Category: Technology

Smartphone technology is always advancing, progressing rapidly with new hardware improvements with each iteration and model revision.

Faster processors, infinity displays, better cameras, waterproofing, facial recognition – the list goes on. But what’s the use of having all these fancy features if your smartphone’s battery can’t last even a whole day?

Thankfully, smartphone makers are already making efforts to improve battery life. how? By optimizing software and sticking in a bigger battery, of course.

Here is our list of the best smartphones that can last you a full day and more with just a single charge.

iphone 8 plus

The iPhone 8 Plus may not have the biggest iPhone battery, but the current crop of iPhones has the longest battery life, surpassing even the iPhone X.

This is likely due to its smaller LCD screen and hardware/software optimizations that push it ahead of Apple’s flagship smartphones.

The iPhone 8 Plus can get up to 13 hours of internet usage, compared to 11 hours on the iPhone X. This means that it usually gets a full day’s worth of heavy use on a single charge. And like the iPhone X, the iPhone 8 Plus (and iPhone 8) also supports quick charging and wireless charging.

The battery life difference may not be significant but the price is. Unlike the iPhone X, which starts at $999, a new iPhone 8 Plus starts at $799.

Razer Phone

The Razer Phone is a premium Android smartphone meant for high-performance gaming on the go. As such, it has the fancy buzzwords it usually has for home theaters — high-end Dolby Atmos sound, a 120Hz ultra-motion screen, and support for Netflix’s 4K HDR and Dolby Digital Plus formats.

Powering all this goodness is a massive 4,000mAh battery. However, to take advantage of this extra juice, you’ll have to dilute some of its nice features a bit. Limit its display refresh rate to 60Hz and you can squeeze about two days of normal use out of this beast.

You can get one of the best multimedia experiences on the go with the Razer Phone for around $699.

Cat S61

When it comes to ruggedness and durability, Cat is making a name for itself with its line of shock-resistant, dust-resistant and waterproof Android smartphones.

While its flagship CAT S61 smartphone boasts of unique features like a thermal imaging camera, a laser assisted distance measurement tool, and a built-in indoor air quality monitor, it also has a whopping 4,650mAh to round it out.

With this kind of power, this smartphone can last for around two days of normal usage on a single charge.

The CAT S61 may not be cheap at around $999, but it has many functions that you can’t find on any other smartphone. It is definitely worth a serious look.

moto e5 plus

Don’t let the bargain bin price of the Moto E5 Plus fool you, there’s a massive 5,000mAh battery, one of the biggest batteries around. It can definitely make you up for a day and a half of heavy usage.

It also supports quick charging so you can end up with extra hours of use with just 15 minutes of charging.

Other specs on the Moto E5 Plus are good too – a bigger 6-inch HD display, 12MP rear and 8MP front cameras, 3GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage.

blackberry key2

If you’re looking to have a good old hardware QWERTY keyboard on your phone that has a better battery to boot, the BlackBerry Key2 is worth a look.

Although it has a BlackBerry pedigree, the BlackBerry Key2 is actually manufactured by TCL under the name “BlackBerry Mobile”.

The Key2 is an Android handset with a powerful quad-core Snapdragon 660 processor, coupled with a massive 3,500mAh battery, which is enough to last it for around 25 to 35 hours before charging. It also has Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 support, which is good for hours of use with a charge time of just 15 minutes.

Ready to get rid of that old flash drive? You might be surprised to learn that simply deleting existing files doesn’t actually destroy them, at least not permanently. Having the right knowledge to do so can easily recover these deleted files.

So, what do you do if you want to delete these files permanently? The safest route is to encrypt your flash drive. To the average consumer, the term encrypt may sound a bit intimidating, but it’s easier to accomplish than you think.

Flash Drives Are Great…Unless You Need to Toss Them
The introduction of flash drives provided a great new solution. Compared to traditional hard drives, flash drives work faster, fit in your pocket, and are virtually immune to damage from a drop. Not to mention, the way they store data (in a solid state memory instead of spinning magnetic plates) makes them last longer.

