Everyday tech, made simple

Start with what you actually do on your phone each day, then match the battery, storage and camera to that, instead of paying for features you will never use. A mid-range phone suits most people well. Our article on choosing a smartphone walks through the decision step by step, including when a cheaper phone is the smarter buy.

Lower the screen brightness, turn off background refresh for apps you rarely open, and switch on battery saver when you are out. A phone that loses charge fast may also have an old battery or an app running in the background. Our battery article explains how to find the cause and what to change first.

Wi-Fi weakens through walls and floors, and a router tucked in a corner or behind a television struggles to reach the far rooms. Moving the router to a central, open spot often helps a lot. If it does not, a mesh system or a wired connection may be the better fix, and our Wi-Fi articles explain both.

Start by removing programs that launch at startup, clearing space on a full drive, and checking for updates. A laptop that is still slow after that may need more memory or a new drive. Our article on speeding up a slow laptop works through the fixes in order, from the free ones to the ones worth paying for.

List every subscription you pay for, cancel the ones you have not opened in a month, and rotate services instead of paying for all of them at once. Sharing a plan within a household can help too, where the service allows it. Our streaming article shows how to work out what you actually watch and what it costs.

A passkey is a safer way to sign in that replaces a typed password with a check on your own device, such as a fingerprint or face scan. Passkeys are harder to steal than passwords and easier to use once they are set up. Our article on passwords and passkeys explains when to use each one and how to switch.

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