Section: Tech:Phones & Gadgets

GOOGLE has always excelled when it comes to smartphone cameras – but the latest effort might have gone too far.

When I tried out the new Google Pixel 10 Pro XL’s star feature I gasped and said “Good God”.

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I showed friends some of the results and they were stunned – if a little disturbed – by what the device’s mega zoom was capable of.

My colleague Sean Keach has already tried the smaller Pixel 10 Pro and has given his verdict on the identical camera features on there too.

But is it all worth it?

As The Sun’s main Android smartphone reviewer I’ve been putting the Pixel 10 Pro XL through its paces and here’s what I found…

Google Pixel 10 Pro XL: Look and feel

Google has stuck to a pretty consistent, solid look on the Pixel 10 Pro XL.

As ever with annual upgrades, you may even struggle to tell the difference between last year’s Pixel 9 Pro XL which I also reviewed.

I love the mat glass back and the shiny G logo, it just gives off such a confident premium vibe.

The camera bar is pretty much the same as last year too and I’m still undecided about the bulkiness of it, even though it’s quite tidy and neat.

But given the sorts of photos it takes, all that kit has to be packed in somewhere.

The display has had a noticeable upgrade this year, which is brighter and bursting with crisp detail too.

However, the Pixel 10 Pro XL hasn’t been taking a techy dose of Ozempic like Samsung and iPhone this year with thinner models – it weighs 232g, up a bit on last year.

I absolutely adore the new colours this year too, with Moonstone (the one I’m reviewing) Jade, Porcelain and Obsidian.

Google Pixel 10 Pro XL: Performance and features

Google continues to use its own Tensor chip in Pixel smartphones and this year’s Tensor G5 kit is said to be about 35 per cent faster.

It certainly operates smoothly and without any hiccups in my testing – but this chip isn’t as powerful as the Snapdragon chip found in most other top end smartphones around.

The handset runs on Android 16, the latest version of the operating system and it’s my absolute favourite around – which should be a given seeing as Google owns Android.

A lot of the features are centred on AI once again and most are photography based, which I’ll go into later.

But there are some other tools such as Voice Translate, which translates calls in real-time and sounds like each speaker’s own voice.

Having tried it with my partner in French, it was somewhat eerie to hear.

And it’s all done on device, so no sensitive call conversations are sent off to the cloud.

Google is also among the best for offering quick and fast Android upgrades for years to come, with a commitment to seven operating system versions and seven years of security upgrades.

Who offers free updates longest?

The longer you receive updates, the longer you can safely continue using your smartphone – with the latest features thrown in too for free.

Samsung
Samsung offers at least seven generations of OS updates and seven years of security updates on most of its smartphones, even its latest cheaper FE model.

OnePlus
At the launch of the OnePlus 13, OnePlus committed to at least four years of Android updates and five years of security updates.

Xiaomi
Xiaomi offers four years off Android updates and five years security updates.

Google
For the Pixel 10 series, Google said that devices would receive at least seven years of support.

Google Pixel 10 Pro XL: Battery

You can easily get a good day’s worth of use out of the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL with a good mix of browsing, messaging and Netflix as I tend to test it on.

But it’s not the best battery around – I got more out of the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

There is fast charging though, that’ll get you from zero to full in about an hour and a half with a compatible plug charger.

Google Pixel 10 Pro XL: Camera

The camera on the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL is where things get really juicy.

You have a treasure trove of powerful lenses paired up with AI power to enhance everything.

There’s a 50-megapixel main camera, 48-megapixel ultrawide and 48-megapixel 5x telephoto, as well as a 42-megapixel selfie snapper.

The photos I get on a Pixel are always super impressive with incredible detail and popping with vibrant colour.

It exudes beauty inside and out, and makes taking stunning photos effortless

This year’s shocker is the Pro Res Zoom which can get extremely detailed shots from a remarkable distance, seeing things my naked eye cannot.

It can go up to an eye-watering 100x.

