In the flip phone market, Samsung lives in Motorola's shadow. Even with the Motorola Razr Ultra 2026's price hikes, it will be the flip phone for the Galaxy Z Flip 8 to beat. Before you decide whether to buy the Razr Ultra 2026, the Galaxy Z Flip 8, or an older model, you might want to know how the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 is holding up one year later.

I've spent exactly a year with the Galaxy Z Flip 7, testing Samsung's foldable against the older Galaxy Z Flip 6 and the entire Motorola Razr 2026 lineup. Truth be told, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 is slightly underrated. It's easy to ridicule the flip phone for its poor cover screen software, but beyond that, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 features polished hardware and great hardware support.

It's still going strong in 2026, and these are the things I love (and don't love) about the Galaxy Z Flip 7 after long-term use.

Samsung's flip design is still better than Motorola's

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7's IP48 certification won't win any awards, but overall, this is the best-built foldable you can buy in North America. It's sturdy, with a strong hinge and a nearly crease-less display. My favorite part about the Galaxy Z Flip 7 is its form factor. The flip phone weighs only 188 grams and measures just 13.7mm when folded, seriously undercutting the Razr Ultra 2026.

I can guarantee you'll notice the thinner, lightweight build of the Galaxy Z Flip 7 as you live with it for months. It's no Galaxy Z Fold 7 — flips simply have less internal space to work with, resulting in thicker builds — but it's still impressive. More importantly, I'm fond of the Galaxy Z Flip 7's rectangular shape. It feels polished and premium, whereas I find the Razr Ultra 2026's curvy design to make it look thicker than it actually is.

Motorola gets credit for the stylish PANTONE colorways available throughout the Razr line, but I'll take the Galaxy Z Flip 7's footprint anyway.

The Galaxy Z Flip 7's cover screen software is still disappointing

The one Galaxy Z Flip 7 drawback that is borderline disqualifying is the phone's cover screen software. It's more limited than the Motorola Razr Ultra 2026 — you need to use extra apps like MultiStar to get basic apps running on the Galaxy Z Flip 7 cover screen. The real problem is the Galaxy Z Flip 7's Flex Window software pales in comparison to the Galaxy Z Flip 6.

You used to be able to add widgets and use full-screen widgets on the cover screen. Now, you have to open the phone to add widgets, and the largest widgets (with the exception of launchers) are 2x2. As such, you can see fewer bits of information on the Galaxy Z Flip 7 cover screen than on the Galaxy Z Flip cover screen. I've hoped for updates to improve cover screen functionality, but running One UI 8.5, it's the same story.

If running full-screen apps on the cover screen and enjoying data-dense widgets are important to you, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 unfortunately isn't a real option. You'll have to go with a Motorola flip.

The folding display's aspect ratio is nearly perfect

After using the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 7, it's clear that the wider screens can't be understated. The 6.9-inch folding display on the Galaxy Z Flip 7 measures 68.6 millimeters wide. This makes it feel just like a Galaxy S25 Edge or Galaxy S26 Plus, and the Galaxy Z Flip 7 is a joy to use as a result. Foldables typically compromised the traditional smartphone experience with narrow screens and odd aspect ratios, but the Galaxy Z Flip 7 doesn't.

Although the cover screen software leaves a lot to be desired, the Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel inside is outstanding. The aspect ratio and size are two big reasons why, but the 120Hz refresh rates and 2,600 nits of peak brightness are others. This is more like a slab phone you can fold in half, rather than a flip phone with a cover screen designed to keep you from opening it. A year with the Galaxy Z Flip 7 taught me that Samsung and Motorola's flips might serve different audiences.

The camera sensors are lackluster, even for a foldable

Samsung's slow pace of smartphone upgrades is well documented, and the Galaxy Z Flip 7's camera system is further evidence. There's a 50MP main camera and a 12MP ultrawide camera, which isn't great compared to Motorola's dual 50MP sensors on the Razr Ultra 2026.

Yes, Motorola's phone is a year newer and more expensive, but the brand's last-gen Razr Ultra 2025 also had dual 50MP rear cameras — and it costs less than the Galaxy Z Flip 7 today. I didn't find the Galaxy Z Flip 7's camera system to be terrible, but there are certainly flip phones with better offerings.

One UI is superb and there's long software support

It's easy to forget that, outside of the Galaxy Z Flip 7's cover screen limitations, the foldable ships with great software. One UI 8 was excellent out of the box, and One UI 8.5 is better. Soon, the flip phone will get the boost to One UI 9. For a lot of people, One UI will feel smoother, cleaner, and more versatile compared to Motorola's My UX.

The big thing to remember is the phone's software support. With a seven-year guarantee, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 will get updates for years to come. The Razr Ultra 2026 is supported for less than half as long, with only three guaranteed Android OS upgrades. Especially considering the high cost of Motorola foldables, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 (and the new Galaxy Z Flip 8) feel like the better deal due to software support.

Battery life and charging could use some work

As silicon-carbon batteries become more common on phones sold in the U.S., the Galaxy Z Flip 7's battery looks worse. It's only a 4,300mAh battery with slow 25W wired charging, and no Qi2 magnets. Compared to the 5,000mAh Razr Ultra 2026, it's not even a competition. Even though the Galaxy Z Flip 7 has a larger battery than the Galaxy Z Flip 6, I found that battery life was about the same between generations.

The Galaxy Z Flip 7 might be old news with the Galaxy Z Flip 8 arriving, but that doesn't mean it's down for the count. This is still a great phone that can rival Motorola's best in a few areas. It's also woefully outdated in others. If you already have a Galaxy Z Flip 7, though, there's no need to replace it yet.

The Galaxy Watch 9 is now on sale globally, and while it has a slightly bigger battery and runs Qualcomm's silicon, the design is identical to last year. Samsung didn't change too much with the smartwatch, and it's the software where the brand focused most of its attention.

If anything, it's the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 that got most of the upgrades this time, and that's also understandable — last year's model missed out on any new changes. By that logic, Samsung should offer meaningful upgrades with the Galaxy Watch 10 next year, and while there isn't much in the way of information about the smartwatch at this moment in time, that will change over the coming months. In the meantime, I'm listing a few features that I want to see in next year's smartwatch.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 10: Pricing and availability

Samsung increased prices across the board this year, with the 40mm Galaxy Watch 9 starting at $379 (a $30 increase from last year), and the 44mm starting at $409 (also $30 higher than last year). The LTE models got the same $30 price hike, and while smartwatches aren't quite as affected by the RAM and storage crisis, it is entirely likely that the Galaxy Watch 10 will see a similar uptick in pricing.

That's just the way the industry is going, and with the RAM shortage set to continue well into 2027 and beyond, we could see brands raise prices next year as well. Obviously, it's too early to talk about what the Galaxy Watch 10 could cost, but I'm predicting a $399 starting price.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 10: What I want to see

The one upgrade I want on the Galaxy Watch 10 is improved battery life. Samsung put a massive battery in the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 while somehow making it thinner, so it shouldn't be difficult to do the same with the Galaxy Watch 10. While the Galaxy Watch 9 lasts two days, I want to see at least three days before needing to charge the smartwatch, and this is something Samsung needs to address next year.

In a similar vein, I want charging to be faster; Samsung doesn't quite do enough in this area, and that needs to change in 2027. I also want Samsung to increase durability to 10ATM, just like the Watch Ultra 2. A better selection of colors would be nice, as Samsung doesn't make all color variants available in all regions.

Also, we need a model with a rotating bezel. I still don't get why Samsung doesn't offer this as standard on one of the Galaxy Watch 9 models, and there isn't a Classic option this time either. Samsung must've noticed that the rotating bezel is an oft-requested feature from long-time users, so it isn't quite clear why the brand doesn't prioritize it.

Where Samsung has an advantage is with the software, and this year saw an influx of AI-assisted features. Of course, this isn't just with the smartwatches, with Samsung heavily pushing Galaxy AI on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and Z Fold 8. It is likely that Samsung will continue to lean into AI with next year's devices as well.

There's higher-than-usual interest in the Galaxy Watch 10 given that this year's model didn't have many upgrades, and I will update this post as soon as we have any tangible information around the 2027 model. In the meantime, if you need a smartwatch, the Galaxy Watch 9 is the best bet.

Now that the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 is official, we can start speculating about the Galaxy Z Flip 9. In most years, we'd have a leak or two about the next model's specs or design by now, but Z Flip 9 rumors pointin a different direction entirely: the end of the Z Flip line.

Ahead of the Galaxy Z Flip 8's announcement, one rumor claimed this would be the last of Samsung's eight-generation-long Flip phones. This comes from leaker Ice Universe, who is known for accurate information on upcoming devices, but, as with any leaked information, it could simply be from a meeting where Samsung floated the idea of ending the Z Flip line rather than a legitimate decision to end it.

While the leak didn't provide much info beyond "The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 is likely to be Samsung's last small folding product," it's highly likely a combination of waning sales and market conditions is making Samsung rethink every product it makes.

With the new smaller Galaxy Z Fold 8's arrival and the upcoming onslaught of similar "fun-sized" book-style foldables, Samsung and other players may be shifting focus away from Flip-style phones. Regardless of what happens, we'll be collecting every rumor and leak that appears between now and the expected release of the Galaxy Z Flip 9.

Galaxy Z Flip 9: Price and availability

Samsung's next folding phone announcement, which likely includes the Galaxy Z Flip 9, should take place in July 2027. Samsung has been using a mid-late Summer date for its folding phone and wearables announcements, and we expect that to continue next year.

With electronics prices continuing to rise, we also expect another price increase for the Galaxy Z Flip 9, particularly if RAM and storage prices continue to soar, as is predicted due to the AI data center boom. One of the Z Flip's biggest selling points has always been the lower price when compared to the Z Fold, and another price increase could spell trouble for the Z Flip line.

What we expect for the Galaxy Z Flip 9

It's been a while since we've seen a substantial redesign of the Z Flip series. The Z Flip 8 further reduced the thickness of the series, but since it's not quite Z Fold 8 thin, it's likely a Z Flip 9 will continue to slim down the series. Samsung has begun using silicon-carbon in its batteries (5% silicon content in the Z Flip 8), which means it can continue to increase battery capacity and decrease physical battery size, enabling thinner and lighter phones.

Since the cover display already takes up the entire front of the phone on the Z Flip 8, it's unlikely we'll see changes to it's physical appearance on a Flip 9. Samsung's new titanium screen protection substantially reduced the inner crease on the Z Fold 8 series, and a Flip 9 would do well with a further decreased crease, as well.

There's been word that the Galaxy S26 Ultra's Privacy Display will begin making its way to other Samsung phones in 2027, and that could include the company's premium-level foldables like a Galaxy Z Flip 9. Even if this phone doesn't get that tech, it needs to address the PWM rate, as Samsung has fallen substantially behind rivals in eye care features like this.

I'd also love to see Samsung add a telephoto camera to the Z Flip 9. Basically all flip-style phones include a main and an ultrawide camera, but few have tried to offer some kind of "Pro-level zoom" as a non-folding flagship would at this price range.

It'll be a while before we can start feeling sure of Samsung's direction for the next Z Flip phone, but you'd better believe we'll have everything you need to know about it right here as the rumors and leaks roll in over the next year.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 just doubled its chances of success with a new shorter, wider model, and that gets us excited to see what Samsung is cooking for the Z Fold 9 series. This year may be all about the new form factor, but we're hoping next year shores up some of the obvious weak points of Samsung's most premium folding phones.

Right now, we're looking at a laundry list of wishes and additions we'd love to see, from an Ultra-style wider Fold 9 to the return of the S Pen, better cameras, and improved battery capacity. Plus, with Samsung's especially close relationship with Google these days, there's definitely going to be new AI-powered software tricks and features that we don't expect.

But until Samsung officially announces it, here's everything we know so far (and hope to see) about the Galaxy Z Fold 9 series.

Galaxy Z Fold 9: Price and availability

If 2026 will go down in history for any one thing, it's the mega inflation rate for RAM and storage components. Fueled by the massive AI data center boom, component prices are skyrocketing, and the prices are expected to double again by the end of 2027 unless something drastic changes.

That means the expected Summer 2027 launch of the Galaxy Z Fold 9 series will come well before the peak of component price increases, forcing Samsung to increase prices yet again for the launch. We'll keep a sharp eye on this one, for sure, but things aren't looking up for a downward trend in this realm of things.

What changes can we expect for the Galaxy Z Fold 9?

Now that Samsung has firmly planted its flag with dual Fold models, we expect the company to reveal its full plans for the future of Z Fold design in 2027. The wider, shorter Z Fold 8 is expected to take home the lion's share of sales, and that may mean Samsung launches additional models in 2027.

Last year, Samsung experimented with the Galaxy Z TriFold, the company's first folding phone with two hinges and three displays. While that phone's availability was short-lived, we know Samsung is working on a successor, which likely means a Galaxy Z TriFold 9 or a similar naming convention.

Depending on how well the wider Galaxy Z Fold 8 sells, Samsung could also deliver a more powerful Wide Fold next year. This means a Galaxy Z Fold 9 Ultra that uses the shorter, wider form factor of the Z Fold 8, all with better camera hardware and a higher-capacity battery to match the Ultra name.

