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Competition among phone manufacturers was particularly fierce in 2016.

Jacked off and bum Notes

The year in smartphones was dominated by two huge controversies from the two biggest players. It was the year the Samsung Note 7 tanked, and Apple's headphone jack disappeared.

Choosing Sony or Apple for phone pix

Sony Xperia XZ vs iPhone 7 Plus: the choice is yours.

The person who presumes to review and assess digital doodads faces a constant dilemma: do we judge against an ideal or do we assess on the basis of realistic expectations of owners' use?

BlackBerry reveals its final in-house smartphone

Blackberry's final in-house phone is the DTEK60.

BlackBerry has showed off the last phone it will market itself before completely outsourcing design, production and distribution to partners: a 5.5-inch touchscreen device that rivals the size of the iPhone 7 Plus and Google Pixel XL, but at a lower price.

'Portrait mode' arrives for iPhone 7 Plus

When working correctly, portrait mode applies a blur to background objects.

Update's headline feature is only available on the iPhone 7 Plus — a new 'portrait mode' that uses the phone's dual cameras to create a shallow depth of field usually only achieved with larger camera systems.

Samsung's history of problematic products

Samsung has recalled six models of its top-loader washing machines.

Samsung killed the Galaxy Note7 this week after the devices continued to burst into flames. But the tech behemoth has not extinguished scrutiny over its safety record.