Of course, flash drives also have drawbacks. While the storage capacity on these devices has grown over the years, there is still limited space. Additionally, their automatic function of moving bits of data to a less-used area of ​​the drive to last longer means overwriting files with random bits of data, a traditional method of securely erasing data. method may not be effective.

Alternative methods of encryption
For Mac users, Apple used to have Secure Empty Trash command. It has since been removed to avoid any assumption that the function will securely erase all data that, when on a flash drive, may not succeed in doing so.

Of course, to wipe the flash drive, the method of dumping random data three times in a row is still an option. Unfortunately, doing so isn’t quite straightforward on a Mac or PC. Not to mention, depending on the quality of your computer and the size of the drive, this method can take longer than our modern-day patience levels can handle (sometimes 20 minutes or more).

While some of the larger flash drive vendors such as Intel, SanDisk or Samsung may offer apps for secure erase, encrypting it is a quick process to ensure that if your old flash drive is owned by a tech-savvy owner with bad intentions. .

How to Encrypt Your Flash Drive on Mac
In most cases, the process of drive encryption on Mac is very simple. Simply right-click on the drive you want to securely erase, and click Encrypt. Then, follow the prompts.

If your drive was specifically formatted for the Windows operating system, you might not see the prompt for encryption pop up. In this case, simply open Disk Utility, select your drive, and click Erase (Use Default Settings). You can then follow the steps above to encrypt.

Finally, after following the prompts for encryption, be sure to erase the drive again in Disk Utility to make sure it’s empty and ready for use by its new owner.

How to Encrypt Your Flash Drive on PC
If you use the Home version of Windows, Microsoft may not support disk encryption on your OS, but of course, there is still a way to work around it.

safe and secure
With the encryption method mentioned above, you can toss or donate your flash drive with confidence without fear of releasing your personal or business files to the world. Even the most knowledgeable will not be able to recover your permanently erased files.

Every week, I receive tons of questions from my listeners about tech concerns, new products, and all things digital.

Sometimes picking the most interesting questions to highlight is the best part of my job.

This week, I received questions about how to find free audiobooks, how to save Facebook photos, the best way to find restaurants that appear on TV, and more.

Do you have any question you want to ask me?

Tap or click here to email me directly.

My Amazon Public Profile
Q: Did you say we have public profiles on Amazon like social media accounts? I did not know. How do I watch it? how do i delete it?

A: The short answer is yes, you have a public profile on Amazon, and it’s like a social media account. You agreed to this when you signed up.

Thought matters a lot; If you have a profile that friends and loved ones can access, they can buy wise gifts for you.

Amazon has other little-known settings that may concern you, and the shopping experience will be much more comfortable after you change them.

Tap or click here for five Amazon settings you should be changing now.

leave facebook but keep my pictures
Q: I want to leave Facebook. Is there any way to download all my photos?

A: You are not alone. However, there are a few reasons why people hesitate before terminating their accounts: They wonder how they will keep in touch with friends and loved ones.

They fear “missing out” at important events such as weddings, children, and even funerals. In the end, they worry about losing their photos, which symbolize a lot of memories. Over the years, Facebook users can upload hundreds or even thousands of images to their accounts, and it’s hard to imagine losing these forever.

Naturally, Facebook doesn’t want you to leave their service, so they don’t make termination any easier. Now, there is a way to download all your photos and store them on your computer or the cloud.

Tap or click here to download All Photos from Facebook.

Get the FREE Komando App
Q: Do you have an app? I want to have it on my phone.

A: I have an app, and it’s a great way to keep track of the latest tech trends. If you have any doubts, just read some reviews: “I’ve followed Kim for over 20 years.

This free app is the best gift you can give yourself.” Alternatively, “Get reliable tech advice you can use every day!”

Whether you use iTunes or Google Play, search for “Komando.com” and the app should pop up. the best part? It’s free!

Tap or click here for the link to My Free App.