Anything above 30x onward uses an AI model on the phone to recreate bits lost from digital zoom, so it does raise questions about how real the results are.

Whatever way you look at it, the images are highly convincing, as you’ll see from the snaps I took from the same position below with no zoom, a 10x zoom, a 50x zoom and a 100x zoom.

One thing to note: when using the zoom faces are automatically blurred.

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Google Pixel 10 Pro XL: Price

One bit of good news about the price is it hasn’t increased from last year’s models.

So the Pixel 10 Pro XL starts at £1,199.

If that’s a bit steep for you, you might want to consider the Pixel 10 Pro instead which has much of the same in a smaller physical form from £999 instead.

There’s also a freebie worth £190 included with all the Pro models.

You get access to Gemini Pro for a whole year, which is Google’s more powerful and fast AI system, capable of extra skills such as Veo 3 Fast for text-to-video generation.

All prices in this article were correct at the time of writing, but may have since changed.

Always do your own research before making any purchase.

META has launched a dizzying array of new hi-tech glasses – including a posh pair with a built-in screen for seeing apps.

The new specs were unveiled at today’s Meta Connect event by tech boss Mark Zuckerberg, alongside a genius AI that can create any video game that you dream up.

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Meta Connect is the company’s annual showcase for new gadgets and apps.

META RAY-BAN DISPLAY

This year, the headline product is the Meta Ray-Ban Display.

This is the company’s most advanced pair of smart specs to go on sale so far. The Sun’s Sean Keach has already tried them – read his Meta Ray-Ban Display hands-on impressions.

Regular Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses come with a built-in camera and microphone, and an AI assistant to answer questions – even about real-world objects that you’re looking at.

But the new Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses go one step further and feature a built-in screen.

This display is invisible to the outside world, so no one can see what you’re looking at.

But it can show you apps – like WhatsApp text chains, Instagram Reels, or your camera viewfinder – that float in your field of view.

You can even use it to see live captions over the face of someone speaking to you.

It’s a full-colour display but you can still see what’s going on behind the overlays.

You can even use it to follow directions that float in front of your eyes – but only for walking, not for driving.

They come with a Meta Neural Band, which goes on your wrist and detects tiny movements that let you control what you’re seeing.

So tap your fingers together to select, or roll your thumb to scroll.

The glasses start at $799 and are available from September 13 at limited stores in the US, followed by a UK release in early 2026.

They come in two colours, Black and Sand, with colour-matched Meta Neural Bands to go with them.

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META RAY-BAN GEN 2 GLASSES

The regular Meta Ray-Ban glasses have also been upgraded.

There’s now a new Gen 2 version that Meta says serves up twice the battery life of the old model.

And you’ll get 3K Ultra HD video capture too.

They’ll still feature the AI assistant, offer real-time translation, and music playback too.

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But now they’ll last eight hours with “typical use”, according to Meta.

And you can charge them up to 50% in 20 minutes, with a charging case that gets you an extra 48 hours of use.

There’s also an upcoming Conversation Focus mode that amplifies the voice of the person that you’re talking to.

So you can hear them better when you’re somewhere with a lot of ambient noise, like a busy restaurant.

There are some new styles too, given that this is effectively a fashion accessory as well as a gadget.

The new glasses go on sale today and start at $379 – with the Gen 1 version priced at $299.

META OAKLEY VANGUARD GLASSES

Meta has also teamed up with Oakley for some proper sports-friendly smart-glasses.

There’s a new product category called Oakley Meta Vanguard, which are meant for high-intensity activities.

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So think: outdoor cycling, mountain biking, trail running.

They have an “action-ready camera” built in, and a three-point-fit system plus three replaceable nose pads so you get a secure fit.

After all, you don’t want your posh specs falling off a cliff.

They have Oakley PRIZMTM Lens tech to block out sun, wind, and dust – and feature built-in speakers too, plus a five-microphone array that reduces wind noise.

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You’ll get nine hours of battery life from a pair – or six hours with continuous music playback.

