In The Beginning Many of the early cell phones were considered to be “car phones, ” as they were too large and cumbersome to carry around in a pocket or purse. However, in 1983, the Motorola DynaTAC 8x arrived on the market. Though huge by today’s standards, it was considered the first truly mobile phone because it was small enough to carry. The phone, though incredibly expensive, became a pop culture symbol, showing up on everyone from Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street, to high school heartbreaker, Zack Morris, in Saved by the Bell. However, cell phone use hadn’t spread…

The Google Pixel is the best Android Phone you can buy today. Whether it s the straight-from-Google Android software, top-notch performance or better-than-expected camera, the Pixel — in either size — does it all. Google Pixel The Google Pixel does almost everything right. Its metal body is well-built and easy to grip — in either the 5-inch or 5.5-inch size — and its spec sheet is top-notch, featuring a Snapdragon 821 and 4GB of RAM. But Google s Pixel, available in two sizes and screen resolutions, really makes the case for Google owning the hardware and the software. Android…

AT A Glance Plans start at $40 for 1GB. Strengths: Competitive pricing, no data overage charges. Weaknesses: Network strength, plan features. Sprint cell phone plans Sprint takes a similar approach to Verizon, offering cell phone plans in sizes ranging from Extra Small (1GB) to XX Large (40GB), but at a more affordable price. Each Sprint plan includes unlimited minutes and text messages, as well as . So if customers exceed their chosen data allotments, they won’t be charged overages. Sprint’s cell phone plans include a charge for the data package, plus a $20 monthly access charge…

From clamshell to multitouch, these cellphones made their mark - for better or worse. 1 of 11 In case you haven t heard, the cellphone celebrated its 40th birthday this past week. In its brief lifespan, the mobile phone has had an enormous impact on human society, including in developing regions where the personal computer remains prohibitively expensive. Of course, this doesn t mean that cellphone technology has reached its limits of innovation. Far from it, in fact. Those of us who live in areas with so-called advanced 4G LTE mobile networks still suffer from the occasional…

Smartphones are perhaps the most personal tech we own. That’s why it’s super important to pick the phone that’s best for your needs. There are many factors to consider from design and operating system to security and durability. We consider every aspect of the smartphone to determine whether it’s a good buy for you or if you’re better off with something else. When it comes to choosing the best smartphone, it’s always a tough decision. This year was particularly difficult, because we had two incredible contenders: the iPhone 7 Plus and the Google Pixel XL. After much debate and…

For as long as we ve had mobile phones, we ve been pre-occupied by their size. The brick-sized cordless phones of the late 80s gave way to smaller, more powerful mobile phones that could fit inside a pocket. The bulky Nokia phones of the nineties were soon replaced by the Motorola Razr, a thinner, sleeker flip phone with a 2.2-inch screen. Mobile phones that were the shape of a lipstick case or the height of a cigarette became popular alongside thick Blackberries. Then in 2007 the first iPhone came out and changed the notion of an ideal mobile phone forever. Mobile phones were…

A new study by federal scientists has found evidence that exposure to cellphone radiation can increase the risk of certain cancers in rats. However, experts from the National Institutes of Health are raising questions about the study, which is likely to spark more controversy over the safety of devices used by millions of people around the world. The research, conducted by the U.S. National Toxicology Program, tested the health effects of radiofrequency radiation (RFR) at frequencies and modulations used in the U.S. telecommunications industry. The lab rats were exposed to cellphone-like…

Your Android device is the portal to an amazing selection of world-class gaming. Here are our favorites. These days, you can use your smartphone for just about everything. There are Android apps for getting things done, for doing your office work, and for predicting the weather. You can even file your taxes. But what if you don t want to do any of those things? What if, instead of being productive, you d rather waste a few minutes, race a few laps, or slay a few dragons? For that, you need games, and for you, we have a list of our favorites. Our Favorites This is by no means…

Samsung Rogue. Image © Samsung Basic cell phones can handle making calls, checking e-mail, surfing the Web, and snapping a few pictures. If that s what you re looking for, check out this list of today s best handsets. The LG Remarq is an eco-friendly cell phone from Sprint. Sprint Looking to save some cash? (Who isn t, right?) If you want a basic cell phone, but don t want to spend a lot, check out this list of today s best cheap cell phones. All of the phones on this list can be had for $40 or less. Apple s new iPhone 4. Apple Today s phones keep getting smarter and smarter…

Next to the cheap, unlimited talk and text options offered by all the best cell phone plans across its competition, Consumer Cellular s limited-talk, limited-text options are affordable but disappointing. The company breaks those plans into two halves – voice minutes and text/data allocations – which you pay for separately. Minutes are available in six different tiers, ranging from zero minutes for just $10 a month (useful if you almost never call, with overages billed per minute) to unlimited minutes for $50. Text and data bundles are likewise tiered but in connected allocations…

Anyone interested in purchasing a cell phone will have so many options that the need for careful consideration becomes clear. In addition to choosing the right cell phone, a consumer must also consider the cell phone plan that goes with it. The wide variety of options available can be confusing, but that s where Wirefly comes in. Manually digging through all options is certainly a daunting task, and that is assuming that a prospective buyer can even find all the available options in the first place. Wirefly s innovative cell phone comparison tool will help you find the best…

Let s get the bottom-line out of the way at the beginning: Windows Phone is a fine smartphone operating system and the Lumia Icon is a very nice phone. If you re entrenched in the Google world, you might struggle with it, but if you re a Microsoft user or a new smartphone buyer, Windows Phone can be a good option. Those are the broad strokes. There is a lot more to discuss. Before I get into those details, let s recap this project. I wanted to look at Windows Phone because I d previously dismissed it as marginal in terms of market share, and therefore not worthy of much editorial…

Many people pay for more data than they actually need. One sure-fire way to minimize your data needs is to use Wi-Fi as much as possible. In particular try to avoid doing the following while you re on a cell network. Watching video streams: An HD-quality video stream consumes up to 5MB or 6MB per minute. Streaming one 4-minute video a day from YouTube can eat up 700MB of data each month. Making video calls: Face-to-face video calls can use a hefty 2.5MB to 3MB a minute. Listening to streamed music : Streaming favorite tunes to your phone eats up 1MB of data per minute. Listen…

Although it s already a year old and a bit long in the tooth, the LG G4 is technically still a high-end device that doesn t fall much behind the newer LG devices. Some may even argue that it boasts superior build quality in comparison with the LG G5, but we wouldn t jump to conclusions. What can t be argued is that the G4 had one of the better cameras in 2015 and this is kind of a mea culpa for the downsides of the phone, like the predominantly cold display and the questionable performance in more intensive tasks. LG V10 Before LG showed us the G5, another high-end device had…