It's also possible that future Ultra models will begin using Samsung's Privacy Display that debuted with the Galaxy S26 Ultra, as it's been said that this display tech will ship in more Samsung phones in 2027. Either way, we're hoping Samsung finally listens to feedback and improves it's display PWM rate and eye care features, which have fallen well behind rivals.

Many are also hoping to see a Galaxy Z Fold 9 with camera hardware that finally feels like a true flagship phone. If another round of price increases turn out to be true, it would behoove Samsung to upgrade the Z Fold 9's cameras with a telephoto camera that doesn't feel like it's from 2019. Considering Samsung looks to be adopting a horizontal Pixel-style camera bar in the Galaxy S27 series, there should be plenty of room for improved camera hardware on a similarly-designed Z Fold 9.

We should also see further improvements in battery capacity now that Samsung has finally begun adopting silicon battery technology. While rivals are reaching 30% silicon content in some models, Samsung's Z Fold 8 series uses just 5% silicon content. Samsung has been extremely shy about battery changes since the Galaxy Note 7 disaster, so we only expect a modest improvement in silicon content for the Z Fold 9 rather than something earth-shattering.

Lastly, Samsung's new Flex Titanium screen technology paved the way for thinner and stronger flexible glass on the Z Fold 8 series, which could spell a return of S Pen compatibility on the Z Fold 9. I could very well see Samsung give the taller Z Fold 9 or even a potential Z 9 TriFold this capability and call it the Galaxy Z Fold 9 Note. That would give its models an important differentiator and bring back the fan-favorite Note series, making it a must-have phone for tech lovers.

Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event just wrapped up in London, where the company unveiled its latest lineup of foldable phones, alongside a new generation of Galaxy smartwatches. The event largely went as expected, with Samsung walking through the hardware upgrades, new AI features, and refinements across its latest devices.

But there was more to Unpacked than just new phones and wearables. Samsung quietly announced a few interesting changes, teased what's coming next, and slipped in several details that were easy to miss. If you didn't catch the event live, here are five of the biggest announcements you may have missed.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 has a new name (and shape)

This was probably the biggest surprise from Galaxy Unpacked. Despite the name, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 isn't actually the direct successor to the Galaxy Z Fold 7. That title now belongs to the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, while the regular Galaxy Z Fold 8 is an entirely new foldable with a completely different form factor.

Instead of the tall, narrow design Samsung has used since the original Galaxy Fold, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is shorter and much wider. When unfolded, it feels much closer to a compact tablet than a stretched-out phone, making it a far better fit for multitasking, reading, and watching videos.

The naming is admittedly a little confusing if you haven't been keeping up with the leaks, but after spending some hands-on time with the device, it's honestly the most interesting product Samsung announced at Unpacked.

It also feels like Samsung made this move to get ahead of Apple's rumored foldable iPhone, which is widely expected to adopt a similar passport-style design later this year. We'll be diving much deeper into this new form factor over the coming week, because I think there's a lot more to it than just a different aspect ratio.

Samsung finally adopts Silicon Carbon battery tech

It took Samsung long enough, but the company has finally joined the silicon-carbon battery club. The Galaxy Z Fold 8, Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, and Galaxy Z Flip 8 are the first Samsung phones to use the new battery technology, something Chinese smartphone makers adopted years ago.

The biggest advantage of silicon-carbon batteries is that they can pack more capacity into the same physical space. That's exactly what Samsung has done here. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra now features a 5,000mAh battery, up from the Galaxy Z Fold 7's 4,400mAh cell, while also increasing wired charging speeds to 45W.

Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra are also first Samsung foldables with (almost) crease-free displays

The new passport-style Galaxy Z Fold 8 may have grabbed most of the attention, but I actually think the displays are one of the biggest upgrades across Samsung's new foldables. More specifically, it's the inner display that's seen the biggest improvement.

Both the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra feature a much less visible crease than previous Samsung foldables. During my hands-on time, it looked very close to what Oppo achieved with the Find N6 earlier this year.

Samsung says this is thanks to its new Titanium Flex technology, which uses a redesigned titanium layer and hinge structure to reduce the appearance of the crease while improving durability.

Samsung hasn't confirmed it yet, but if recent reports are accurate, this could also be a self-repairing display layer that smooth out the crease over time.

Another underrated upgrade is the new anti-reflective coating on the inner display. Since foldable screens are still plastic, they've traditionally reflected a lot of light. That's much less of an issue this time around thanks to an anti-reflective coating that makes the display noticeably easier to use outdoors and under bright lighting.

Samsung finally adds some long-due software features with One UI 9

Samsung also showcased One UI 9, which is based on Android 17, that will debut with its new foldables.

One of the coolest additions is Fan Cam, which lets you record a video normally and then automatically track a specific person in the frame. One UI 9 then uses AI to crop the footage into social media-friendly formats like 9:16 or 1:1, making it much easier to create videos for Instagram Reels or TikTok without manually editing them later.

The Galaxy Z Flip 8 also quietly gets one of its biggest software upgrades yet. Samsung has finally unlocked the cover display, making it feel much more like a proper smartphone screen.

You can now swipe down for Quick Settings and notifications, swipe up to access the app drawer, and interact with the cover display much more naturally instead of being limited to Samsung's previous implementation.

We now know more about the Galaxy Glasses

Samsung didn't fully unveil the Galaxy Glasses at Unpacked, but the company did share a few new details about its upcoming smart glasses.

Samsung confirmed that it's working with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker on the design of the glasses, and, as expected, they'll run Android XR with Gemini at the center of the experience.

Samsung also confirmed they'll be powered by Qualcomm's AR1 Gen 1 chip and that the first generation smart glasses won't feature a display, but rather they would be AI-first smart glasses designed around voice, cameras, and Gemini.

The company also revealed that when launched, you'll be able to control the glasses using hand gestures while wearing a Wear OS smartwatch.

Samsung is still keeping the exact launch date under wraps, although it did confirm they'll arrive sometime later this year.

Samsung is set to fully launch its "Intelligent Eyewear" this fall, and at Unpacked, the company gave us a look at its designs from Warby Parker and Gentle Monster. I've already played with prototype Android XR glasses a few times, but this is my first time getting hands-on time with production design models, and I feel like it's finally starting to come together.

However, given how long it's taking Google and Samsung to bring these to market, I'm wondering if this new effort can survive the hurdles of a shifting public opinion on smart glasses.

AI meets style

The models I got to handle were not functioning products, but just something to give us a peek at what we're getting ahead of the actual launch. So while I couldn't actually use the glasses or even put them on my face, I at least got to hold them and get a feel for them, and I was quite impressed.

Of the new designs I got to see, the Gentle Monster model caught my eye, as I prefer its more classic style, which is closer to the kinds of glasses I wear. However, the Warby Parker glasses looked more stylish, so I'm sure there will still be plenty of appeal for these.

This is why Samsung's partnerships with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker are so important, as highlighted by James Choi, corporate EVP and head of XR R&D at Samsung.

"They must first be something people really want to wear every day. After all, this is eyewear. People want a natural, stylish fashion item, not a piece of technology on their face," he said during a round table briefing.

Not only did the glasses look relatively thin; they also felt surprisingly light. Weight is generally a major hurdle when it comes to smart glasses, so lighter glasses mean less chance of fatigue. Furthermore, the relatively thin design helps them look less like tech and blend in as glasses.

Despite their thin, lightweight design, the glasses are still quite durable, and Samsung has ensured "mobile-grade quality assurance," so they should be able to withstand a fall.

Choi also highlighted something called Power Camp, a joint effort between Samsung, Google, and Qualcomm to optimize battery life and tune software and data streamlining.

And while the glasses are powered by the Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1, they will leverage the phone's memory and compute to provide faster responses and relevant data protections.

As a result, the glasses can get up to an estimated nine hours of mixed-use battery life using the camera, listening to music, and triggering Gemini (and/or Bixby), with an additional seven full charges with the case. You'll also be able to control them with Wear OS watches and connect with apps like Maps, Interpreter, and Samsung Notes through the glasses.

The elephant in the room...

Public opinion around smart glasses has taken a bit of a turn lately. Despite Ray-Ban Meta glasses being available for years, consumers are starting to turn on them, especially after a few missteps, reports of always-on glasses, and the current smear campaign against the glasses. So how is Samsung approaching the market given the shifting tides?

Choi says privacy is not an afterthought but the core of how Samsung is developing these new glasses. That means including things like the LED indicator light to show when the camera is in use, as well as wear detection to disable the camera if the user takes off the glasses or even covers the LED.

But there is a concern that perhaps more needs to be done. Choi makes it clear that navigating public perception is not easy, especially in different cultures, and recognizes that it's a shared industry problem. He notes that Samsung is constantly in communication with governments to ensure they're meeting regulations, and the hope is that they are able to come to some sort of solution while still fostering the development of new technologies such as these.

For now, it sounds like Samsung and Google are doing their part, but the onus is on governing bodies to instill regulations that make everyone happy. I just hope this doesn't sully the launch of a product I'm genuinely interested in. After all, Google already had its Glasshole moment; it would be a shame for Android XR to also be relegated as just another pair of "pervert glasses."

Samsung's new Galaxy Z Flip 8 was finally unveiled at Unpacked, and I got to spend some time with the phone ahead of the big reveal. Samsung has been a pioneer of the modern flip phone for years, so it's no surprise that the Galaxy Z Flip 8 both looks and feels spectacular. It also feels like a bit of a course correction for the flip series after the Z Flip 7 fell short on some aspects.

Still, despite this being a refinement of last year's Galaxy Z Flip 7, the Flip 8 feels like a solid piece of hardware and potentially a worthy competitor to the Motorola Razr. But with the higher price, it might be a hard sell for some.

If it ain't broke...

If you've seen the Galaxy Z Flip 7, then you've basically seen the Z Flip 8. The design is pretty much identical, aside from some refinements like a slightly thinner chassis. Samsung was somehow able to achieve this with the same battery capacity, thanks to a new silicon-carbon battery. The result is probably one of the best-looking and most pocketable phones you can buy, even compared to the rather thick Motorola Razr Ultra.

There are also some nice new colors, including a nice pink that I’m rather fond of and a green that’s probably my favorite of the bunch, which is why it’s such a shame it’s a Samsung.com-exclusive color.

Nearly everything else about the phone is the same as its predecessor. It comes in the same storage and RAM configurations, the displays are the same size, and even the cameras are the same. The 50MP camera does get a boost with the ProVisual engine for enhanced selfies, so I’m excited to really test that out.

One downside is that unlike the Fold 8 series, the Galaxy Z Flip 8 doesn’t get the new Titanium Flex display. The crease is still pretty minimal on the Flip, and I doubt it will bother anyone who owns it, but it would be nice to see it get the same treatment as its other foldable siblings.

So what's new?

Fortunately, Samsung made some rather important changes on the inside. The phone is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, a return to Qualcomm after last year’s model was Exynos-only. I’m curious to see how performance compares to the Razr Ultra 2026, which is powered by last year’s Snapdragon 8 Elite. This also means you get the same Gemini Intelligence features as on the Fold series, such as screen automation

However, one of the most notable changes made was to the cover screen experience. Samsung revamped the cover screen with One UI 9 in a way that feels somehow more intuitive than even Motorola’s excellent cover screen experience.

You have a main home screen that acts like a more useful Now Brief hub for easy access to things that matter to you, offering a truly useful way to use the cover screen. You can even use AI to generate new Now Brief cards for you based on your interests.

Swiping down now reveals a Quick Settings menu and the notifications panel, and swiping up opens your app drawer. Samsung says the cover screen experience was changed to mimic the UI when the phone is open, which should help reduce friction, while still allowing for various panels when swiping left or right.

I kind of love this new cover screen experience and, for once, think Motorola should take note for future updates to its Razr series. That said, it’s not all gravy because the app drawer only officially supports 16 apps. Fortunately, Samsung adds a button in the app drawer that prompts users to install the MultiStar module from Good Lock, which will enable additional app support, but there’s still more friction here than there needs to be.

Samsung also showed off some other tricks, like a new mirror mode, dual recording that you can preview on the cover screen, and even Super Steady with Horizontal Lock so you can capture ultra-smooth high-intensity videos on the go.

Is this really the end?

From my first impression, the Galaxy Z Flip 8 isn’t leaps and bounds better than its predecessor, but it feels like Samsung is still somewhat serious about this category of smartphone. That’s why I’m worried that the rumors might be true and Samsung could end the Flip lineup after this year, which would be a shame.

There are so few flip phones on the market now, with Motorola and Samsung as the only serious players. The ongoing RAM crisis isn’t helping things either, as it’s likely the reason for Samsung increasing the price by $100. Granted, it’s still much cheaper than the Razr Ultra 2026, but Samsung may be pricing the flip phone out of our minds and out of the market.

Samsung took the wraps off its new Galaxy Z Fold 8, and unlike previous years, we're getting two Folds instead of one. I got to spend some time with Samsung's new book-style foldables during its launch event in London, and they're very different, with one being an almost completely new form factor for the company.

Samsung is trying to target different audiences with the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra. Frankly, I'm intrigued by the company's decision to double down on its most expensive smartphone segment. But while I was fully expecting to hate the wider, more compact design on the base Fold 8 (based solely on the leaks), I actually came away from my hands-on kind of loving it.

