The Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016) went official a few days ago, for the first time taking the A-series beyond the Notes’ 5.7 inches. Even though it’s the first of its kind, it also gets the model year in brackets as part of its name to stress its ties to the completely updated premium-built A family.

The 6-inch FullHD display may be a hint at what to expect from future Notes, and also mean the death of the sole even numbered A model, the 5.7-inch Galaxy A8. Whatever the implications, the A9 (2016) is the best-specced smartphone the company has to offer north of the Note5’s diagonal.

Powered by the Snapdragon 652, a top-class performer the A9 must be, despite the 6 in Qualcomm’s chip designation. Dual quad-core CPU with a quartet of Cortex-A72’s in charge, coupled with 3GB of RAM should make even demanding tasks a breeze, and the GPU will appreciate the conservative choice of resolution.

A 13MP sensor behind an f/1.9 lens, together with optical image stabilization makes for flagship grade imaging, at least on paper, and the 8MP front shooter offers plenty of resolution to please selfie enthusiasts. Fingerprint recognition and Samsung Pay mean that you can leave bank cards at home, so you can cut down on the stuff you’re carrying, though obviously that’s not a top concern with a 6-inch 200g phone. And all of this should be able to run for quite a while on a generous 4,000mAh battery, complete with fast charging.

Overall, the Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016) is a comprehensive package for big-screen lovers. In a way, it’s a larger Galaxy Note without the S-Pen, and that could help rationalize past its $500 price. So what do you reckon, hot or…

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People increasingly care about software updates – in part because they want to get the new features, but security is becoming a more and more important topic. The Nexus devices (well, the ones from 2013 and later anyway) and Android One are a given.

Here’s the scorecard for devices that are not directly backed by Google but have been confirmed to get the latest version of its mobile platform. Keep in mind that this list includes only devices that have been officially confirmed to get Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Some other devices are likely to get it too, some most likely won’t, but those aren’t on the list.

This is the official list as of the start of 2015, though not that some of these updates won’t roll out for several months (and some are already available).

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Samsung

2015
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
Samsung Galaxy Note5
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
Samsung Galaxy S6
Samsung Galaxy Tab S2
2014
Samsung Galaxy Note 4
Samsung Galaxy S5
Samsung Galaxy Alpha
Samsung Galaxy A8
Samsung Galaxy A7

Sony

2015
Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
Sony Xperia Z5
Sony Xperia Z5 Compact
Sony Xperia Z3+ / Z4
Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
Sony Xperia C4
Sony Xperia M5
Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
2014
Sony Xperia Z3 / Z3v
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact
Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact
Sony Xperia Z2
Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet
2013
Sony Xperia Z Ultra GPE

LG

2015
LG V10
LG G4
LG G Flex2
LG G4 Stylo
2014
LG G3

HTC

2015
HTC One M9 Plus
HTC One E9 Plus
HTC One M9
HTC One E9
HTC One ME
HTC Butterfly 3
HTC Desire 826
2014
HTC One (M8)
HTC One (E8)
HTC One (M8 Eye)
HTC Desire 820
HTC Desire 816

Motorola

2015
Motorola Moto X Pure Edition (3rd gen)
Motorola Moto X Style (3rd gen)
Motorola Moto X Play
Motorola Moto G (3rd gen)
2014
Motorola Moto X Pure edition (2nd gen)
Motorola DROID Turbo
Motorola Moto MAXX
Motorola Moto Turbo

Xiaomi

2015
Xiaomi Mi Note 2
Xiaomi Redmi 2
Xiaomi Redmi 2 Prime
Xiaomi Mi 4i
2014
Xiaomi Mi 4
Xiaomi Mi Note
Xiaomi Mi Note Pro

Huawei

2015
Huawei Ascend P8
Huawei Ascend P8max
Huawei Honor 6 Plus
Huawei Honor 7i
Huawei Honor 7
Huawei Mate S
Huawei MediaPad X2
Huawei Ascend G8
2014
Huawei Mate 7
Huawei Honor 6
Huawei Mate 7
Huawei Honor 4X
Huawei Honor 4C
Huawei Ascend G7

Lenovo

2015
Lenovo K3 Note
Lenovo A7000
Lenovo A7000 Plus
Lenovo Vibe S1
Lenovo Vibe P1

Asus

2015
Asus Zenfone 2 series
Asus Zenfone 2 Laser
Asus Zenfone 2 Deluxe
Asus Zenfone Selfie
Asus Zenfone Go
2013
Padfone S

OnePlus

2014
OnePlus 2
2014
OnePlus One

Android One

2015
Micromax Canvas A1
Karbonn Sparkle V
Spice Dream Uno
Symphony Roar A50
Cherry Mobile One
MyPhone Uno
Mito Impact A10
Nexian JOurney One

BlackBerry

2015
BlackBerry Priv

ZUK

2015
ZUK Z1

Nvidia

2015
Nvidia Shield Tablet…

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