Find famous restaurants
Q: I am a total foodie. Is there a way to see the restaurants on the TV show on a map? We are traveling across the country in an RV.

A: I think many of my readers and listeners envy your cross-country journey. One of the great joys of traveling is certainly trying different foods, and there is so much to sample.

In the meantime, if you’re a fan of Guy Fieri or Andrew Zimmern, you can go out of your way to try the restaurant you’ve seen in your favorite road-food chain. There have been a lot of different shows on the Food Channel and Travel Network about roadside eateries.

You can be anywhere in the country and be able to drive to a well-filmed location. Thanks to a great site, you can easily find them all.

Tap or click here to find the locations of restaurants you’ve visited on TV.

free audiobooks
Q: I listen to audiobooks. I’m tired of paying for them. Are there any decent freebies?

A: No more clunky piles of audio cassettes, downloading an audiobook is easy and takes up very little memory on your phone. You can carry on with the audiobook without worrying about dropping the CD.

As convenient as audiobooks are for exercise or a long trip, they can be expensive, mainly if you use a service like iTunes or Audible. Do not get me wrong; These platforms are fantastic, and you can use Audible’s credit system to get incredible deals on some pricey titles.

But “free” is always the best price, and if you’re not satisfied with your local library’s Overdrive collection, a website offers a real steal.

Tap or click here for an excellent source of free audio books.

What digital lifestyle questions do you have? Call My National Radio Show and tap or click here to find it on your local radio station. You can listen to The Kim Komando Show on your phone, tablet or computer. Tap or click here for my free podcast, from buying advice to digital life issues.

Learn all about the latest technology on The Kim Komando Show, the nation’s biggest weekend radio talk show.

Wouldn’t it be great to go somewhere and have access to endless hours of entertainment? All in one place, to have a great deal of information about your city, important archives, and sometimes even artifacts and exhibits?

What if this is a place that has the ability to answer just about any question you might have? Where you can find the answers yourself, or talk to any of the amazing staff that work there and get information faster?

This magical place exists, my friends—it’s your local library. With just a photo ID and proof of address, you can give yourself access to all the information you could ever need, and other resources you’d never guess you’d get for free. could.

That’s right: for free. Your local library is full of things to do and see at zero cost, so yes, you have to leave the house to access some of them, but all you need to worry about is what it costs to get there. Is!

Still need some reassurance, or just need more details? Here are some of the best free things you can get at your local library right now:

Books
It’s a bit of a given – it’s a library. But in addition to the large number of print books, which may come in normal or large font, and may even be requested from other libraries if your local library doesn’t have a book, libraries today still have an impressive number. I boast of e-books and audiobooks, all free with a library card.

All you need is an e-reader, and/or an audiobook app that supports your library’s file types (like Overdrive), and you can binge books the way you binge TV shows.

Just keep in mind that e-books and audiobooks from the library come with due dates, just like printed books do—you’ll usually be able to keep your copy for about two weeks, then you’ll need to renew your reading material. , or it will be available again to other library card holders.

So yes, ebooks and audiobooks may not always be available. But you can place a hold request just like in print books, and get a link to download it as soon as your copy is available, so it’s still an incredibly useful and available service.

DVD and CD
Long before streaming, libraries tried to compete with video and music stores with one major exception—tapes, DVDs, and CDs would be free to check out with a library card.

Of course, the selection can be somewhat limited and new releases won’t be available as quickly, and sometimes DVDs or CDs get scratched and difficult to play. But the movies will be free, and are still free at your local library.

Still can’t find that superhero movie you want on Netflix, or want to watch a romantic comedy that just disappeared from Hulu? Try your local library’s catalog, and go ahead and grab it before your next movie date!

Wi-Fi and workspaces
Cafes and coffee shops get all the love when it comes to hanging out with writers and working on their novels and screenplays. Your local library also has free Wi-Fi and desks that will allow you all the same benefits of ordering water just two hours in advance and without the barista having to take up table space.