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra: Chasing "Ultra"

If the Galaxy Z Fold 7 was Samsung's tick year, then the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is the tock. That's not a bad thing because the device looks nearly identical to the Galaxy Z Fold 7, a phone that was something like Samsung's comeback device after a few missteps. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra follows that rather impressive device with some much-needed upgrades and refinements that help the phone earn that new Ultra moniker.

For one, the phone is actually thinner than its predecessor. In fact, Samsung says it's its thinnest foldable, measuring 4.1 mm when open. To be honest, I couldn't really tell the difference between the Z Fold 8 Ultra and the Z Fold 7 when put side by side, but the latter was already very impressively thin, and the Ultra is no less impressive.

Part of what makes it impressive is that Samsung managed to increase the battery quite a bit, bumping up from 4,400mah to 5,000mah! It's all because Samsung finally joined the silicon-carbon party, helping it to pack denser batteries into its latest foldables. It's still not the largest battery in a foldable, but it should help the phone fare better in daily use. The 45W wired charging is also a nice step up, although it notably falls behind competitors like the Razr Fold.

The display itself may not look much different, but you might notice something is missing: a crease. Okay, so it's not completely gone, but Samsung’s new Titanium Flex improves display durability and greatly reduces the crease, so it's nearly non-existent when viewing content or swiping across the screen.

Samsung also added an anti-reflective coating, so glare should be less of a problem when watching movies or reels.

Then there's the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, which gives the phone new superpowers. I got to play with some of the new AI features, including Gemini automation and the new Now Nudge capabilities. In my demo, Gemini took the context from a photo of the Eiffel Tower in the Gallery, then opened the Expedia app to book a stay for two adults nearby.

Now Nudge also feels much more useful across more areas of One UI 9. It can now trigger suggestions in places like the Google Messages app or within notifications, so you can respond more intuitively. It even lets you open suggestions in split-screen mode so you don't have to disrupt your flow, and when you're done with a Now Nudge task, the second app will automatically close for you.

I wasn't able to try the camera, but the upgraded 50MP ultrawide sensor and new Cine LUT features should give the Z Fold 8 more of an Ultra edge, even if the 10MP telephoto camera leaves a bit to be desired.

Galaxy Z Fold 8: Big things, small packages

But the real story here is the new Galaxy Z Fold 8. It's a new, wider foldable that feels like it's meant to capture the feeling of some older foldables like the Oppo Find N or Pixel Fold. However, Samsung decided to go with a shorter and wider 5.4-inch external screen with a 16:10 aspect ratio.

The result of such a short and wide stature is that the Galaxy Z Fold 8 feels like a passport in hand. It fits quite well in my hand and slides easily into my pocket, partly because it's so thin at 9.7mm. In fact, as soon as I held it, my preconceptions about the design immediately went out the window, and I fell in love with this phone.

I imagine my proclivity towards flip phones has something to do with it, but using the external display isn't as awkward as I thought it would be. If you're a frequent watcher of vertical videos, then you'll notice black bars on the sides, but apps seem to resize well, and horizontal videos look great.

That goes for the internal folding display. Opening the Galaxy Z Fold 8 reveals a 4:3 aspect ratio display that looks and feels like a small tablet (and honestly feels closer to 3:2. That means content like long-form videos look more natural on the screen than on the Ultra with fewer black bars, but turn the phone and vertical videos also feel right at home, giving you a bigger and better way to show off your favorite Reels.

Samsung also highlights how the inner display is ideal for things like reading articles or books, depending on how you orient the phone.

However, one aspect I like about this form factor when the device is open is multitasking. On the Ultra, you can have three split-screen apps open at once, with two sharing one side of the screen and one expanding on the other. With the Fold 8, you can have three apps side-by-side, which feels like a usability win.

Unfortunately, there are only two 50MP cameras on the rear, so it's not the most versatile imaging system. However, Samsung showed me a cool new My FanCam feature that can capture and resize a video while focusing on one subject.

Imagine you're recording a horizontal video of a performance and want to post a Reel of one particular dancer. You can select that person, and the AI will focus on them and crop to your desired aspect ratio.

It takes a lot of work out of converting videos for social media, and it's a feature I can't wait to play with a lot more.

Which Fold do you want?

After spending some time with the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Fold 8 Ultra, it's clear Samsung is onto something. Starting at $1899, I'm not sure if doubling down on the pricier models will pay off, but for now, the cheaper model at least feels like the more compelling option, even if it's missing some of the "Ultra" specs.

After spending some time with the Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, it's clear that this is a year of refinement for Samsung. These watches are essentially upgraded versions of their predecessors, and while there may not be many differences on the outside, one major upgrade on the inside makes all the difference.

The same but different

In terms of design, Samsung didn't change much about the latest watches. That said, once you hold them or put them next to their predecessors, you might be able to spot the changes. The Watch Ultra 2, for example, is noticeably thinner than its predecessor, shaving off roughly 2mm despite its massive 800mAh battery; a 210mAh increase.

This means it feels a bit better on your wrist, which is also aided by the new watch bands. They're thinner and more malleable, allowing the watch to sit flatter on surfaces and provide a better fit on your wrist. That said, the Watch Ultra 2 is still quite heavy, and I can't imagine wearing it throughout its roughly 60-hour battery life estimate (with AOD on).

As for the Galaxy Watch 9, the dimensions are roughly the same as the Watch 8, but Samsung managed to increase the battery a bit. Thickness is the same too, making the Watch 9 much more comfortable to wear than the Ultra 2 and probably something I can see myself rocking throughout the day.

That said, the Ultra 2 is built to appeal to outdoorsy types and anyone with a more rugged lifestyle, and some new features are clear indications of such. Trail Run, for example, is an Ultra 2-exclusive feature that will track a run on a trail while monitoring elevation, total climb, and total descent.

And for serious runners, Samsung is upgrading the Sweat Loss estimation with a Nutrition Alert to help you stay adequately hydrated.

That extra-rugged design also means professional divers can use the Watch Ultra 2 to track their dives with a new Diving app coming later this year. I didn't get to see this during my hands-on, but Samsung says the Mares-developed app will track real-time diving metrics.

Oh, and the screen is apparently really bright, reaching a 5,000 nits peak. I couldn't test this out in my enclosed environment, but the brighter screen will definitely help with outdoor visibility.

The upgrade I'm most excited about in both watches is the new Snapdragon Wear Elite chip. It's Samsung's first time using a Snapdragon chip in its smartwatches, and it promises better performance, longer battery life, and better GPS tracking.

Qualcomm highlights improved AI capabilities thanks to the built-in NPU, meaning some AI tasks won't have to be routed to the phone. You can tell Gemini something like "what's my sleep score," and it will take you directly to the metric you're looking for in Samsung Health.

The new chip also enhances the capabilities of the BioActive sensor for enhanced accuracy and new features. Sleep Apnea insights, Heart Health, Daily Cardio Load, Hearing, and Fitness Index are all available on both watches to provide a more comprehensive look at your health.

Even without a Classic model, the Galaxy Watch 9 and Ultra 2 feel like they have something for everyone. The Ultra 2 feels like more of an upgrade, but the Watch 9 feels like the watch for most people and will still get many of the same features as the Ultra 2.

My hands-on time wasn't too in-depth, but we'll be reviewing both watches soon, so you can look forward to our coverage as we test these watches and pit them against some of our favorite fitness watches.

Smartphones have become the place where people manage their money, store their memories, organise their travel plans, access work accounts and stay connected with friends and family.

With so much personal information concentrated in one place, Android security has naturally become more important than ever, but luckily, strengthening protection doesn't have to involve dramatic lifestyle changes, technical expertise, or constantly worrying about the latest online threat.

In fact, some of the most effective ways to improve security occur in the background, helping users stay protected while they continue to browse, message, shop, and work exactly as they always have.

TL;DR: Android security is most effective when it works without disrupting everyday usage. Features such as web protection across apps, scam filtering, secure browsing on public Wi-Fi and background threat monitoring help reduce risk while requiring minimal user intervention. Bitdefender Mobile Security for Android focuses on protecting Android devices from modern threats, while Bitdefender Total Security extends protection across multiple devices and platforms.

Keep Android software up to date

Keeping Android and installed apps updated remains one of the easiest ways to improve security.

Software updates often include fixes for newly discovered vulnerabilities, performance improvements, and security enhancements, which means delaying updates can leave devices exposed to risks already addressed by developers. Most Android devices can install updates automatically, making this a simple set-and-forget step that requires very little effort on your part.

Updates help close security gaps before they can be exploited and ensure compatibility with the latest security protections built into Android itself. For users who rely on their phones for work, banking or online shopping, staying current with updates is one of the simplest security habits available.

Scam links increasingly appear inside everyday apps

Many people still associate online threats with suspicious emails, but modern scams often arrive through messaging platforms and social apps.

A fake parcel delivery notification, a fraudulent account warning, or a convincing promotional offer can appear in a text message, WhatsApp chat, or a social media direct message. These scams are often designed to create a sense of urgency, encouraging you to act before you have time to think.

Treat unexpected links with caution, even when they appear to come from familiar companies. Protection tools that scan links across apps can add an extra layer of security, which is particularly useful because many people now spend more time in messaging and social apps than in traditional web browsers.

Bitdefender Mobile Security for Android includes web protection that works across apps, helping identify potentially harmful links wherever they appear, making it especially useful for people who regularly communicate through messaging platforms throughout the day.

Public Wi-Fi still deserves caution

Free Wi-Fi is convenient, especially while travelling or working remotely, where airports, hotels, cafés and train stations all offer quick internet access when mobile data isn't available.

However, public networks can present some of the gravest privacy and security concerns these days. You rarely know who manages a network, how it’s configured or who else may be connected to it, an uncertainty that creates opportunities for cybercriminals to intercept data or create fake networks designed to capture personal information.

Public Wi-Fi can be used safely, but additional protection is recommended when accessing sensitive information.

Secure browsing tools can help protect personal data when using unfamiliar networks, which is particularly valuable for frequent travellers, remote workers and anyone who regularly connects to Wi-Fi outside the home.

The reality is that most people will continue to use public Wi-Fi, but you can reduce your exposure while maintaining convenience by being mindful of your security options.

Review app permissions regularly

Many Android apps request access to location data, photos, contacts, microphones or camera, and while some requests are entirely legitimate, others might be questionable.

A navigation app needing location access to function correctly is an understandable request. However, a simple utility app requesting broad access to personal information may warrant further investigation.

Location, microphone, camera, and contact permissions typically require close attention because they involve highly personal information.

Android provides increasingly detailed permission controls, allowing you to decide what apps can access and when. A quick review of app permissions every few months can help identify software that may have accumulated access it no longer needs.

Security works best when it stays in the background

One reason people ignore security recommendations is that they assume protection requires constant management, whereas in reality, modern mobile security solutions are designed to work quietly behind the scenes.

Threat monitoring, malicious app detection and scam filtering can all operate in the background while you focus on your daily activities, whether it’s answering messages while commuting, checking emails between meetings or browsing online while watching television.

Security tools that demand constant attention often become frustrating – protection that works automatically is far more likely to remain active over the long term.

Bitdefender Mobile Security for Android is designed around this principle, helping protect devices while requiring minimal day-to-day management, making it particularly useful for people who want stronger security without added complexity.

Consider protection beyond your phone

For many households, smartphones are only one part of a much larger digital ecosystem that includes laptops, desktop PCs, and tablets, often containing the same accounts, files and personal information found on mobile devices.

A security strategy that focuses exclusively on a single device can leave other parts of the household exposed, which is why multi-device protection is particularly useful for families, remote workers, and people who regularly switch between devices throughout the day.

You might start the morning by checking emails on a laptop, browsing social media on a phone during lunch and streaming content from a tablet in the evening. Each of your devices represents a potential entry point for security threats.

This is where the Bitdefender Total Security comes into play. It’s designed to provide broader protection across multiple devices, helping you manage security more consistently across all your hardware without adding complexity.

Small security improvements add up

Making an Android device safer requires no dramatic changes and doesn’t mean you have to stop using public Wi-Fi, avoid messaging apps, or become a cybersecurity specialist.

Simple habits such as keeping software updated, reviewing app permissions, staying cautious around unexpected links and using security tools that operate quietly in the background can significantly reduce risk over time.

Modern Android security is increasingly about supporting everyday behaviour, and the best protection often works silently, helping you navigate daily digital life with greater confidence and fewer interruptions.

• Explore how Bitdefender security solutions can help protect your devices, identity and privacy — all in one place.

I use several chargers throughout the house, and I still rely on the 500W Nexode as my go-to charging station in the office. As good as it is, the charging station is bulky, so I don't use it on my desk. I instead prefer a smaller charger that still gives me the flexibility to charge up to four devices at once, and in recent months, I used Baseus' excellent Nomos 2, which also has a Qi 2.2 mat.

That was before Satechi rolled out its latest GaN charger. The ChargeView 140W is a 4-port charger that's roughly the same size as a regular 140W wall charger, but you get four charging ports in total, and Satechi even managed to fit a tiny panel onto it that shows real-time charging details. The best part is that it costs just $99 on Amazon, which is similar to other 140W chargers I used in recent months. Here are three reasons why the ChargeView 140W is now my go-to desk charger.