And the charging case gets you an extra 36 hours of charge, with 50% refuelling for the glasses in 20 minutes.

You can also pair the glasses with Garmin and Strava to query your performance, and even overlay your exercise metrics on the video you capture.

The glasses start at £499 in the UK and $499 in the US.

META AI TO CREATE YOUR OWN GAMES

Meta also showed off a special tool that makes it extremely easy to create your own video games.

The games live inside Meta’s Horizon metaverse, which is a series of digital worlds that you can share with pals.

And now Meta has developed its AI helper to let you create massive virtual worlds, game textures, audio, skyboxes, and characters all just by typing in some words.

You can even generate custom voices for characters, give them personalities, and they’ll spring to life in seconds.

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The AI lets you create game rules and systems, spawn objects, and change what you’ve magicked up on the fly.

Importantly, you don’t need any experience of coding.

You just chat to the AI in a conversational way to edit your game, and it’ll generate automatically in just a few seconds.

Then you can invite friends to play in a custom video game that would normally have taken thousands of hours to create.

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I’VE already had a go with Mark Zuckerberg’s snazzy new smart glasses with a screen built in.

I’m out in California at Meta Connect where the company has unveiled the new Meta Ray-Ban Display smart specs – and I got an early demo with the new gadget.

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If you’re not familiar with Meta Ray-Ban gear, they’re a fairly simple concept.

They’re a pair of eyeglasses with cameras built in (for taking pics), microphones for calling, speakers for listening to music, and an AI assistant to answer your spoken questions. In fact, you can even ask about things you’re looking at – like a statue or a piece of art. Or your own wardrobe, if you want style advice.

Now Meta and Ray-Ban have created a brand new version with a built-in display, and they’ve aptly named it the Meta Ray-Ban Display.

This hi-tech gadget is the company’s first publicly available pair of smart glasses with a screen built in. And honestly, they’re pretty incredible.

Before I get into the features that I found most impressive, here’s what you actually get.

META RAY-BAN DISPLAY EXPLAINED

These glasses have all the features of a regular pair of Meta Ray-Ban specs.

But the main difference is that there’s a new full-colour hi-res display.

It has impressive clarity: I could easily read small text, see enough detail in images, and colour was bright and vibrant.

Obviously it’s nowhere near the screen experience of a smartphone, or a mixed-reality headset like the Meta Quest 3 or Apple Vision Pro.

But for an overlay on a pair of glasses, it’s pretty wild.

More importantly, no one else can see what you’re looking at. There’s no sign to the outside world that you’ve even got display running.

The display will show apps from your phone, like WhatsApp text threads, or Instagram Reels, or a Google Maps navigation window.

And you can also chat to the AI helper and see its responses in plain view – rather than simply relying on an audio reply.

To control what you’re seeing, you don a Meta Neural Band on your wrist.

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This picks up on tiny micro-movements, detects the gestures you make, and translates them as controls on the glasses.

So touching your index finger to your thumb is equivalent to a click or tap on a PC or phone.

You can go back by tapping your index finger to your thumb.

And rolling your thumb on your fist lets you scroll up and down, as well as left and right.

It’s very easy and intuitive.

And because it’s using the wristband and not cameras or sensors, you can have your hand off to the side or even behind you and the controls still work. This is pretty special.

So, what are the special tricks that blew me away?

META RAY-BAN DISPLAY HANDS-ON – MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE SPECS

First up is Live Captions.

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This will caption the words of someone you’re speaking to in real life.

So as you look at their face, you’ll see their words popping up as text in real time.

This is obviously life-changing for anyone with hearing issues.

But even if you’re just struggling to hear someone in a crowded restaurant, it’s pretty useful.

But that’s not all.

The glasses are directional, so they know where you’re looking.

I was chatting to someone from Meta while another person was nearby having their own conversation.

And my live captions focused in on the Meta person and cut out all of the ambient conversation.