The library, instead, is surprisingly quiet, filled with tables and desks (which also have outlets available for you), completely surrounded by reference material to you, and in the summer, even offers free A/C. Is.

Libraries often have places you can reserve to work away from other people, or where you can meet with a group and collaborate on a project. Just make sure you reserve rooms in advance if you want to (they go away quickly, especially when students have finals and midterms to worry about during the school year).

Need a computer too? Virtually all libraries have desktops available, and some even have laptops that you can rent on-site. These devices come with a time limit for their use, but they still come in handy for many situations, and they often have printers available for use as well. That’s why libraries make excellent work spaces.

free images
Need great stock images that are more historical or natural, or just need to see famous works of art, or some local maps? Libraries can help everyone with this.

The New York Public Library has 200,000 free images that you can use for any purpose, and you can download them from your home right now. It also houses a collection of 180,000 works of art, literature and performance, many of which are in the public domain, as well as 672,000 items in general in its digital collection.

Check out any item in your home now, and use the public domain one for just about any purpose you can think of.

Your phone can hold years of text messages and emails with personal information, saved voicemails, pictures of your family, GPS location data, browsing history, notes, and more. It is a record of your whole life wrapped in a single piece of metal, plastic and glass. Imagine how terrifying it would be for someone to have their hands on that information.

That’s why you have to set a passcode to avoid accidental spying and install a tracking app to recover or erase the phone if it falls into the wrong hands. Learn how to do this and other ways to secure your smartphone or tablet against snoops. But what if the thief is a little more dedicated? Can they spy on your phone without your knowledge?

Unfortunately, the answer is “yes”. There are many spy apps that can hide your phone and record everything you do. Snoop can see every detail of your life and you will never know.

We’re going to take a look at what spy apps are out there on the market and how they work so you know how to stay safe. However, first, we’re going to look at situations where spying apps are legal and can even be a good thing.

Good Uses for Spying Apps
We hear regularly from parents about what their kids are doing on their smartphones. While our first recommendation is always to have open lines of communication with kids, sometimes it pays to keep an eye on them directly. Employers also sometimes like to keep tabs on employees using company equipment. But is it legal?

Legally a person or company is only allowed to install spy software on their phone, tablet or computer. So, the employer providing the company phone and the parent giving the phone to your children are covered. They only need to make it clear to the users of the phone that they are being watched and for commercial purposes, also require written consent.

However, breaking into a password-protected phone is a no-no. And even if someone else owns your gadget, they aren’t allowed to break into your password-protected services like email or Facebook. Federal law prohibits unauthorized access to such things.

In addition, some spying software, such as FlexiSPY, has the option to listen to real-time phone calls, which may break wiretapping laws. In some states, at least one person involved in the conversation is required to know that they are being recorded. For some states, all parties need to know. And this can change if someone in one state calls in from another state.

If you find that someone is spying on you, go to the police. As for the gray areas where someone else has the phone, you’ll probably need to get a lawyer involved.

Well, with that out of the way, let’s talk about spy apps and other tricks of the spy business.

spy apps on the market
As we said earlier, there are many spy apps in the market. Mspy is one of the most recognizable, but others you might see are FlexiSPY, WebWatcher, and SpyToMobile.

They record all text messages and phone calls. Some include a keylogger to record everything you type, store GPS information, take pictures and even data from popular free messaging apps like WhatsApp, Skype, and Viber pulls. A spy can see everything happening with the phone through a web-based control panel.

There is some good news. In December 2014, the Justice Department took the man behind StealthGenie, a major app, to court for making and advertising spyware. He pleaded guilty and received a $500,000 fine, plus he had to hand over the source code for the product. So, you won’t be able to see it around.

On the other hand, the rest have become somewhat more sophisticated. Therefore, snoopers do not need full access to your gadget and a short time, plus the range of phones that can be attacked by them has increased.

By now, even the least tech-savvy email users are aware of the common characteristics of email spam. After dealing with spam for decades, we’ve all seen our fair share, and are likely embarrassed to admit how many times we’ve fallen for it.