The ChargeView 140W is the smallest 4-port charger I used

For me, the number one consideration for a desk charger is the size, and the ChargeView 140W nails the brief. It is smaller than other 4-port charging stations I used, and if anything, it's even smaller than a travel charger.

I also like that it has four USB-C ports; most 4-port chargers include a USB-A port, and while I can understand the reasoning behind that, I don't need the port on a desk charger, so just having a multitude of USB-C ports is highly convenient — at least in my use.

Satechi also includes a stand that lets you orient the ChargeView 140W horizontally or vertically. I used it horizontally, and the stand makes accessing the USB-C ports just a tad more convenient. The charger itself is made out of plastic, and I didn't see any issues with build quality whatsoever.

It has USB 3.2 AVS and goes up to 140W

The ChargeView 140W does a solid job charging four devices at once, and the C1/C2 ports have the ability to charge devices up to 140W. The USB-C1 port uses the latest USB PD 3.2 AVS standard to adjust voltage in minute increments, and it makes a difference while charging the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air.

The USB-C2 port uses the standard USB PD 3.1 profile, and it also goes up to 140W. The C3 and C4 ports go up to a maximum of 40W individually, and these are better-suited for charging handheld consoles and accessories. Like all other GaN chargers, the ChargeView 140W does a good job intelligently managing the power budget based on the number of ports in use. Here's a look at how the power delivering is affected based on number of devices connected:

I used the ChargeView 140W with my Find X9 Ultra, iPad Pro M4, iPhone 17 Pro, and a dozen accessories over the course of the last month. It did just as reliable a job as other GaN chargers I used, and the smaller size and availability of four USB-C ports makes it a long-term addition to my desk.

You get an LCD panel that shows real-time charging info

It isn't that long ago that brands started adding LCD panels to their chargers to show charging details, and I like this feature a lot. The ChargeView 140W has a tiny panel of its own, and it is a great way to see how fast a connected device is charging.

What I like about this is that you can charge the orientation of the panel based on the charger's configuration. So if you're using it vertically, a long press of the button located at the top switches the orientation. It's a small addition, but it's one that makes a noticeable difference.

On the whole, the ChargeView 140W is a great addition to Satechi's charging portfolio, and if you need a reliable desk charger with the ability to charge four devices at once, I'd suggest getting this one.

Now that smartphones have become our de facto communication and note-taking devices, the need to type faster has become a priority for many. Whether it's a requirement for your job or it's a skill that'll help you in university or at an internship, I have valuable advice for you.

Many people still default to tapping each letter on their phones, but there's a better way. I learned how to type insanely quickly on my Android phone with a single hack, and while it's not a new feature by any means, I'm going to teach you, too. Once you've mastered this skill, your average words per minute are going to jump up.

How to type really fast on your Android phone

This demonstration was conducted on a Google Pixel 8 running Android 16 and using Gboard as the default keyboard. After explaining how to use this hack, I'll also explain how to implement it in Samsung Keyboard.

As long as you're using Gboard on an Android phone running at least Android 8, you're good to go. This "trick" is called swipe typing, sliding to type, or Glide Typing (on Gboard). The idea is that you don't lift your finger for each letter of the alphabet, only for each word, saving you a lot of time. Here's how to slide your finger across the keyboard to type faster.

1. Tap a text box where you want to type on your phone.

2. Instead of individually tapping the alphabet, slide your finger without lifting it. Pause on the letters for a microsecond, and lift your finger when you're done typing a word. A space is automatically added once you lift your finger.

If you're a Samsung Keyboard user, you'll need to head to the keyboard settings and enable the Swype mode before sliding your finger to type.

Swipe typing on Gboard is intelligent and intuitive

Gboard gets smarter over time, as does your swipe-typing accuracy. As you swipe over the alphabet, you'll get word suggestions in Gboard. Over time, you can teach Gboard what your intended word was by tapping the right suggestion.

Swipe typing also works with words added to your dictionary, such as names, slang, abbreviations, or words in another language. They don't have to be grammatically correct.

What's even cooler is that you can swipe to type in other languages too! I tried it with Urdu in Gboard, and it works just as well as it does in English. Plus, if you use a Wear OS watch with Gboard, you can use this hack on your smartwatch as well.

I attract so much attention when I swipe-text in public, and people are always curious about it. I've even had strangers ask me to teach them how to use the feature on a train!

It is not the fastest or easiest trick right away; you might actually type slower at first. But once you get the hang of it, it's very hard to go back to the "usual" typing method on your smartphone.

The budget IEM category has countless choices, and it's the entry-level where things are particularly interesting. ddHiFi is a well-known Chinese outfit, and its latest collaboration with India's Headphone Zone has resulted in the Skyfall and Iris, two IEMs that target the same category.

The Iris has a 10mm dynamic driver and costs ₹2,699 ($28), and the Skyfall has the same 10mm driver alongside a BA driver, and it comes in at ₹3,699 ($38). Both usually cost ₹300 ($3) more, but with Headphone Zone having a sale, now is the best time to get your hands on either if you're interested.

I've used both IEMs interchangeably over the course of the last month, and I tested both with my Fiio M21. I'll get to the sound in a little but, but before that, I want to highlight the design. The Iris has a green hue that looks great, and the Skyfall has a bold blue design that makes it stand out.

Both IEMs have a 3D-printed shell, and the design is definitely a plus point; you don't usually see this kind of build quality in in the entry-level. I like the see-through design as it does a great job highlighting the drivers and the connectors housed within the shell. This is even more evident on the Skyfall, as you can easily make out the dedicated BA driver.

Either shell is on the larger side, but I didn't see any issues when it comes to usability. The sound nozzle on the Iris is a smidgen bigger than that of the Skyfall, but this didn't prove to be a problem.

You get a decent selection of ear tips with the IEMs, and the Iris has a 3.5mm cable, with the Skyfall bundling a 4.4mm balanced cable. The default cable is good enough, and the braided cable has a nylon sheath that gives it a little better durability.

Both IEMs sound great in their own right. They have detailed bass, a clean mid-range that allows vocals to shine, and good treble extension without coming across as bright. I like the Skyfall a little better in this area; the addition of a BA driver leads to better detail in the mid-range and a livelier overall sound, and in my testing, I preferred it to the Iris. You also get better much sub-bass energy, lending itself very well to mainstream music.

That isn't to say that the Iris is bad by any measure — it has standout vocal presentation, and if that's what you need, the Iris will be better-suited to your needs.

If you're unable to decide between the two and just need a recommend, I'd suggest going with the Skyfall. It costs a little bit more, but you're getting a more engaging sound, and a balanced cable. I also like the blue hue a little better, and I think it's a good all-rounder at just ₹3,699.

As a Google Pixel user, I have a wide variety of Qi2 and Pixelsnap accessories to choose from, made by both first- and third-party sellers. But sometimes, I come across products like the Mophie Roam 3-in-1 Travel Charger that are made for Apple, and stare at them longingly.

Although they can be very expensive, accessories for the Apple ecosystem are well-designed and feature-rich. Most multipurpose chargers for iPhones include Apple Watch chargers, which is a rare find for Pixel users. Whether it's a charging dock or a portable charger, it's hard to find officially certified accessories for Google that support the Pixel Watch.

The Mophie Roam 3-in-1 Travel Charger is a modern kit with 3 wireless charging pads

The Mophie Roam 3-in-1 Travel Charger is an all-in-one charging package. It features three wireless charging pads: a 25W pad to charge your iPhone, a 7.5W pad for the Apple Watch, and a third 5W pad for AirPods.

Mophie developed the StealthCharge Technology featured in the Roam 3-in-1 Travel Charger specifically for iPhones. It makes for a quiet, aerated charging pad that dissipates heat without fans or coolants.

Both the iPhone and Apple Watch charging pads fold open and closed, so you can use them as stands if you wish. This also makes it easy to pack the kit into a smaller form factor once you're done using it.

It's a MagSafe and Qi 2.2-certified kit, but the first two pads can also be used with non-Apple devices. But the Apple Watch charger is obviously not compatible with any other smartwatch.

Mophie curated this kit for travel, so it has a small footprint and comes with everything you need to power the 3-in-1 wireless charger, all in a sleek, minimalist pouch. It has several compartments so nothing moves around or gets entangled mid-travel.

The leather pouch is small enough to neatly fit in any backpack, carry-on luggage, or small suitcase. A 40W USB-C charger with U.S. prongs and a 1.5m USB-C to USB-C cable are included in the box, along with three separate prongs for the U.K., Europe, and Australia.

You can squeeze all the accessories in, but it's really only designed to hold one or two of the included global prongs.

Mophie also includes a handy ferrite bead in the kit. When attached to a USB cable, a ferrite bead — sometimes also called a ferrite ring, choke, or core — acts as an electromagnetic interference (EMI) shield, preventing unwanted RF signals from being transmitted to and from a device.

The Mophie Roam 3-in-1 Travel Charger is a luxury product with a high-end build quality

The Mophie Roam 3-in-1 Travel Charger set comes in two colors: Black and Cream. It retails for $149.95 at Apple or Mophie.

This is the 2026 iteration, the fourth generation of this kit from Mophie, with updated charging speeds all around. Older-gen variants are more widely available and come in some fun colorways like a cherry blossom print. The older-gen kits have slower charging speeds, but most of them still retail for the same price.

Overall, I love how the Mophie Roam 3-in-1 Travel Charger is the perfect portable charging kit for an avid Apple user. It supplies the fastest wireless charging speeds to six generations of iPhones, as well as every single Apple Watch and AirPods iteration.

I wish Mophie made a similar kit for the latest Pixel hardware, certified by Google for official Pixelsnap support. There isn't a single similar product available for Google Pixel users.

Even if accessory makers were able to make a universal travel charging kit with wireless charging pass for Pixel phones and Pixel Buds, the Pixel Watch would still make it hard. Since the chargers of all Pixel Watch iterations are not compatible with each other, this complicates things.

If you're an Apple user, this is the most comprehensive travel kit for all your gear.

OnePlus announced earlier this week that it's no longer launching new phones in the U.S. and Europe. Current devices will remain supported, but the company is effectively exiting these markets, and for people like me, that's a problem.

The OnePlus 13 remains the only smartphone I've ever given a 5-out-of-5 score to. Looking back at the early 2025 launch, it's clear this was the company's last-ditch effort to impress would-be buyers, and I know it would have worked if OnePlus had a better presence with U.S. carriers. The fact of the matter is that smartphones — especially flagships — live or die based on carrier availability, and OnePlus could be found in exactly zero U.S. carrier stores.

This tremendous misstep is but one of many mistakes the company made over the years, but it was likely the single largest problem that simply couldn't be overcome in a very broken retail system. Losing OnePlus particularly sucks in the U.S. because no other smartphone companies in the country push specs the way OnePlus did, and no other flagship phones here have flicker-free displays.

That's not to say some other phones globally don't have even better displays than the OnePlus 13 or 15, but the company's models have been the only choice for PWM-sensitive people in the U.S. since the OnePlus 12 debuted, and now it's difficult to know where these folks will turn.

What made OnePlus and its displays so great

I've been writing about PWM dimming and its negative effects on people since I became PWM-sensitive in early 2023. My sensitivity stemmed from using the Galaxy Z Fold 4 too often in dim light (I regularly read in bed at night on the phone), and it took me months to learn that PWM dimming was the cause of the increasingly debilitating headaches I was getting.

OnePlus and Motorola were among the first companies to make phones I could comfortably use again, and it was amazing to me that these companies were paying attention to a problem that the Big Three (Apple, Samsung, Google) seemed unaware of. Honor has also become a favorite among the PWM-sensitive community over the years, but the company mainly operates in Europe rather than North America.

Now that OnePlus is exiting the U.S. market, the only companies left making major phones with healthier dimming options are Motorola and Nothing. Smaller vendors, like TCL and Nuu, also make phones with healthier displays, but those companies typically target more budget-friendly releases, not the spec-boundary-pushing flagships that OnePlus has long made.

Motorola's last traditional flagship phone in the U.S. was the Edge Plus 2023, and while the company has pushed its folding phone lines with the Razr Ultra and Razr Fold since then, there's no sign of an iPhone, Galaxy S Ultra, or Pixel competitor from them. Nothing also makes some pretty great phones, but even the company's "flagship" phone is not a true flagship.

The only real solution for flicker-sensitive people is to either choose an under-specced phone or to import something, and both options have their downsides. Oppo told Android Central that Realme is replacing OnePlus in the global market but didn't speak specifically to U.S. availability. And thus remains the problem of what to do.

My recommendation right now is to buy whatever is available from OnePlus until it's no longer available. The company is still offering the promised seven years of support for the OnePlus 13 and 15, and the OnePlus 15R has the best OLED display for flicker-sensitive people I've seen to date. You'll also still get warranty support if something goes wrong.

But the future looks murky at best. No companies based in China want to enter the tumultuous U.S. market because of politics, and, aside from UK-based Nothing, no new brands have entered the market in a while anyway.

Unless Samsung decides that it all of a sudden cares about our eye health, or vendors like Google and Apple start adopting displays with better eye-care solutions, the only real solution is to import and hope the phone works on your carrier of choice, and that's a pretty lousy place to be in.

Google has officially confirmed that the 2026 Made by Google event will be held on August 12th in London, which means we're likely just weeks away from the launch of the Pixel 11 lineup.