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Then when I turned my head to look at the other person next to me, the captions switched to their speech instead.

This all happened in an instant. Incredible.

The next thing I was impressed by isn’t necessarily a life-changing mega-feature.

But it’s pretty neat and I think actually very useful. So it shouldn’t be overlooked.

Recipes.

Yes, you can ask Meta AI how to cook something, and it’ll conjure up the recipe.

Then it’ll hover in front of you in easy steps, and you can swipe along with the thumb gesture.

So you can follow along and cook without having a physical book or laptop there.

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And if you’re baking, you don’t actually have to touch a book or a device while your hands are covered in flour, or pizza dough, or whatever else. Very convenient.

Next is the Google Maps navigation, which is so plainly handy that it hardly needs me to explain why it’s useful.

Your exact directions will appear on the screen, telling you which way to walk.

And yes, it only works with walking. You can’t use this feature while driving. Safety first.

It’s a neat way to find your way around without having to constantly pull out your phone.

And that means it’s also a nice way to avoid falling prey to those pesky phone-snatchers too.

Video-calling is also on my list of incredible features.

Not that video-calling is anything new, of course.

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But dialling on WhatsApp and having the person’s face pop-up right in front of my eyes without blocking the outside world felt very sci-fi.

Except it’s not sci-fi, because I did it and it was seamless. It’s not quite teleporting, but it’s pretty close.

And lastly, I want to highlight how simple the controls are.

These are exceptionally easy to use, even if you have very little tech experience.

The Neural Band is very responsive, and even gives you haptic feedbacks – which feel like tiny nudges – to let you know you’ve successfully completed an interaction.

It takes literally 30 seconds to learn the moves, and then just a few minutes more to fully master them.

I had the specs on for about 20 to 30 minutes, and by the end, I was easily controlling the apps with my hands behind my back.

If that all sounds like great fun, you’ll be glad to know that the glasses go on sale in the US at select stores on September 30.

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They’ll cost you $799 for a pair, and that includes the Meta Neural Band and a case too.

If you want one in the UK, Meta says that you’ll have to wait until early 2026.

I WAS one of the first people in the world to have a go with the new iPhone Air.

Details about the ‘thinnest ever’ Apple mobile had leaked before this week’s launch event and I was expecting to think it was a bit pointless. But actually, it’s quite brilliant.

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I had a chance to go hands-on with the ultra-svelte smartphone at Apple Park in California this week.

Apple showed off four new mobiles including the iPhone 17, plus three upgraded Apple Watch models and a fresh pair of AirPods.

But the iPhone Air – with its shockingly skinny 5.6mm side profile – stole the show.

It’s what everyone is talking about. Just trying to get a hold of it at the Apple event felt like entering a warzone.

Once I managed to squeeze past an army of influencers and the world’s tech press, I got a good 10 minutes with the new model.

Here’s what I was worried about.

Firstly, I’m quite used to giant phones. I usually use the Pro Max models, and they fit in my pocket just fine.

Secondly, when you make a phone very thin, you usually have to make some compromises.

It often means sticking a rubbish camera on the back, or slashing battery life, or both.

Apple has managed to produce what is an extremely pocketable mobile with seemingly very few compromises.

The screen is a fairly giant 6.6 inches, making it bigger than the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro.

It’s also very lightweight at 165 grams.

By comparison, my iPhone 16 Pro Max is 227 grams. The difference is night and day.

The iPhone Air felt feathery in my hand, even though it’s built from weighty (and tough) titanium.

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It’s also nice to hold because of the slim frame.

Apple has crammed most of the core components into the camera bump, leaving the rest of the phone’s body free for battery.

It’s impressive engineering and looks great.

On top of that, my early fears about camera and battery life might come to nothing at all.

Apple says you’ll get a very healthy 27 hours of video playback per charge from the iPhone Air.

I think as long as it gets you through a day comfortably, it’s perfectly fine.

Of course I won’t know for sure until I test it out, but Apple has made a promising…promise.