That infamous Nigerian prince’s email certainly fooled people when they first rolled out, regardless of how obvious it is now that such an email is clearly spam. Now we don’t have to worry about emails coming from big companies like Amazon, FedEx, Apple and PayPal, which are the most fake brands in spam email.

Advances in anti-malware software have prompted cybercriminals to shift their focus back to email spam. Although it is considered one of the least effective infection methods, other methods that worked well only a few years ago are now being thwarted by anti-malware software.

Aren’t spam filters meant for this?
As email clients become more sophisticated in their spam filtering efforts, these criminals still manage to get in their way. Platforms like Gmail and Outlook have worked hard to step up their game in detecting and filtering email spam, and have made significant improvements, but email users need to do much more than just rely on filters. is required.

Just because an email arrives in your inbox instead of your spam folder, doesn’t mean it’s safe. In fact, some have even reported finding spam emails in their sent folders, some that many users may not even consider. Like any type of cyber attack, criminals continue to veer their way and find new ways around common security methods.

One way that spammers find their way around the filter is through the use of multiple redirects. As email users are redirected from one page to another, they eventually land on a malicious file download. Because of multiple redirects, spam is more difficult to detect, as detection tools cannot directly access the malicious file. If researchers do get caught, spammers only need to remove one page from a long list of redirects to break the link, making it much harder to investigate.

Evolution of Email Spam
Chances are if you received an email today asking you to send a money order to someone you’ve never met, you’d delete it before you even read the first sentence. Unfortunately, email spam isn’t quite as obvious anymore. If one of these highly evolved bad boys arrives in your inbox, you’d be surprised how hard it can be to locate them.

Spammers have begun to personalize these emails, leading users to believe that the email is coming from someone they know or a trusted business. These emails are more likely to be opened, or the user has clicked on a link or attachment that is included.

Spam email subject lines are often more convincing, even in this new breed of attacks. Instead of an ambiguous or ambiguous subject line with many grammatical errors, many of these email subjects seem completely generic and often intriguing, resulting in more clicks.

protect yourself from spam messages
No matter how many security features and filters you have, nothing is more important than common sense. If you receive email from someone you don’t know, or if it looks like it could be someone you know but you don’t recognize their email address, be wary. Do not open anything that you are unsure about.

 

When you open an email, keep an eye on the link. Usually, it’s best to access the link directly from the source rather than clicking it in the email, but if you choose to follow the link within the email text, first hover over it to make sure it’s where you want it. will take you where you intend to go. In most browsers, when you hover over the link URL, you’ll see the link URL in the lower left corner. If something seems off, don’t click on it.

If you need to share attachments, you’re better off sharing the file through a cloud storage service, or getting the shared file from someone else. This eliminates the need for you to download attachments directly from an email that could pose a potential threat.

it’s not worth the risk
When in doubt, contact the sender by other means. Call or text your friend or co-worker if you see a suspicious email that looks like it’s from them. Write to a company’s help desk if you receive an unusual email from them strangely asking for personal information. If you’re on your company’s email account, send any activity that is red flagged to your IT team for review. It may sound like a pain, but ignoring these precautions is not worth the risk.

This may not be the case now, as the cost of cellphones has gone up, but for a while it was fairly settled that every couple of years we would get a new one. A bigger screen, faster processor, better camera or whatever, it was the thing we were excited to upgrade to.

While learning about and playing with your new phone, have you ever stopped to think about what to do with your old phone? throw it out? keep it away? You weren’t planning on using it again, after all, and it was just going to be a high-tech paperweight.

Although it may be too late for the phone you replaced years ago, it’s a good thing to know that you can actually sell your old phone. And not even for the money. But for real money.

there are a handful of options
Off the top of your head you might be thinking of something like eBay or Craigslist, and it’s true that you can go to any number of sites and potentially find buyers for your old device. But those sites, while useful, are used for more than just phones, which means you probably won’t have the most target audience.

But assuming you actually own your phone — as in, it’s paid for in full — there are even better avenues to go down to maximize the selling value of a phone you no longer need. Has no use.

