FIRST ADD THESE…
You’d think the Pixel Watch would be an ideal pairing for a Google phone, but fitness buffs training for long races would be better off with this Garmin. It has much better battery life than most: around 20 days of normal use, and over 40hrs with GPS on. It also offers contactless payments and third-party apps.
£550 / garmin.com
If you like the idea of Apple’s magnetic accessories more than you like iPhones, consider this case. Available in a range of styles, it balances a sleek design with support for MagSafe powerbanks and mounts, while its impact-resistant build and microfibre lining should keep your Pixel’s glass back free of cracks and scratches.
from £50 / mous.co
The Pixel interface makes controlling your smart home easy – and if you’re looking to bolster your setup with a Pixel-compatible smart lock, the Ultion Nuki is a stellar option. Freeing you from needing a physical key, it means you can always get into your home provided you have your phone to hand. You can also let trusted folks in remotely.
from £239 / ultion-lock.co.uk
NOW TRY THIS…
Google’s Pixel UI features a powerful task manager that lets you select on-screen text in any app and extract pictures too. The task manager can be accessed with a swipe up from the bottom of the screen, followed by a brief pause before lifting your finger. As the screen you were on shrinks a bit then hangs waiting to be swiped up to close the app, simply select any text to copy it.
One of our favourite Pixel phone features – an always-listening music identifier in the style of Shazam – is turned off by default. To enable it, open the phone’s settings and select ‘Sound and vibration’ followed by ‘Now Playing’, after which you can toggle the feature on. Now, any time the phone hears a song playing, it will check it against Google’s library and show you what it is.
Here are a couple of handy battery tricks. The first is reverse charging: in settings, select ‘Battery’ then ‘Battery Share’ to turn the back of your phone into a wireless charging pad. Next, under ‘Adaptive preferences’, you can activate adaptive charging and battery use. These will preserve the long-term battery health of your phone based on your usage habits.
The 7 Pro’s camera introduces a new feature: Cinematic mode. This activates a portrait-style bac