While many folks can hardly wait for the new phones to drop, the arrival of a new generation has led some Android users to wonder if now is a good time to pick up last year's model, the Google Pixel 10.

While Pixel 10 deals have become more common in recent months, the answer may not be as cut-and-dry as you think. Should you buy the Pixel 10 today or wait for the new generation to launch? Let's discuss.

What we know

The Google Pixel 11 lineup is expected to be announced on August 12th at 6pm EST during the 2026 Made by Google event. According to the latest rumors, the flagship lineup is going to include four phones: the base model Pixel 11, the Pixel 11 Pro, the Pixel 11 Pro XL, and the Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold.

Unfortunately, Google hasn't been exempt from the memory shortage that has been impacting tech prices this year, which means most of the phones will be seeing a $100 price increase in 2026. Here are the new prices for each phone, according to the latest leaks and rumors:

• Google Pixel 11: $899 / €999
• Google Pixel 11 Pro: $1,099 / €1,199
• Google Pixel 11 Pro XL: $1,299 / €1,399
• Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold: $1,899/ €1,999
  
  (Prices displayed are for the 256GB starting configuration. Google is reportedly ditching the 128GB of base storage this year.)

Those prices are pretty daunting in this day and age, and it doesn't help that the Pixel 11 series isn't expected to be a dramatic upgrade from its predecessor, according to the latest reports. You get the new Tensor G6 processor, yes, plus the rumored LED light array that is expected to border the phones' camera bar (which is admittedly quite cool).

Aside from that, however, the upgrades appear to be largely iterative, which returns us to our original questions: is it worth skipping the Google Pixel 11 and grabbing last year's Pixel 10 instead? If so, will the Google Pixel 10 get cheaper once the new generation launches, or should I buy it today?

Is the Google Pixel 10 about to get cheaper?

While some Android phones do get permanent price drops when a new generation launches, it's just as likely that the Google Pixel 10 will be completely sold out by the time the 2026 phones hit store shelves next month. Think about it this way: when was the last time you saw a great deal on a Google Pixel 9 that wasn't refurbished?

This is because retailers generally try to make room for new devices prior to their launch, which means they will often discount last year's model right before its successor arrives. In other words, if you want to buy the Google Pixel 10, now is a good time to do it.

Fortunately, there are plenty of active Google Pixel 10 deals that could make the 2024 flagships dirt cheap (or even free) if you play your cards right. Stock is already running low, however, so don't wait too long if a particular offer catches your eye.

If you do miss these last-minute Pixel 10 offers, don't worry too much: the launch of the Google Pixel 11 series is sure to come with some incredible preorder deals in tow, and I'll be covering all of those promotions as they go live.

Whichever generation you choose, you can rest easy knowing you're getting a great Android phone with a sophisticated design, versatile cameras, and all of the latest AI-boosted software tricks straight out of the box.

The top Google Pixel 10 deals this week

Most DACs largely look the same and don't really stand out in anything other than their tonal characteristics. That's why I enjoy using the Fiio K17 and K19; these DACs don't look like a regular black box, and the styling makes them look great on a desk.

The Muse 300 is now aiming to do the same, but this desktop DAC is taking things to a new level: it has a 5-inch panel, three distinct sound modes, a built-in OS, and a unique UI. Muse HiFi is a recent entrant in this category, and the brand has released six DACs until now. The Muse 300 is its most ambitious effort yet, and it's now being crowdsourced for $379, a $60 discount from its eventual retail price of $439.

Obviously, design plays a big part here, so let's start there. The Muse 300 is a sizeable chunk of metal, and there's nothing subtle about the angular design — it's meant to stand out. It doesn't look like a DAC at all, and that's because you just have the 5-inch panel and a control knob up front; the 6.3mm and 4.4mm connectors are located to the right. I prefer this design as it lets me plug in a headset and not have the cable jutting out the front, and it looks cleaner on my desk.

The control wheel has built-in lighting, and it has excellent tactility. Honestly, the design and build quality make the Muse 300 feel like a high-end DAC, and it holds its own against the likes of the K19, which costs four times as much.

A big selling point for the Muse 300 is the OS, and it enables three distinct audio modes: Balanced, Tube Amplifier, and ACG. The Balanced mode has a neutral soundstage — similar to most DACs — and the Tube Amplifier mode switches to a warm profile that's great for casual listening. The ACG is a unique addition that leads to a bright sound with fast transients, and it's the one I'd suggest if you're gaming.

What's unique about the Muse 300 is that it has dedicated physical circuits with each mode instead of just relying on EQ, and it makes a noticeable difference. I tested the DAC with the Meze 99 Classics v2, Audeze LCD-S20, and the MM-500.

The Balanced mode is the one I used for analytical testing, and the Muse 300 proved its worth by delivering a clean sound with great dynamics. It allowed the MM-500 to shine, but it's the Tube Amplifier that I enjoyed using the most — it just has a warmth and liveliness to the sound that just makes listening to music that much more enjoyable, and it made me want to get a dedicated tube amp. You don't quite get the same amount of definition in this mode, but it is the one that I enjoyed using the most.

The Muse 300 features ESS' ES9039 Ultra DAC chip alongside a Qualcomm QCC3095 Bluetooth 5.4 modem. It does 32-bit/384kHz PCM decoding alongside DSD256, has a 129dB SNR and low distortion of 0.0006% THD+N.

The built-in amp delivers 1.1W of power at 32 ohms via 6.3mm, and 2.2W of power at 32 ohms over the balanced 4.4mm connector. There's good connectivity at the rear, with the DAC offering USB, Bluetooth, optical, and coaxial, in addition to XLR and RCA line out. The only annoyance is that the Muse 300 uses USB-B instead of a standard USB-C port. You'll need an external 12V/5A power brick to drive the DAC, and it's bundled in the box.

The 5-inch IPS panel has a resolution of 854 x 480, and it's driven by Muse OS. The OS lives on a 32-bit MCU, and is designed exclusively for audio playback and user interface. There's a lot to like in the UI, and while it is barebones, it doesn't have any lag, and you get all the usual settings. It doesn't have any additional features — like the ability to install apps — so you will need to use one of the inputs to play music.

After a month of use, the Muse 300 proved to be a revelation. It has the design and build quality of a high-end DAC, and it's clear that Muse HiFi paid a lot of attention to the tuning of the sound with each mode. The idea of Muse OS is interesting in its own right, and I want to see how it evolves over the years. The DAC has enough power to drive demanding headsets, and on the whole, it's a great all-round choice in the sub-$500 category — I didn't think I would enjoy using the DAC as much as I did.

I attend a lot of product briefings and meetings, and that's particularly true now as we're once again heading into phone silly season. Normally, I just attend the briefing, take notes, and write up any salient points. If I'm conducting an interview — like the one about Arm's neural gaming tech — I usually record the audio and transcribe manually. That's what takes the most amount of time, and in the last six months, I used an AI-assisted solution: Viaim's RecDot earbuds.

Now, there's no shortage of AI-assisted audio-to-text transcribing services available, and you can do it on your phone as well; this is one of the things I use the most on my Pixel 10 Pro XL. Viaim is one of many brands that are positioning AI-based products to do this automatically. I used Plaud Note in the past to do something similar, but I like the idea of the Viaim RecDot better as it isn't another thing I have to carry.

The versatility of having earbuds that record calls and meetings and automatically transcribe audio is a big deal, and it made a noticeable difference in my daily use. My favorite feature is Instant Summaries, which provides insights and key takeaways from hours-long meetings; this saved me a decent chunk of time.

A pretty cool addition is FlashRecord, a feature that records conversations up to four hours locally on the buds without needing your phone. You can also record when you're not wearing the buds by pressing a button on the case. There's also an AI-assisted translation feature, and it provides real-time translations. The RecDot did a decent job with Hindi to English translations, but it didn't hold up anywhere as well with Telugu (my native language) to English. That said, the buds have the ability to translate between 78 languages, and that's a cool use case if you're traveling abroad.

The RecDot earbuds are available for $199, and while that's quite a lot of cash, you are getting decent earbuds even outside of the AI features. The buds have a standard design with a lengthy stalk, and they don't really stand out. They have a glossy coat and the shell nuzzles into the ear comfortably, and I didn't see any fatigue even with extended use. At 4.8g, each bud is light enough that you won't even notice it.

There are other niceties; the RecDot gets IP55 dust and water resistance, and sound quality from the 11mm dynamic driver is much better than I imagined; it's not going to overthrow Bose or Sony, but it's clear that Viaim paid attention to the audio tuning. You get a boosted low-end that makes listening to most modern music that much more enjoyable, and while there isn't much extension to the treble, the overall tonal characteristics are decent. You get Qi charging, Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity, and the buds connect to two devices at once.

There's pretty good noise isolation too, and the RecDot did a reasonable job tuning out ambient sounds in my immediate vicinity. Again, while they weren't as effective as my Bose QuietComfort Ultra Gen 2 earbuds, they're good enough that I wouldn't mind using the buds while working at a cafe. You don't get AptX codecs, but there's LHDC, which made a difference while using with my Find X9 Ultra and X9 Pro.

The Viaim app is what you'll be using to generate summaries and transcribe audio, and it's decent enough. I had issues where it crashed while using it on the Find X9 Ultra, but I didn't run into problems on the iPhone 17 Pro, so that's what I used predominantly with the buds. The UI itself is easy to navigate, and you get all the notes and transcribed text easily accessible.

On the whole, Viaim did a good job with the RecDot, and if you attend a lot of meetings and need an easy way to transcribe and summarize key takeaways, these earbuds are a great option.

WiiM has consistently delivered great products over the last two years, and while it started out with amps, it is branching out into home audio, and that's exciting. The WiiM Amp Ultra sits at the center of my home theater system, and it does a great job paired to my Wharfedale Linton. I use the WiiM Pro Plus daily, and it continues to be the ideal way to connect older stereo gear to the internet. Similarly, the WiiM Sub Pro is an interesting addition that ties in really well with existing stereo systems if you need to add a subwoofer.

Then there's the WiiM Sound. I've been using it for the last six months, and it has proven to be the perfect smart speaker. It sounds much better than the Nest Audio, the stereo sound is much more detailed than the Sonos Era 100, and its connectivity is unmatched. There are plenty of other features that I'll get into below, but if you need a great-sounding stereo speaker with Google Assistant and Alexa integration, this is the one I'd get in 2026. And coming in at $299, it doesn't cost much more than the equivalent Sonos while giving you so much more.

While convenience is always high up on the list when considering a smart speaker, I care about sound quality above all else, and the WiiM Sound does well in this area. The speaker has a 4-inch woofer alongside two 1-inch silk-dome tweeters, and it delivers 100W of sound with plenty of detail. I would've liked a bit more rumble to the bass, but it is tightly controlled, and the mids are clean, with vocals shining through. Audio quality is better than what you get with Amazon, Google, and Sonos in this category.

Where the Sound truly stands out is the connectivity. It has Google Cast, Spotify Connect, DLNA, Tidal Connect, and Roon Ready integration. Additionally, you can easily connect it existing multi-room audio systems if you use Google Cast or Alexa.

You can get two units and create a true stereo pair, and if you need a 2.1 system that has much better bass, you can connect it to the $449 WiiM Sub Pro like I did. Rounding out the connectivity, you get Wi-Fi 6e, Bluetooth 5.3, 3.5mm aux in, and Ethernet, so there isn't much missing anything in this area.

This flexibility is a key selling point of WiiM products in general, and with the brand rolling out a soundbar — dubbed the WiiM Bar — soon, you can use the Sound as a rear surround or center channel in a home theater configuration. The Sound has 24-bit/192 kHz playback, and combined with Roon integration, you get the easiest way to stream your local music library — that's how I've been using it in the last six months.

The WiiM Sound connects via the WiiM Home app, and it has a modern interface with an exhaustive amount of customizability. It does a great job bringing together all of your media streaming platforms, and it's just a joy to use. Setting it up takes just a matter of minutes, and if you don't like the way it sounds, you can easily tweak the EQ.

Design is another area where WiiM is doing the right things; the Sound has a modern aesthetic that resembles the HomePod 2, but it includes a 1.8-inch panel up front that lets you control the speaker without pulling out your phone. I use it as a clock, but you can customize it to show album art, and you can change the settings. There's also a top portion with playback controls.

There's a $229 WiiM Sound Lite as well, and the only difference is that it doesn't have the front panel, and you don't get the Bluetooth WiiM Voice Remote 2 Lite. If you're looking to maximize value, the Sound Lite is the one I'd buy.

I have a half-dozen WiiM products at this point, and a big reason why I use the brand's audio gear is because of the connectivity and easy configurability. Value also plays a big part, and while the Sound costs $299, you're getting a feature-set that far exceeds what other products deliver in this category. If anything, the only feature omission is AirPlay; this was an issue on the Amp Ultra as well.

Outside of that, the WiiM Sound does everything I want in a smart speaker. It looks great, connects to every music platform and digital assistant I use, has decent sound, and is highly configurable. If you're looking to get a new Cast-enabled speaker or want something to extend your multi-room audio setup, the WiiM Sound should be your go-to choice.

I always enjoyed using Marshall's Bluetooth speakers; I bought a Stanmore 11 years ago, and it's still going strong. The Emberton III is my go-to choice for portability, and its small design combined with great sound and water-resistant chassis makes it ideal for use anywhere.

