Author
Updated
562 stories by Team MMR.
Apps & Games
Compression, colour profiles and high dynamic range each change an image on its way out of the phone. Which one is responsible, and how to send a picture that survives the trip.
Apps & Games
The backup on one platform cannot be restored on the other. What the official routes carry, what they leave behind, and the order the steps have to happen in.
In Depth
The words are not regulated and are used differently by every seller. What to ask before buying, and which checks to run in the first hour.
In Depth
Sustained performance and peak performance are different specifications. What the phone is protecting, what makes it worse, and what you can actually do about it.
In Depth
The quoted number is measured on a fraction of the panel for a short time. Here is how the three figures on a specification sheet differ and which one you actually live with.
In Depth
Many displays dim by switching off and on very fast. Some people see it, more people feel it, and the specification that decides it is almost never printed on the box.
In Depth
The panel is only one of three things that have to agree. What the refresh rate range means, why applications get stuck at 60, and what the setting labelled auto is really choosing.
In Depth
One moves glass, the other crops and warps the frame. The difference shows up in low light, in video, and in a specification sheet that often declines to be clear about it.
In Depth
A high-resolution sensor does not take high-resolution photographs by default. Understanding why explains most of the gap between a camera specification and a camera.
In Depth
Extending memory into storage is real, useful and misrepresented. What it does for app retention, what it cannot do for speed, and what it costs the drive.
Know Your Phone
Position errors in cities come from signals arriving twice. What the second frequency fixes, what assisted positioning does, and which of the usual advice is superstition.
Know Your Phone
A phone on last year's release with this month's patches is in better shape than one with a shiny version number and a patch date from two summers ago. The two are not the same thing.
Know Your Phone
Messages that land in a batch an hour later are usually the result of three separate power systems doing their job. Here is which one to change and which to leave alone.
Know Your Phone
The app is not checking whether your phone is safe. It is asking the phone to prove where it came from — and a modified phone cannot answer.
Know Your Phone
An ingress rating is a laboratory result, not a promise. What the digits mean, why warranties exclude liquid anyway, and what to do in the first minutes.
Know Your Phone
The number in the settings, the number your files add up to and the number on the box are three different things. Here is what sits in the gaps and which of it you can reclaim.
Know Your Phone
The update you disliked may be permanent. A one-way counter in hardware decides that, and knowing how it works is the difference between a delayed update and a dead handset.
Know Your Phone
One radio chain, two subscriptions. What DSDS actually shares, when a phone can hold two fast lines at once, and which settings change the outcome.
Know Your Phone
Unlocking is reversible in the obvious sense and irreversible in several others. This is the list of what changes, what a re-lock restores, and what it does not.
Know Your Phone
A handset can be brilliant and still be half-deaf on your network. The check takes ten minutes, and it has to cover voice and standalone 5G as well as the raw band numbers.
Know Your Phone
The certification level decides what resolution a streaming app is allowed to give you. Here is where it comes from, how to read it, and why it can disappear after an unlock.
Know Your Phone
Cycle counts, voltage sag and the gap between rated and delivered capacity — what each one means, which ones your phone already records, and which numbers are worth ignoring.
Know Your Phone
Fast charging is a negotiation between phone, cable and adapter. When any part of it fails, the pair falls back to a slow default — and nothing on screen explains why.
Know Your Phone
An eSIM profile is not a file you copy. It is issued once, installed once and, on most networks, deleted before it can be issued again — which is why the order of operations matters.