This is the first Note that isn’t all about specs. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Android

After kicking off the “phablet” trend in 2011, the Galaxy Note series has become the bigger and better smartphone in Samsung’s lineup every year — and usually the best phablet on the market. But with this year’s Note 5, a lot has changed.

Samsung has snubbed a number of popular features to take a gamble on the new design language it first introduced with the Galaxy S6 earlier this year. It makes the Note 5 far prettier than its predecessors, but does it make for a better handset overall?

You bet your S Pen it does!

Save up to $1,000 on your mobile phone bill each year with the Motorola Moto E and service from FreedomPop.

The Moto E is well-regarded by tech experts as a solid, high-performing smartphone for its price range, and this purchase even comes fully loaded with one year of premier cell service, no strings attached. It’s fast and well-designed, packed with great functionality yet affordably price—leaving you with nothing to do but click buy.

The iPhone 6s’ 12MP camera is a great performer. Photo: SuperSaf TV

Sony’s new Xperia Z5 has the best smartphone camera available, according to the experts at DxOMark — but that could be about to change.

In a number of real-world tests, the Xperia Z5’s 23-megapixel shooter is outperformed by the 12-megapixel camera inside the iPhone 6s Plus.

Marshmallow has something up its sleeve? Photo: Google

Android 6.0 Marshmallow is packed full of new features and big improvements to performance and efficiency — but there’s one new addition you probably knew nothing about.

It’s called “System UI Tuner,” and it’s a secret menu that provides access to a whole host of customization options that were previously unavailable on Android without root access.

Google Drive backup is on its way. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android

WhatsApp for Android is getting the ability to backup conversations to Google Drive, ensuring you don’t lose important or sentimental messages when you switch devices.