And then there's the Bromley 450. I've been using the portable Bluetooth speaker for just over a month now, and it is a powerhouse: it weighs 24lb, has two woofer units and four audio drivers that produce a 360-degree sound, comes with Auracast, and has RCA as well as XLR connectors that lets you easily start a karaoke party.

Basically, the Bromley 450 has everything you need to get a party started, and it is more powerful than most home-focused Bluetooth speakers I used, including the likes of the Stanmore. There's a price attached to all of this: the Bromley 450 costs $746 on Amazon as of writing. There are plenty of other speakers like the $279 Tribit StormBox Blast 2 (which I like a lot), but the Bromley 450 is in an entirely different league altogether.

There's also the small matter of the design; the Bromley 450 looks like an old-school Marshall amp, and that alone makes it worthy of consideration. Instead of a regular review, I'm going to highlight four things I liked the most about the Bromley 450, so let's dive in.

The Bromley 450 is the loudest Bluetooth speaker I used yet

The sheer size of the Bromley 450 has allowed Marshall to slot in a total of six driver units, and this leads to wall-rattling sound. This is designed to be a party speaker, and it absolutely nails the brief; even with the volume at 50%, the sound is loud enough to fill a decent-sized room, and crank it any higher than 80%, and you'll have the neighbors at your door.

It's not just the loudness either — the Bromley 450 sounds pretty great in its own right. The speaker has two 90W woofer units alongside four 55W drivers and two passive radiators, and you get a classic Marshall sound: engaging low-end with a lot of energy, clean mids that make guitar riffs stand out, and a soaring treble.

The orientation of the drivers means you get 360-degree sound, and it makes a big difference, particularly if you're looking for a party speaker.

Of course, like most Marshall speakers, you have full control over the tonality of the sound. There are physical controls to adjust the volume, bass, and treble, and the app allows you granular control over the equalizer.

Lastly, you can daisy-chain two Bromley 450 units; the speaker has aux in and out, and this makes it easier to connect two units to double the sound.

It connects to just about everything

The Bromley 450 has the best connectivity of any portable Bluetooth speaker around — it connects to just about everything. It uses Bluetooth 5.3 and Auracast, and it connects to two devices at once. I didn't see any issues with range in my testing, and it maintained a steady signal even at 30ft.

Where it stands out is the inputs; you get 3.5mm aux in and out, USB-C, RCA, and the ability to connect two instruments via XLR. You can easily hook up an XLR mic as well, and it's this versatility that makes it stand out. I predominantly tested the Bromley 450 with Bluetooth — I paired it with my Find X9 Ultra and Vivo X300 Ultra — but I also used it with RCA by plugging in my WiiM Pro Plus, and connected it to my Teenage Engineering OP-1 field synthesizer via 3.5mm.

Oh, and you can easily charge your phone with the speaker — the USB-C port charges at up to 15W. While it isn't as fast as a dedicated power bank, it's still nifty to have, and I like that Marshall included the feature.

This speaker is built for all-nighters — and it charges your phone

Marshall did all the right things when it comes to battery tech. The Bromley 450 uses an LiFePO4 battery that has better longevity than the standard lithium-ion batteries in most speakers.

The best part about the battery is that it is removable, and this gives the Bromley 450 a definite edge over other Bluetooth speakers. You can basically switch out the battery should it degrade down the line, and honestly, it's refreshing to see a manufacturer provide this in 2026. The battery itself doubles as a power bank, and it has USB-C.

It also makes charging effortless; I only had to charge the speaker once, and in that instance, I just took out the battery and connected it to a 100W USB PD charger. The Bromley 450 comes with a standard AC connector, but I found it much easier to just take out the battery and use USB-C instead. It takes over three hours to fully charge the battery, but there's fast charging that gives you six hours of music playback with just a 20-minute charge.

And when it comes to battery life, the Bromley 450 easily lasted over 40 hours with the volume set to 50%. This is a speaker that just doesn't quit, and it can easily handle all-night parties.

It has an iconic design that grabs attention

A big selling point of Marshall products is the classic design, and the Bromley 450 is its best showing yet. It has a domineering presence that immediately stands out, and the Marshall logo with the grille are all reminiscent of the brand's vintage amps.

Build quality is excellent, the edges are reinforced, and it gets IP55 dust and water resistance, making it ideal for pool parties. There's a carrying handle on the left that makes it easy to lug the Bromley 450 around, but there's no getting around the fact that this is an absolute unit.

I also like the physical controls; you get knobs to adjust the volume, bass, treble, a delightful power button, toggle to switch between connection modes, and knobs to adjust the volume of connected instruments, and add effects. It's just plain cool, and there's built-in lighting as well, with three effects. The lighting isn't distracting, and it makes the Bromley 450 that much more enjoyable to use.

Overall, the Bromley 450 is an absolute beast of a Bluetooth speaker. It gets louder than anything else I used in this category, it has the best design, connectivity, and battery life. You are paying quite a lot, but after a month of use, I can say with some confidence that it's worth it.

Modern displays are truly amazing. The paper-thin, flexible OLEDs in the latest TVs and smartphones are not only amazingly thin but also sport unparalleled color accuracy, astounding contrast, buttery-smooth refresh rates, and brightness like no one could have imagined until now. But among all these specs, something keeps getting forgotten: our eye health.

Staring at blindingly bright screens for hours a day is, unsurprisingly, causing massive discomfort for an ever-growing percentage of the populace. Experts once thought that a blanket "screen time" metric could help reduce the pain, but it turns out that there's a lot more to what makes displays painful to look at. Thankfully, a few companies are actively working to fix those problems.

Chief among them is BOE Technology Group, whose displays power many of the world's most popular phones, and has been the world's leading display manufacturer since 2023. I write tons of display reviews every year for Android Central, and BOE's displays are always the most eye-friendly displays from any major brand.

The company took its most recent innovations to SID Display Week in Los Angeles, and I couldn't help but be impressed by its ever-growing focus on making displays that not only look good but also feel good to look at. BOE broke it down into four categories that I'll analyze today: spectrum optimization, depolarization, anti-glare, and flicker.

What's in a spectrum?

The light spectrum isn't something we think much about in our daily lives, unless we're shopping for light bulbs or toying around with night mode display features on our phones. Our eyes were built to absorb the full spectrum of light from natural sources, but, unsurprisingly, the artificial light from most displays is anything but natural-looking.

Most OLEDs and LCDs follow a similar pattern. Since they use red, blue, and green subpixels, a graph of the light spectrum emitted by these displays shows steep peaks in each of these three colors, while the rest of the spectrum is left out.

It's usually possible to go into display settings and tweak the color output a bit (usually described as a warmer or cooler temperature), but this doesn't spread the colors across the spectrum; it just alters the height of the red, green, and blue peaks.

Looking at the graph above, you can see that the natural light graph (which represents sunlight filtered through cloud cover) shows a fairly even distribution across all colors in the spectrum. Some colors are slightly more intense than others, but none are "missing" from the graph.

Meanwhile, most LCD and OLED displays have pronounced valleys and steep peaks, which inherently cause some degree of eye strain due to the missing colors. Some LED bulbs and LED backlights on e-readers can produce quite a bit more color than LCD or OLED, but you'll often find parts of the spectrum missing entirely in the outermost sections.

BOE's next-generation display technology uses what it calls Beneficial Natural Light (BNL) to fill that color spectrum far more than existing technologies, and it does so across several different display types, too. On the show floor, BOE presented this across LCD, OLED, and micro-OLED displays, adopting the best features of each technology while leveraging the advantages of a more natural color spectrum.

Flicker, the headache machine

For several years now, I've written about how display flickering is causing debilitating pain in an increasing percentage of the population. While some companies refuse to provide solutions for customers facing these problems, BOE has done a superb job of introducing new displays with lower flicker rates since then.

At the show, BOE focused on three solutions that help solve the flicker problem: DC dimming, 4320Hz PWM dimming, and ultra-high refresh rates. Phones like the Honor Magic 8 Pro use BOE Displays with DC dimming at medium to high brightness, then switch to 3840Hz or 4320Hz PWM dimming at low brightness to strike an excellent balance between image quality and eye care.

BOE is taking that one step further by creating new displays that operate at 1000Hz refresh rates at full 1080p resolution (pictured above). This particular display uses Oxide TFTs with a 1ms response time to create the smoothest experience you've ever seen. This was only shown off on a 24.5-inch monitor, but I'm hoping to see this kind of tech make its way to mobile devices.

Kill the glare

Boe is a bit behind on this one, as companies like TCL and Samsung have been utilizing anti-glare layers on their phones for a few years. TCL's next-generation NXTPAPER display is launching later in 2026 and will be the world's first OLED display with an anti-reflective layer. Samsung has been using an anti-glare layer on its flagship Ultra series since 2024 (pictured above), but it cuts glare rather than preventing reflections entirely.

The first BOE OLED I used with an anti-glare layer is on the Honor Magic V6, a phone that launched in June and sports an anti-glare layer similar to that of the Galaxy S Ultra series. The tech BOE showed off at the SID show looked identical to this, so while I'm not expecting anything new from the company compared to what's on the Magic V6, it likely means we'll start seeing more phones with this important feature.

Anti-glare is about more than just cutting annoying reflections. It also enhances colors and black levels, helps prevent eye strain, and keeps your phone from emitting peak brightness as often (since it doesn't have to fight against reflective light).

Depolarized light

Circular polarizers have become more commonplace in modern mobile displays because they help prevent the annoying blackout that occurs when viewing linearly polarized content through polarized sunglasses. In other words, you can use your phone in portrait and landscape while wearing polarized glasses, so long as it uses a circular polarizer. Plus, circularly polarized displays are brighter than linearly polarized ones in the same situation.

Surprisingly, circular polarizers are good for more than just outdoor or in-car phone visibility. They also help scatter light in a way that's more natural and less direct than an LCD or OLED might otherwise be, helping lutein levels to remain higher than with linearly polarized displays.

Studies show that higher lutein levels improve eye performance, so your display (and everything else) continues to look good with prolonged use, while contrast and clarity can diminish over time as lutein levels decline.

Just the tip of the iceberg

If you want to see more of what BOE is working on, the display tour video above is the most comprehensive I could find from SID Display Week 2026. It goes over a ton of additional products and concepts the company is working on — like a true creaseless foldable display, transparent OLEDs, ultra-wide-gamut TVs, etc — but it's telling that BOE has such a large section devoted to eye health.

To my knowledge, only TCL shows such strong commitment to eye health with its NXTPAPER products (and beyond), while companies like Samsung never even mention eye health when announcing new products. I often get completely ignored by Samsung when I ask questions about color spectrum output, display flicker improvements, and similar topics, and my eyes (and the feedback from many people online) tell me that eye health simply isn't a concern for the company.

As we add more and more displays to our lives — whether that's the phone in our hand or the multitude of signs and advertisements in public spaces — eye health is becoming an increasingly important topic for display companies to focus on, and I'm glad to see that significant work is being put into ensuring the long-term health of the people who look at them.

Phone grips and stands are a dime a dozen, and making your mark in the industry at the level of brands like PopSockets is challenging.

Enter AULUMU. This award-winning Chinese brand aims to "reimagine urban tech accessories" with its futuristic, almost cyberpunk aesthetic. The brand launched its innovative G09 Infinite 360° Magnetic Stand in January 2026, followed by a see-through version, the G09 Ghost Transparent Infinite 360° Magnetic Stand, in May 2026.

I have been testing the G09 Infinite 360° Magnetic Stand for a month, and it is a breath of fresh air, something truly innovative in the phone accessories segment.

Puzzling at first, genius once you figure it out

AULUMU sent me the Ghost Transparent version of the G09 stand in Yellow. This version costs $39.98 and comes in Yellow, Orange, Translucent White, and Translucent Gray. Meanwhile, the regular opaque variant costs $45.98 and comes in Black and Silver.

AULUMU includes an adhesive magnetic adapter ring in the box, as well as a very helpful manual with easy-to-follow diagrams. Without the manual, I was very lost and couldn't make head or tail of the stand.

The AULUMU G09 Infinite 360° Magnetic Stand is a 3-axis magnetic stand with dual-sided magnetic attachments. These two main sides slide open on a tight hinge, so depending on the angle you set the stand at, it stays put. It's confusing when described with words, but the pictures provide much-needed context.

Twist it, turn it, bend it, fold it

The AULUMU G09 stand can be contorted into countless angles. Since it's a magnetic accessory, you can rotate it on the back of the phone too. The N52 magnets embedded within the stand are very strong.

This makes for a highly adjustable phone stand that weighs only 39g (35g for the opaque variant) and isn't too bulky. Whether in portrait mode or landscape mode, you can find an angle that works for you. Here are some of the many configurations I tried out.

It also has a removable silicone finger strap, so you don't have to take the AULUMU G09 Infinite 360° Magnetic Stand off. It can stay at the back of your phone, replacing your PopSocket or whatever grip you've been using.

You can easily use the stand with a MagSafe or Qi2 magnetic case on your phone, though that will naturally thicken up your smartphone setup.

Stacks on stacks

One of the many advantages of the double-sided magnets is that you can stack magnetic accessories on top of the G09 stand. So if you really prefer a grip with a popping top, you could just add it to the AULUMU G09 Infinite 360° Magnetic Stand.

