This story is part of The 2010s: A Decade in Review, a series on the memes, people, products, movies and so much more that have influenced the 2010s. It’s been a decade overflowing with tough lessons: who to trust, when to speak out and how to stream big events online after you’ve broken up with …

When you think of what you love most about your phone, what comes to mind? Its brilliant screen, perhaps, which makes movies and games a joy to watch. All the cameras on the front and back that capture your memories. Maybe it’s the all-day battery life that keeps your phone humming along so you can enjoy all of the above. …

Every year, phones get faster, smarter and more efficient, thanks to the processors inside. If you love your phone’s photography, slow-motion video and face or fingerprint unlocking, it’s because of the chip that powers them. Qualcomm’s next chipset for high-end Android phones, the Snapdragon 865, lays the groundwork for new features your phone could pick up next year. With Snapdragon …

Next year’s best Android phones from Samsung, LG, OnePlus and Google may be different, but they’ll have one thing in common — the Snapdragon 865 processor inside, which Qualcomm announced in early December at its third-annual Snapdragon Summit. While the Galaxy S11 is still months away, we already have an idea of some of the features we could see inside, including some …

It’s fun to geek out over big, expensive foldable phones like the $2,000 Galaxy Fold, with its 7.3-inch bendable screen and six cameras. But the ultra-large, extra-pricey devices aren’t what most people can afford to buy. Instead, it could be the smaller, simpler foldable designs that wind up getting foldable phones into the hands of more users — not because they’re …

Samsung’s Galaxy Fold and Huawei’s Mate X are here, offering two different takes on foldable phones. Both were made to inspire, and to transform the way we think about phones. These aren’t yet everyday devices, but they could set the course for a move toward foldable phones instead of the large-screen models that are too big for your pocket today. …

We all know that 5G phones are expensive. The ability to connect to ultrafast networks is seen as a premium nice-to-have, but not need-to-have feature that raises the price of any phone by hundreds. High prices will deter billions of people from switching over from 4G phones to faster 5G. Affordable 5G phones for all are on the horizon, but good 5G …

Using your phone as a form of ID at the airport or bar could become a reality. Qualcomm and Google have partnered up to work on a system secure enough to store a digital copy of your driver’s license, passport and other forms of identification on your phone.  The first phones to access the technology, which is still in development, …

Two digital pinballs roll slowly across the screen, one a dull grey blob, the other a dynamic orb with light and shadow dancing off its surface as it rolled. This is one demo Qualcomm used this week to show off how its new 5G chips for 2020 — the Snapdragon 865 and 765G — will upgrade gaming on your future …

If Sprint’s merger with T-Mobile goes through — not a guarantee as the companies head to court to battle several state attorneys general who are suing to block the deal — legacy Sprint customers should plan to give up their 4G phones. While T-Mobile has long talked about its desire to migrate customers over, it now says it will use 5G …