Almost every site will ask you to answer a few questions about your phone, with them trying to figure out what kind of condition it is before they can give you a quote. Assuming you’re good with the offer, you’ll typically be sent a pre-paid shipping label and then receive the phone at the site you choose in a pre-determined amount of time.

Once it arrives, they will evaluate your phone in person and send your payment. At that point, you’re done.

There are many sites and ways you can sell your phone, although all are slightly different. Not only how do they go about selling it, but also how their sites work and how much they can offer for your device.

let’s break them down

Glyde will allow your phone to be auctioned off online, the site will help you set a fair price making sure it doesn’t take long to sell. After you do this, the site will send you a shipping kit.

Because of that, the time it takes you to receive your money will be directly related to how long it takes for the phone to be sold.

NextWorth is good as long as it will actually fit your device. You’ll receive a free quote for your phone and, if you approve, print out a free shipping label, which you’ll use to drop it off at a UPS store. They’ll then take a picture of your phone and inspect it and, assuming it’s passed, send your payment via PayPal or check.

NextWorth won’t accept all smartphones or tablets, however, which means depending on your device you may be out of luck.

For example, Decluttr will provide an offer for your phone and, if you accept within 28 days, will send you money via check, PayPal or direct deposit before proceeding and then selling it.

UseCell takes on a lot more than just the phone, which makes it a great option if you have a few things you want to unload. You’ll get an instant offer and, if you accept, send your device to them for free before receiving payment. Offer is guaranteed for 30 days.

Gazelle isn’t necessarily known for offering the most money, but they’ll make you pay for your phone—even if it’s damaged. Perhaps best of all, if they get your phone and determine it’s in even better condition than you anticipated, they’ll increase their original offer. If they decide to reduce the offer, the phone can be returned to you at no risk.

eBay is known for being an auction site that you can definitely use to earn some money for your phone. But if you don’t want to deal with that process, there is a “quick sale” option that lets you list the status of your phone and send it to eBay. They’ll sell it for you, and while it’ll probably be less than what you’d get from a regular auction, the process will be far less hectic.

As for Amazon, they’ll accept whatever they sell as a trade-in, but instead of money they’ll pay you in an Amazon gift card. The prices they quote you are only good for seven days, which means you’ll need them to get the item on time.

So who will pay the biggest money?
There are a lot of variables, but we took a look at each site to get an idea of ​​what they would offer for a phone. In this case, on September 4th, we picked up a 256GB iPhone 8 and what we found is pretty cool.

Unwanted robocalls have recently become an epidemic. A recent study shows that the number of spam calls is increasing at an extremely fast pace across the country. US On average, people in the U.S. receive only 19 spam calls every month. Oh!

Whether it’s just an annoying telemarketer calling, or a scammer trying to rip you off, these calls are spiraling out of control. This is why the government has come up with a new tool to try to stop them, click here to know about it.

Another way to try and stop these intrusive calls is with robocall blocking apps. Let’s look at the three best options available.

Truecaller
Seeing an unknown number pop up on Caller ID may be enough to stop you from answering. But what if you are waiting for an important call and the number is not on your contact list?

Answering these calls can be like playing Russian roulette. The caller could be the person you’ve been waiting for, or it could be a dangerous scammer. You need a way to know before you answer.

That’s where the Truecaller app can help.

It’s free and lets you find out who’s behind that unknown number. Simply copy and paste the number into the search bar embedded in the app.

After this Truecaller will search the unknown number and find out who it is. With a community-based spam list of over 250 million users, this is a great resource for avoiding answering unwanted robocalls.

Another great feature of Truecaller is its ability to block spam calls. When a strange telemarketer calls, there will be a big warning in red, letting you know it’s a spam call. When this happens just swipe up to automatically block that caller and add them to the spam list.

The Truecaller app is available for free on both Android and Apple devices. Click here to download the app for iOS. Click here to download the app for Android.