You can take this even further by using the double-sided magnetic arm or attachment to stick your phone to a metal surface.

And because of the circular shape on both sides of the stand, you can literally hang your phone from the handles or knobs, too. This configuration makes the G09 stand look like a pair of handcuffs, but it works, so I won't knock it.

The AULUMU G09 stand innovates in a meaningful way and is definitely worth the buy

AULUMU might be writing up a steep bill, but the G09 Ghost Transparent Infinite 360° Magnetic Stand definitely feels worth the $40. It combines so many functions into one, so I think it really offers fantastic value for money.

The G09 stand takes some time to figure out, though, so you'll have to keep the instruction manual with you the first few days. But once you get used to it, it's really good fun to use.

I think the only real question here is whether you should get the costlier opaque version of the G09 Infinite 360° Magnetic Stand. At 35g, it's only 4g lighter than the Ghost Transparent variant. Is that worth $6 more? Personally, I don't think so. Besides, the see-through design comes in more exciting colorways anyway.

Meta is the undisputed king of smart glasses right now, and it's making a big bet on its own brand to lead the way after years of successful partnerships with names like Ray-Ban and Oakley.

I'm talking about the new Meta Glasses, which are still made by EssilorLuxottica, but don't sport any of the brand's well-known names. Instead, these glasses all feature original names — Fury, Adventurer, and Kylie — and debut custom Meta design upgrades you won't find on other Meta AI Glasses.

At $299, it's easy to think that these glasses would be worse than the $400+ name-brand pairs, but, like your favorite store-brand Oreos or knockoff potato chips, the changes made here not only save you money but give you an identical look and feel without the extra price that comes with a brand name.

Meta Glasses 2026: price, availability, and specs

Meta Glasses 2026 became available on June 23, 2026, at Meta.com, LensCrafters, Sunglasses Hut, Best Buy, and Amazon. Meta Fury and Meta Adventurer glasses start at $299, while Meta Starfire by Kylie starts at $399. Differing lens and frame options change the price, sometimes quite a bit.

All three pairs of Meta Glasses offer prescription options that can be combined with any of the four lens types (sun, polarized, Transitions, or clear). Because of this, some insurance plans may cover a portion (or all) of your Meta Glasses purchase.

What makes them different

When choosing between Ray-Ban Meta, Oakley Meta, or Meta Glasses, price is just one of the many reasons to choose Meta's self-branded AI glasses. All three new models sport a new 3-way adjustable nose pad design, flexible temple tips, and over-extension hinges that bend back farther than those on Ray-Ban or Oakley glasses.

And while these new options feature unique styles, colors, and lens options, all three of them offer a narrower prescription range. Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) and Oakley Meta HSTN glasses offer a prescription range of -6.00 to +6.00, while Meta Fury, Adventurer, and Kylie glasses only support -6.00 to +2.25.

So while Meta's 2026 glasses offer a wider comfort range than its previous AI glasses, they don't support the same level of prescription options. They also don't have interchangeable nose pads, unlike the Ray-Ban Meta Optics line, so sticking with Ray-Ban Meta Optics is the best bet if you're an all-day prescription glasses wearer.

But for casual glasses wearers like me, that new 3-way adjustable nose pad is an excellent addition to an already great design. In the future, I'd love to see Meta include a way to add soft padding to these, but third-party vendors on Amazon have long offered plenty of padding options, so this isn't strictly necessary.

The adjustable temple tips and over-extension hinges are also an excellent design choice, borrowed from the Ray-Ban Meta Optics line, enhancing daily wear comfort compared to Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) and Oakley Meta glasses.

The other design advantage is the new action button on the top of the right temple, which gives you one more voice-free way of quickly activating several glasses features. I love this button and am happy with any additional customization options companies offer for tech products, but I think it might be better suited to the opposite temple rather than alongside the camera capture button. It's just too easy to press the wrong button.

The new charging case, adopted from Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses, is a substantial design upgrade over any previous Meta glasses. It not only looks better but also features customizable shells and a new design that folds up to fit in a bag or pocket for on-the-go charging.

The only problem remains the weight of these glasses, which start to feel heavy after about half an hour. Adding padding to the temples and nosepieces greatly improves long-term comfort, but they're still heavier than I'd like.

The comfort level of these glasses compared to ones like the Even Realities G2, which weigh just 37g, is pretty stark. Even spec-for-spec-comparable AI glasses, like Rokid AI Glasses, weigh just 46g and have cushy nose pads for extra comfort.

But Meta often has features other companies lack. The recent integration of golf with 18Birdies and Arccos is wholly unique and likely won't be adopted by other eyewear companies. Meta also offers unique integrations of ideas like Conversation Focus, which helps isolate a specific person in a noisy environment to enhance understanding, but this feature will cost you extra if you use it too often.

Meta Glasses also support real-time translation in 20 languages, while most other companies support around half a dozen. Meta also has a nifty food logging feature that's currently in beta testing for some users, allowing them to use their glasses to estimate the caloric content of food with a quick photo.

Meta is also somewhere in the middle regarding camera privacy. An early July software update for all Meta glasses will now permanently disable the camera if the LED is tampered with, but companies like Solos offer a physical camera cover for enhanced privacy.

Everything else is the same

While Meta's 2026 glasses sport better designs (and worse prescription support), there are no differences in features between them and the company's 2025 offerings. Meta Glasses use a slightly better chipset than Ray-Ban Meta or Oakley Meta glasses, but this doesn't have any tangible real-world advantage in my testing. Some Meta AI conversations are marginally faster, but I don't think anyone will notice unless they're counting the milliseconds.

Unlike the 2025 launch, which featured better video recording stability, higher-resolution capture, and new software features compared to the Gen 1 Ray-Ban Metas, Meta's 2026 glasses don't have an exclusive software feature set. The only exception to this is Meta Starfire by Kylie Glasses, which has a custom Kylie Jenner voice for Meta AI, custom sounds, and a handy mirror built into the charging case.

There's no difference in battery life, photo or video quality, recording length, or even the volume and audio quality of the open-ear speakers on the new glasses compared to the 2025 models. Considering these are at least $100 less than comparable Oakley- or Ray-Ban-branded Meta glasses, I'd personally forego the branding and save some money.

If you need wider prescription support or just prefer a specific Oakley or Ray-Ban style or lens type, it makes sense to spend the extra cash, but I have a feeling most people won't care enough about those things, and that's a huge win for Meta (and your wallet).

The latest version of Wear OS has landed, just in time for Android 17 to start rolling out on Pixel smartphones. Wear OS 7 is not a huge departure from Wear OS 6, but the update brings a handful of new features that are either available now or coming soon.

It's not immediately clear what's new with Wear OS 7 when you update your smartwatch. Fortunately, we're going to highlight the biggest changes coming to your smartwatch that you'll want to take advantage of.

Wear OS 7: Devices and availability

Right now, Wear OS 7 is rolling out to smartwatches running Wear OS 6. However, future Wear OS models, such as the Galaxy Watch 9, could arrive with the new update preloaded out of the box. The current devices eligible for the update include:

• Google Pixel Watch 4
• Google Pixel Watch 3
• Google Pixel Watch 2

In addition to the Pixel Watch series, we expect Wear OS 7 to appear on older Galaxy Watch models, including the latest Galaxy Watch 8 series. OnePlus watches, such as the OnePlus Watch 3, will likely also be updated, though it's unclear when they will arrive on Wear OS outside the Pixel Watch series.

We will update this section when companies announce their Wear OS 7 release schedules.

Wear OS 7: New features

Visually, Wear OS 7 is not a huge departure from Wear OS 6 and still employs Google's Material Expressive design language. However, the company made notable under-the-hood changes and introduced new features that are either available now or will arrive later.

Live Updates

Android's Live Update notifications are a useful way to keep an eye on the status of things like deliveries, sports scores and more. These are coming to Wear OS 7 devices, and will be accessible via the notifications view, which you can access by tapping the notification icon.

Remote Media routing and per-app auto launch

Changes to how your watch handles media are coming. With Wear OS 7, you can choose which apps auto-launch the media player, including YouTube, YouTube Music, and Spotify.

Additionally, when playing media, users can route the audio output directly from the watch. If you're playing music on your phone, you can use the watch to instead have audio played from another connected device, such as a smart speaker.

Android XR control

Android XR devices are coming later this year, and with Wear OS 7, you'll be able to control these wearables directly from your wrist. Google highlights one example in which, when you take a photo with connected Android XR glasses, the preview appears on the watch. It's unclear at the moment what other ways Wear OS 7 watches will connect to Android XR glasses.

Gemini updates

Gemini is getting some noteworthy changes, starting with the new Neural Expressive design language for a more fluid UI. But beyond looks, Gemini becomes more functional with the help of Gemini Intelligence. Users on Wear OS 7 can trigger automated tasks on their phones directly from Gemini on their wrists, and they can track the progress and completion of these processes on the watch.

Additionally, with Personal Intelligence, Gemini on your watch will be able to take your personal context from connected apps like Gmail, Search, and Messages to make more informed decisions and suggestions, providing more relevant responses.

Widgets

Widgets are the new evolution of Wear OS tiles, allowing developers to create more flexible and dynamic dashboards for your favorite apps to match those on your phones. Furthermore, using Gemini Intelligence, you can create your own widgets by telling Gemini what you want using natural language, allowing you to get the type of glanceable information you want.

Google Contact app updates

The Google Contacts app is getting some quality-of-life updates to make it more functional. When searching for a contact in the Google Messages app, there is now a three-button layout with the keyboard and voice text to make it easier to find the contact you're looking for.

Additionally, improvements have been made to the UI, including an updated Favorites list, new quick action buttons, and a larger contact photo.

Emergency Sharing updates

Loss of Pulse, Car Crash, and Fall Detection features in the Safety & Emergency settings now have the option to toggle on Emergency sharing. This will share your location and other information with emergency services if there is no response from you and the phone detects a fall, car crash, or loss of pulse.

Wear Workout Tracker

Wear OS watches often offer their own fitness and workout apps, but to help reduce development time and resources, Wear OS 7 now has a built-in Workout Tracker. Later this year, fitness apps like ASICS Runkeeper can tap into the heart rate monitor, media controls, and more, which can help standardize the fitness tracking experience across Wear OS devices.

Battery life improvements

Perhaps one of the most important improvements coming with Wear OS 7 is the boost in battery life. According to Google, users can expect up to a 10% improvement in battery life thanks to system-level power optimizations. This could mean at least a few hours of additional battery life, which is a lot for smartwatches.

One UI 9 Watch

Samsung's version of Wear OS is built with its own One UI skin on top, which it calls One UI Watch. With Wear OS 7, we expect Samsung to roll out One UI 9 Watch, which should bring new features and changes compared to One UI 8 Watch.

We don't know much about One UI 9 Watch at the moment, but it is expected to feature a similar, yet refreshed, interface. We can also expect new features and customizations, with Samsung set to release new Blood Pressure Trends with the update to replace Vascular Load.

One UI 9 Watch firmware has reportedly been spotted on Galaxy Watch 8 models, which suggests it's likely close to landing on our smartwatches.

We can expect One UI 9 Watch to arrive with the Galaxy Watch 9 series, which is expected in July alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 8. The update will likely arrive soon after on eligible Galaxy smartwatches.

As someone raised with the many generations of the PlayStation console, gaming is a wonderful outlet for me that helps me unwind. I also find great comfort in patterns; it's something that has always relaxed my mind and helped ease my anxiety. Thus, it only makes sense that at the end of a long day, I rely on some casual gaming to calm my very overstimulated brain.

For as long as I have had a phone, even in the days of Symbian OS, I have always had a roster of silly games to play in my downtime. These are different from "proper" gaming sessions for me, as the goal here isn't to enjoy complex game mechanics or intricate worldbuilding. I'm not looking for Skyrim-level lore or an action-packed adventure. I just want my mind to be still and for me to fall asleep without any mental tabs open in the background.

This is my current roster of mindless, silly Android games that lull me to sleep in the wee hours of the night. They have ads and microtransactions, but the basic gameplay is free. You might find them ridiculous, but don't knock 'em 'til you've tried 'em.

Hello! My Cozy Inn

Hello! My Cozy Inn is a slow-paced restaurant and hotel management game with several mini-games, including a farming sim, merge games, memory-pair games, and more. The plot is simple: you start out with a rundown little inn, and you have to make it successful.

Even if you have a very short attention span and limited patience, you will not tire of this game easily. Though you have to wait for revenue to accumulate over time to upgrade the inn, there are plenty of side quests to keep you occupied.

By the time you're done accomplishing the day's tasks, your nervous system is relaxed, and your eyes are closing. The game has a cozy atmosphere and does a great job of slowing you down.

Screwdom 3D

Screwdom 3D is one of those Android games that don't require much thought. Your goal couldn't be simpler: unscrew the object you've been given. Tap a screw to unscrew it, dismantling the object piece by piece, layer by layer.

To make it a bit more challenging, the screws are color-coded. Players need to match the colors as required, without running out of holes to store screws that don't match the current color.

There are various fun 3D models to take apart, and they can be rotated at any angle up to 360 degrees. As you twist and turn the object, looking for matching screws, your mind focuses on this low-stress task and the background noise in your mind turns down.

And if you're feeling competitive, there are plenty of challenges where you compete with others, pushing you to finish puzzles as fast as you can (sometimes without failing a level).