The camera also looks quite clever.

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I had a quick (and successful) demo in the Steve Jobs Theater, but it’s a beautiful and brightly lit room, so that doesn’t tell me much.

But on paper, the camera sounds decent enough.

You’ve got a 48-megapixel Fusion camera system that allows for multiple focal lengths, plus a telephoto-style system that delivers 2x zoom to what Apple calls “optical quality”.

And it can even capture video in 4K Dolby Vision at 60 frames per second.

The phone packs in Apple’s brand new and very powerful A19 Pro.

And at £999/$999, it’s cheaper than both of Apple’s top-end models – the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max – by £100/$100 and £200/$200 respectively.

It’s one of the most striking iPhone models we’ve seen in years, and I’m excited to test it.

Air we go…

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MILLIONS of phones will sound a siren next week in one of the largest public safety exercises.

The national emergency alert test will take place at around 3pm on ­Sunday, September 7.

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Pat McFadden, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said: “It will be one of the UK’s largest public safety exercises in history.”

“It is a vital tool for keeping the nation safe when lives are on the line – and every minute matters.”

Phones will vibrate and emit a siren-like tone for ten seconds, with a test message appearing on screens to make clear the alert is only a drill.

Only 4G and 5G-enabled phones and tablets will receive the alert.

The Government has used the system to issue real warnings five times, including in January during Storm Eowyn to warn people in Scotland and Northern Ireland about severe weather.

Approximately 3.5 million people across Wales and south-west England received an alert during Storm Darragh last December.

A 500kg unexploded Second World War bomb found in a Plymouth back garden triggered a warning to some 50,000 phones in February last year.

Messages can be targeted to relatively small areas to pinpoint those at risk.

Some 15,000 phones were alerted during flooding in Cumbria in May 2024, and 10,000 received a warning during flooding in Leicestershire in January this year.

The system is designed for use during the most likely emergencies to affect the UK and warnings would also be transmitted on television, radio and locally by knocking on doors.

A COMMON phone mistake that you think is saving battery life is actually doing the opposite.

Millions of us do it every single day – but even Apple has warned users not to bother.

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Loads of iPhone owners spend time every day quitting their apps.

They’ll swipe them closed, quitting them in order to save a bit of battery life.

But Apple says it doesn’t actually save battery life at all.

“You should only close an app if it’s unresponsive,” Apple said.

The iPhone maker continued: “Typically, there’s no reason to quit an app.

“Quitting it doesn’t save battery power, for example.”

In fact, it could even be making things worse.

After you move to a different app, the old one will be “suspended”.

“After you’ve switched to a different app, some apps will run for a short period of time before they’re set to a suspended state,” Apple explained.

“Apps that are in a suspended state aren’t actively in use, open or taking up system resources.”

They’re kept in a suspended state so that it’s quicker and more power-efficient to relaunch them.

But if you fully force-quit an app, it will need to reboot from scratch, which is slower and takes up more power.

So it’s better to just leave them in a suspended state unless there’s an actual issue with the app – like it keeps freezing or crashing.

HOW TO CHECK WHAT’S REALLY DRAINING YOUR BATTERY

So what are you supposed to do if your iPhone’s battery life isn’t as good as you’d like?

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Well you can very easily check to see which apps and features are draining the most battery.

Just go into Settings > Battery and you can look at a long list of apps order by how much charge they’re using.

If there are any high-drain apps you don’t really care about, consider deleting them.

Or try turning off Background App Refresh for that app if you don’t want it to periodically check for new info (like email notifications). Just note that this might make the app work less well.

BATTERY SWAP

Another option is to check up on the health of your iPhone’s battery.

Over time – as you charge and discharge them – phone batteries get worse. This is just the nature of lithium ion batteries.

That means the more you use your iPhone, the less charge it will hold over time.

So your iPhone will run out of battery more quickly.

IPHONE BATTERY SWAP – HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?