Hiya – Caller ID & Block

Hiya – Caller ID & Block App is perfect for identifying the calls you want to accept and block the calls and texts you want to avoid. The app is free, with no ads, and extremely easy to use.

It allows you to block calls, blacklist unwanted phone numbers and text messages, reverse phone search information on incoming calls, and receive spam alerts. The app is powered by a database of millions of phone numbers that have been confirmed to be spam by other users.

The app detects and blocks fraudulent calls such as robocalls, telemarketers and IRS scams. It can also identify unknown spam callers in real time so you always know who is calling.

The Hiya app is available for free on both Apple and Android gadgets. Click here to download the app for iOS. Click here to download for Android.

Call Control – Call Blocker
Call Control – Call Blocker app automatically blocks spam calls and calls from other numbers you don’t want to hear. You can also block entire area codes like 888 if you are not getting a lot of calls from a particular location.

Worried about missing important calls? Call Control gives you your personal whitelist and contact protection to make sure you only contact people you know.

Users of the app actively report their spammers, so its catalog is always up to date. That means it gives you the best protection from these fake callers. It even works for spam text!

Call Control will automatically block active spammers, and Reverse Lookup allows you to track them down to their source. You can also add numbers to the community blacklist and choose to block specific numbers that won’t leave you alone.

Call Control app is free and available for both Apple and Android gadgets. Click here to download for iOS. Click here to download for Android.

Still, we’re hearing that cord cutting is on the rise. Consumers everywhere are opting for streaming services over traditional pay TVs. While that’s clearly bad news for big pay TV companies like Comcast and DirecTV, consumers now have a flood of different streaming options, each with its own unique advantage.

The sheer amount of streaming services available now makes it possible to completely replace traditional pay TV plans with device-free and contract-free streaming. But which streaming service is the best? It all depends on your preferences and your budget.

With many pay TV providers partnering with streaming services in an effort to keep up with the trend, it’s clear that streaming is quickly becoming the norm. If you’re ready to make the switch, there are a few important factors to consider before compromising on your new TV viewing experience.

What matters the most to you?
Each of the major streaming services has its advantages and disadvantages, and what may be a pro for you may be a hoax for a neighbor with different tastes. If you are looking for the latest episodes of your favorite TV shows that just aired last week, then Hulu is the best bet for you. On the other hand, if you want to watch a football game live, Sling TV is a popular choice. HBO Now is a great source of top-tier movies, but Amazon Prime Video is included for all existing Amazon Prime members.

Of course, Netflix is ​​generally found to be at the top of everyone’s list with a massive selection, reasonable prices, and the ability to watch downloaded episodes and movies offline.

One of the most attractive features of streaming services is affordability. If you already use Amazon Prime then you already have access to Amazon Prime Video at no extra charge. Few other options offer different tiers of pricing to exclude ads or use multiple devices at the same time. Be sure to consider how you will use your service(s) and what pricing option works best for your home.

Two heads are better than one
While you may be looking to cut the cord in the interest of saving money, chances are you’ll still be saving a bundle if you skip your traditional pay TV provider and sign up for two or three streaming services. . Don’t feel pressured to find the perfect perfect solution. That’s what got most of us into the “bundle” pay TV contract price in the first place.

Keep in mind that, in addition to saving money on the service, you won’t be paying any of the normal fees that come with Pay TV. There is no monthly payment required to rent your cable box or one-time installation fee. In fact, depending on which service(s) you choose and what type of TV you own, you may already have several apps on hand, eliminating the need for an external device to make streaming possible. may be embedded.

try before you buy
If you’re still on the fence about cutting the cord, or already are, but can’t decide on one or more streaming services, give them a try! Most of the services out there offer free trials. Try all the top contenders and see what you think.

Explore the shows you currently watch on different services to determine which one has the most of what you want. If your favorite show isn’t available on one of the services you’re considering, it can be a deal breaker. As you go through the process of narrowing things down, keep in mind the price, ads, and selection.

Thanks to the ability to try before you buy, the best solution should become clear to you by the time of your trial.