence. Parent company Oppo has confirmed that OnePlus will no longer release new products in North America or Europe, although it will continue to provide support.

It wasn’t that long ago that Android phones came without pre-installed weather apps. Now, every Galaxy and Pixel phone comes with a stock weather widget on the home screen, and many people simply never bother to download a different one. I’m here to tell you you’re missing out.

MicroSD card slots were once ubiquitous on Android phones. Now they’ve all but disappeared—at least from the more premium models. Why are the best phones seemingly making us do with less?

Epic Games' fight with Google is about to pay dividends for American Android users. Google has confirmed that third-party Android app stores in the U.S. will be available through the Play Store beginning July 22, 2026, and can offer Play Store apps.