Here’s how much you’ll pay for iPhone battery replacements in the UK and the US..

iPhone 5 Series

iPhone SE Series

• iPhone SE (1st gen) – £N/A / $69
• iPhone SE (2nd gen) – £65 / $69
• iPhone SE (3rd gen) – £65 / $69

iPhone 6 Series

• iPhone 6 – £N/A / $69
• iPhone 6s – £N/A / $69
• iPhone 6s Plus – £N/A / $69

iPhone 7 Series

• iPhone 7 – £65 / $69
• iPhone 7 Plus – £65 / $69

iPhone 8 Series

• iPhone 8 – £65 / $69
• iPhone 8 Plus – £65 / $69

iPhone X Series

iPhone XR/XS Series

• iPhone XR – £85 / $89
• iPhone XS – £85 / $89
• iPhone XS Max – £85 / $89

iPhone 11 Series

• iPhone 11 – £85 / $89
• iPhone 11 Pro – £85 / $89
• iPhone 11 Pro Max – £85 / $89

iPhone 12 Series

• iPhone 12 mini – £85 / $89
• iPhone 12 – £85 / $89
• iPhone 12 Pro – £85 / $89
• iPhone 12 Pro Max – £85 / $89

iPhone 13 Series

• iPhone 13 mini – £85 / $89
• iPhone 13 – £85 / $89
• iPhone 13 Pro – £85 / $89
• iPhone 13 Pro Max – £85 / $89

iPhone 14 Series

• iPhone 14 – £95 / $99
• iPhone 14 Plus – £95 / $99
• iPhone 14 Pro – £95 / $99
• iPhone 14 Pro Max – £95 / $99

iPhone 15 Series

• iPhone 15 – £95 / $99
• iPhone 15 Plus – £95 / $99
• iPhone 15 Pro – £95 / $99
• iPhone 15 Pro Max – £95 / $99

iPhone 16 Series

• iPhone 16 – £95 / $99
• iPhone 16 Plus – £95 / $99
• iPhone 16 Pro – £109 / $119
• iPhone 16 Pro Max – £109 / $119

Picture Credit: Apple

You can get to see how degraded your iPhone’s battery has become by going into Settings > Battery > Battery Health.

Normally you’d expect to be at around 80% capacity versus new after two years – or roughly 500 “charge cycles”, which are full charges and discharges.

That means your phone only holds 80% of the charge it held when it was new.

There’s no way to fix that beyond getting a new battery.

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Apple will replace your iPhone’s battery at the Apple Store. It usually costs somewhere between £60 and £100 / $60 and $100 depending on the model, but it could be more or less than that.

This will give you like-new battery life, and costs far less than buying a new iPhone.

You might even find that your iPhone’s performance improves, as sometimes processor speed can be limited as a protection feature if your battery is severely degraded.

THERE are loads of ways for Brits to use apps to slash bills this summer.

You can easily find the cheapest prices for food, petrol, flights and parking. If you use them regularly, you could easily save hundreds a year.

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CHEAPER PETROL

One great option for drivers is the PetrolPrices.

The name is the giveaway here. This app is designed to help you find the cheapest petrol prices in the area.

You can see the locations on a map, or find them as a list sorted by lowest price, distance, and even brands.

Site owners can upload their own prices, and users can report the fuel costs too.

It means you don’t have to drive around looking for the cheap prices – or face a price shock at the pump.

Another handy tip is using the Google Maps fuel efficiency feature.

Turn it on by going into Google Maps > Profile > Settings > Navigation > Route Options > Prefer Fuel-Efficient Routes.

“Google Maps can estimate fuel or energy efficiency for different vehicle types, including electric and combustion engine cars, as well as petrol motorcycles,” Google explained.

“The more fuel or energy efficient the route, the lower your vehicle’s fuel or energy usage.”

You should also tell Google your engine type in Google Maps > Profile > Settings > Your Vehicle.

That can give you even better fuel-efficiency.

“The most fuel or energy-efficient route can be different based on the engine type,” Google said.

