Battery life, camera, and AI features are key in a base model battle between the Apple iPhone 16 and Google Pixel 9.

One of the big surprises this year was Apple’s embrace of RCS messaging for iMessage. Now, it looks like it’s working right. Oh, finally.

When we talk about smartphone features, we often concentrate on things like cameras, built-in apps and — these days — artificial intelligence. What we often forget about, though, is the "phone" part of smartphone.