“For example, diesel vehicles’ relative fuel economy advantage is generally greatest in motorway driving.

“Hybrid and electric vehicles tend to provide greater efficiency in stop-start town and hill driving where they can benefit from regenerative braking.”

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FOOD PRICES

For food savings, you’ll want to first take a look at Trolley.

It lets you compare prices for groceries across supermarkets, with a long list of stores including:

• Asda
• Sainsburys
• Aldi
• Home Bargains
• Morrisons
• Tesco
• Boots
• Wilko
• Coop
• Waitrose
• Superdrug
• B&M
• Ocado
• Iceland
• Savers
• Poundland

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The app says it’ll save you up to 30% on a weekly shop, but your own success will vary depending on what you buy and how much you spend.

Another option – recently tested by The Sun’s tech desk – is to use the Google Gemini chatbot.

You can use it to plan your food shop by asking the bot to find the cheapest prices.

It’s also worth noting that you can bag cheap or free food by picking up leftovers or stuff that would be otherwise thrown away.

Two apps – Olio and Too Good To Go – are packed with food bargains.

And if you want free food, Sky customers can bag a weekly treat from the Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference range through the MySky app.

Just go to the Sky VIP panel (which is free to join) to claim your freebie.

We’ve seen ice lollies and pizzas so far, but there’s a new option every week.

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FLIGHT COMPARISONS

There’s no denying that Skyscanner is a brilliant option for finding cheap flights.

But you should also take a look at Google Flights, which has some clever tricks.

For a start, when you’re searching for flights, it can show you the cheapest window to book.

“For example, these insights could tell you that the cheapest time to book similar trips is usually two months before departure, and you’re currently in that sweet spot,” Google said.

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“Or you might learn that prices have usually dropped closer to takeoff, so you decide to wait before booking. Either way, you can make that decision with a greater sense of confidence.”

You can also turn on price tracking for specific dates (like if you’re off to a wedding) or for any dates (if you just want a holiday at some point soon).

This feature will only appear if you’re signed in to your Google account.

And right now, Google Flights is getting an upgrade with the Flights Deal feature.

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It’s currently only in the US, Canada, and India – but it looks likely to land in the UK eventually too.

The feature works using AI with Google saying it’s “for flexible travellers whose number one goal is saving money“.

“Instead of playing with different dates, destinations and filters to uncover the best deals, you can just describe when, where and how you’d like to travel — as though you’re talking to a friend — and Flight Deals will take care of the rest,” Google said.

For example, you could search for a “week-long trip this winter to a city with great food, nonstop only”, Google revealed.

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Then it’ll use Google Fights data to show you the latest options from loads of airlines.

CHEAP PARKING

Lastly, make sure you’re not overpaying on parking.

There’s a great app called JustPark, which you might be familiar with as a way to pay at some car parks.

But it also lets people rent out their driveways, which means you can bag some great bargains.

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We tried it out earlier this year and found £6 for all-day parking in London on a weekday.

You can book them far in advance, and even add on insurance that covers the excess if your car ends up getting damaged.

You can easily check and amend (or cancel) your driveway parking through the app from anywhere. So you could add extra time if you’re running late.

And it’s potentially a great way to bag a bargain for sports fixtures by getting near-stadium parking.

You could also turn it into a side-hustle by renting out your own parking space.

So you wouldn’t just be saving money, but making some quick cash too.

A “MANDATORY” update is going out to some mobiles after reports of fires breaking out when charging.

While the update is important for safety, affected users will notice a knock to their battery’s capacity as a result.

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Google has confirmed to The Sun that a “subset” of Pixel 6a devices will receive it “to reduce the risk of potential battery overheating”.

It comes as a number of unverified reports online that the phone caught fire when on charge.

One user shared pictures of his destroyed Pixel 6a which they say began to “shoot out hot gas” in the middle of the night as it was on charge.

“Luckily, I was able to smother the fire, then throw the still-smoking phone into the toilet before the fire spread,” Reddit user zaliver claimed.

“My wife and I are pretty shook up about it.”

A small number of other users have reported similar issues.

“The update will enable battery management features that will reduce capacity and charging performance after the battery reaches 400 charge cycles,” Google said.

“We’ll contact impacted customers next month, with all the information they need to address the issue.”

It comes only a few months after another update impacted the batteries on the Pixel 4A, though this incident affected all models and wasn’t a result of safety concerns.

Owners were offered a free replacement battery to solve the problem.

Must-know Android tips to boost your phone

Get the most out of your Android smartphone with these little-known hacks:

DYSON has invented a mind-bendingly thin vacuum cleaner that’s as svelte as a broom.

DYSON has invented a mind-bendingly thin vacuum cleaner that’s as svelte as a broom.

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Branded the ‘PencilVac’, Dyson‘s new cleaning tool promises to be the “world’s slimmest vacuum”.

And it can even lay almost totally flat to the floor with an operating height of just under 10cm.

The vacuum cleaner ditches the giant bin normally featured on Dyson products for a new system that compacts the dust into the PencilVac’s slender body.

“I have long wanted to make a vacuum of only 38mm diameter,” said Sir James Dyson, the company boss.

He explained that the thickness is important – it’s the same as the Dyson’s Supersonic hair dryer handle.

Dyson continued: “But first we needed to develop our most powerful Hyperdymium motor at only 28mm diameter to achieve such a slender machine.”

HAIR WE GO!

It also uses a bizarre new Fluffycones system that uses four cones split across two brush bars.

This system works to eject long hair as you clean, so you don’t have to pull or cut it out.

“If long hairs get wrapped around the cone, the spinning motion along with the specific angle of the cone causes the hair to tighten,” said Dyson’s Sam Cole, Floorcare Design Manager, speaking to The Sun.

“Which results in the hair travelling down to the smaller end of the cone, before it is released as a small hairball.”

There’s also a new two-stage dust separation system, which Dyson engineers say will capture 99.99% of particles (down to 0.3 microns).

That means cleaner air is pumped back into your home – and should mean suction stays strong.

The dust inside is compressed in real-time to get as much usage possible out of the small bin, and should mean you have to empty it less often.

According to gadget-maker Dyson, the bin holds five times more dust and debris than its 0.08-litre capacity.

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This works using a syringe “bin ejection” system that “plunges” the dirt deep into the bin – while also wiping the shroud clean at the same time.

MOTOR RUNNING

It’s all powered by a new motor that’s Dyson’s smallest to date – as well as its fastest, spinning at 140,000rpm.

This, Dyson says, makes it 35% more “power dense” than its predecessor, despite the shrunken size.

“Engineering our smallest and fastest vacuum motor is no simple feat. It was more than miniaturising every piece of technology,” said Dyson tech chief John Churchill.

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“It is a precise integration of motor design, electronics, software, and hardware, all working together seamlessly.”

IN CHARGE

Dyson says it’ll take about four hours to get a full charge.

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DYSON PENCILVAC – THE TECH SPECS

Here’s what you need to know…

Size: 38mm x 226mm x 1,160mm (W x L x H)

Weight: 1.8 kilos

Motor: Dyson Hyperdymium 140k motor

Motor RPM: 140,000

Filtration: Up to 99.99% (dow to 0.l3 microns)

Runtime: Up to 30 minutes

Charge time: Four hours

Cleaner Head: Fluffycones cleaner head (for detangling long hair and to-edge cleaning)

Accessories: Rotating combi-crevice tool / conical hair screw for mattresses and stairs / magnetic floor-charging dock

Picture Credit: Dyson

And it’ll run for 30 minutes – with a hot swappable battery pack to double that.

You’ll be able to see the remaining run-time on an LCD screen built into the device (as well as the power mode).

Sadly there’s no price yet, or an exact UK release date.

But Dyson did say Brits would be able to get the PencilVac in 2026.

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