Arrows – Puzzle Escape

Arrows – Puzzle Escape is a black-and-white game that eliminates all stimulation. It leaves you focusing on just the black arrows set against a plain white background, clearing the board on every level.

I enjoy this game particularly because of the unraveling of the pattern. The logic it follows doesn't require much thought. It almost becomes muscle memory; a repetitive task of tapping away at the arrows to pass the level.

As you progress, the levels become increasingly intricate. There are daily and weekly challenges as well. The lack of a timer takes the pressure off, allowing you to immerse yourself in the game until sleep befalls you.

Magic Sort!

Magic Sort! gives you a nice little dopamine boost with its bright colors and cute characters. You must sort the colorful liquids in the bottles, with each bottle containing only a single colored liquid at the end of the level.

It's easy to get stuck, but you can collect helpful tools to assist you along the way. Watching ads is sometimes required, but I find that waiting for the ad to finish is enough to make me fall asleep. Since relaxing my mind is my main goal when playing the game, it works out perfectly.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra focuses heavily on AI, but not in a way that feels abstract or overly technical. Instead, it’s designed to handle small, everyday tasks more efficiently, so there’s less time spent on routine digital admin and more on what actually matters. Here are a few ways the AI tools on Samsung’s latest flagship can help streamline your day.

TL;DR: The Galaxy S26 Ultra uses AI tools like Writing Assist¹, Note Assist², Now Brief, Browsing Assist³, and Photo Assist⁴ to simplify everyday tasks. From refining emails to summarising webpages and organising notes, the Galaxy S26 Ultra removes manual input to help streamline how it’s used throughout the day.

How does Writing Assist improve messages and emails?

Writing Assist refines text in real time, adjusting tone, grammar, and clarity directly within supported apps. It can rewrite a message to sound more formal, more concise, or more relaxed, depending on the situation.

We’ve all been there: a work email comes in after a long day, and you feel exhausted and unsure how to respond. Writing Assist unearths the perfect tone to deliver your message without sounding too short, impersonal or unprofessional.

A quick response written between meetings can also be adjusted to sound more professional without having to rewrite it from scratch. Plus, Writing Assist never misses; it helps you strike the right balance in messages, such as when following up with a colleague or responding to someone you don’t know well.

It removes the need to pause and rethink wording, helping messages come across clearly the first time.

Can the Galaxy S26 Ultra organise chaotic notes?

Note Assist organises and summarises notes automatically, turning unstructured text into something easier to read and act on. It can break down longer notes, highlight key points, and reshape rough ideas into a clearer format.

Phones have helped take notes on the go for years, but they aren’t so hot on helping you retrieve a note when you need it, especially if it’s been a while since you recorded it. The Galaxy S26 Ultra can summarise and present your thoughts in a more organised way, so you don't have to go back through everything later.

Note Assist is also useful for planning trips, saving ideas for get-togethers, or jotting down ideas. Plus, it reduces the need to manually tidy up notes afterwards, making them more useful straight away.

What does Now Brief show you during the day?

Now Brief gathers information from across the phone and presents it in a single, glanceable summary that includes calendar events, reminders, weather, and messages. Thanks to Galaxy AI⁵, it can not only pull information from across multiple apps but also help make sense of it all.

If you have a holiday or a theatre performance coming up in a different location, Now Brief will show you how to get there, what the weather is like, any tickets you might have booked and are available in your emails, etc. The feature will also suggest mindfulness sessions if you have a longer trip coming up to manage stress levels.

Better still, Now Brief also helps surface updates that might otherwise be missed, presenting them clearly, so it’s easier to stay on top of the day without constantly switching between apps.

Can the Galaxy S26 Ultra summarise webpages for you?

Browsing Assist summarises webpages into shorter, more digestible sections, highlighting key points without needing to read everything in full – perfect for avoiding the information overload we all face these days, especially on our smartphones.

It works directly in the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s browser and can be useful when checking reviews before buying something, scanning long articles, or checking what the critics are saying about the movie you’re watching or that actor that you know from that movie but can’t remember their name.

Instead of reading through entire pages of content, Browsing Assist presents the main points upfront, pulling out the most relevant information and helping you return to your original task. In short, it reduces the time spent skimming and scrolling, helping information feel more manageable.

How does Photo Assist improve photos after they’re taken?

Photo Assist applies AI-powered edits directly within the Gallery app, allowing adjustments such as removing distractions, improving composition, and refining lighting without using separate editing tools.

The only limit of Photo Assist really is your imagination. Using text prompts, it can add details or complete photos, or completely redo images to match their purpose. Want to add a flying pig in the background of your hen do snapshots? No problem. How about removing the flame from the last candle on the cake to make it look like the birthday girl blew them all out in one try? Photo Assist can sort that.

Cluttered backgrounds are cleaned up, photobombers are removed, and off-centre shots are quickly reframed. It also helps when preparing images to share, where a cleaner, more balanced photo makes a difference. Photo Assist turns editing into a quick step rather than a separate task, helping more photos feel worth keeping.

From writing messages to organising information and refining photos, the Galaxy S26 Ultra uses AI to handle small tasks more efficiently throughout the day. To see how these features work together and explore the device's full capabilities, visit the official Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra page.

¹ _{Samsung account login is required. Requires a network connection. Must meet length requirements to activate feature. Service availability may vary by language. Accuracy of results is not guaranteed.}

² _{Samsung account login is required. Requires network connection.}

³ _{Available to use on Samsung Internet. Requires network connection and Samsung account login. Summarise feature may be limited or unavailable on certain paid websites. Character limit applies. Language pack download may be required. Accuracy of results not guaranteed.}

⁴ _{Requires network connection and Samsung account login. A visible watermark is overlaid on the saved image to indicate it was generated by Galaxy AI. Accuracy of output not guaranteed.}

⁵ _{Samsung account login is required for certain AI features. Galaxy AI features are provided for free. Future releases may include additional advanced features that are offered as part of a paid subscription plan. Different terms may apply for AI features provided by third parties.}

Google and Android are pretty much synonymous, given that the former owns and develops the latter. However, over the years, Android has more or less grown into its own entity, spanning not just your phone but wearables, vehicles, and more. Meanwhile, Google as a company continues to expand its reach beyond just Android and Search, and lately it's been all about AI.

But we want to know how you feel about both. In 2026, are you a fan of Google and/or Android? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Google and Android in 2026

Google and Android have grown a lot since their early days. Google (and its parent company, Alphabet) grew from a simple search engine to a huge conglomerate with a hand in many aspects of our lives, including internet browsers, self-driving cars, internet service, and the very smartphones in our hands. And while Google has pushed the boundaries of AI for many years, things have only recently begun to ramp up exponentially with the advent of generative AI.

Google now sees itself as an AI company, and these days its focus has been on incorporating AI across its many products.

Still, despite bringing tons of fun and useful products over the years, Google has had its fair share of problems. The company is constantly in litigation over its practices and has, on several occasions, been found to be anticompetitive or maintain a monopoly in certain markets. It has also aligned itself with government contracts that consumers find morally questionable.

Google has also introduced a ton of products only to kill them shortly after, which has sullied consumer trust in the brand.

Fortunately, Android is one of the products that Google has not managed to kill. After buying Android in 2005, Google turned it into the world's most widely used operating system, spanning many different device types and price points.

Android has many faces, even just on smartphones, thanks to its open-source nature, and companies like Samsung have helped expand its reach and feature set. In fact, Android phones often adopt new features before iOS on iPhones.

That said, Android isn't perfect, and while it has certainly become more capable with Android 17, it's still seen by many as a second-class citizen when compared to Apple. Even in 2026, there are still plenty of popular apps that are launched on iOS before making it to Android. And when apps do come to Android, there are often quality issues that aren't present on iOS.

Additionally, unlike iOS, Android is not very consistent, especially when you move across brands. Samsung and Google's own Pixel smartphones tend to get new Android platform features before anyone else, leaving others like Motorola waiting on the sidelines, which some find frustrating.

But let us know in the comments how you feel about Android and Google and if you're a fan of one or the other (or both)!

Hi Android Central readers!

We have updated this ultimate guide with more of the latest and greatest in tech when it comes to traveling this summer.

Any kind of travel can be stressful, and we know sometimes you might forget to pack the right tech gadget.

Android Central's full-time staff and some of its freelance contributors have helped put this entire guide together. We have spent hundreds of hours testing and reviewing these products to handpick the best gear and essentials to enhance your travel experience this summer.

There's a lot in this guide that will help you pick the right gadget to travel with, how to pack, and some great buying guides for your traveling convenience.

I would start by reading the article on "How to use this guide."

We hope you have a great summer vacation, and we hope this guide helps you!

— Shruti Shekar, Editor-in-Chief

How to use this guide

Helpful traveling tips

Travel Buying Guides

Bringing pictures to life takes a whole new meaning with the Homture Magic Frame. This enchanting digital photo frame is loaded with AI goodies and smart sensors, making your still shots move dynamically.

What truly makes this a magical experience is the motion sensor detection. The frame only triggers movement in your static photos once it detects motion nearby. And that is exactly why it feels like a Harry Potter style moving portrait — it literally senses movement and reacts!

The Homture Magic Frame can be set up as a gift or for personal use

Priced at $139.99, the latest Homture Magic Frame version was launched in October 2025. The 10.1-inch frame has a Full HD+ (1920x1200) resolution, 64GB of local storage, a one-year warranty, and a 30-day return period. There is a stand built into the back that can be used both horizontally and vertically, and a proprietary power cord is included in the box.

The Homture Magic Frame can be set up for your own use or as a gift for someone else to use and own. This can be done by scanning the QR code on the box, or by sending a digital gift code if it's a long-distance present.

The Homture Magic Frame uses Wi-Fi to connect to the Android or iOS app. Once the frame is paired with your phone, you can add photos from your smartphone's gallery to the Magic Frame.

It is a fairly straightforward setup process that requires you to simply follow the steps indicated on the Magic Frame once you turn it on. The setup process takes about five minutes, including time to install the Homture app on your phone.

The moving photos are AI-powered

The moving pictures are created by using the AI Magic feature within the Homture app. You can select which photos you want to bring to life and what actions you would like them to do. For example, I created an AI Moment of my cat waving at me. Every time I step near the frame, my cat waves hello!

The sensor isn't perfect, and sometimes it doesn't detect movement. To address this, you can tweak the motion detection settings in the frame's Settings menu and choose from high, medium, or no trigger probability options to make the dynamic photos move more or less frequently.

Once these "AI Moments" are created, you can send them to the frame. There are several options within the app, such as the ability to show a certain picture or AI Moment immediately, add and delete pictures from the frame, hide pictures, like pictures, and download pictures. So if the frame is a gift, the recipient can add, remove, or download whatever pictures you loaded for them beforehand.

It is certainly cool, but is it worth spending money on?

One big drawback is that the Homture Magic Frame requires AI credit points to create these dynamic portraits. Each moving photo or AI Moment consumes 100 points. You get a 2,000-point card for free with the frame, which translates into 20 AI-generated videos or AI Moments.

AI credit points can be topped up later as well, with 500 credits priced at $4.99, 1,000 credits selling for $9.99, and 2,000 credits going for $19.99. Prices vary per region.

As much as I also wish for Alexa or Google Home integration, that would likely just drive up the price of the smart frame even more.

With the right curation of photos and videos, the Homture Magic Frame can be the most thoughtful gift ever. At its current price, it is a reasonable purchase, cheaper than many alternatives. Just be careful about how you spend your free 2,000 credits so you don't need to purchase any for a while.

The new Oura Ring 5 is out, and its smaller profile is definitely turning heads among current Oura users and prospective ones, myself included. However, in addition to the $50 price increase over the Oura Ring 4, there's another cost to consider: the Oura Membership.

The Oura Membership isn't required to use the Oura Ring, but the companion app's functionality will be quite limited without it. The $5.99 membership brings a host of features to the app and unlocks a bevy of capabilities that you wouldn't otherwise get.

If you don't subscribe, you won't get all the insights that come along with it. You open the Oura app and see only three things: your readiness score, sleep score, and activity score.

For some people, this may be adequate. I don't fully utilize all the perks of the membership, and the additional insights and features that come with the Oura membership may not be worth the extra cost on top of the one-time hardware cost. That said, there are still some major reasons why I remain subscribed to Oura.

What you get with the membership

For $5.99 a month, the Oura membership provides a ton of features and additional information that you won't get without it. The features include the following, per Oura:

• Detailed sleep analysis
• 24/7 heart rate tracking (Daytime, Nighttime, Activity)
• Integration with third-party health and wellness apps like Strava
• Advanced temperature monitoring
• Blood Oxygen Sensing (SpO2)
• Daytime Stress
• Dynamic activity goals with Automatic Activity Detection
• Heart Health (Cardiovascular Age, Cardio Capacity (VO2 Max))
• Metabolic Health (Glucose Tracking, Meals)
• Oura Labs
• Resilience
• Weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly, and anniversary reports
• Women's Health (Cycle Insights, Pregnancy Insights)

1. Take full advantage of your ring

It's silly to expect every Oura Ring owner to utilize every feature included in the membership, and I definitely don't. For example, none of the Women's Health features are useful for me, but I do use a number of the other features on a near-daily basis.

As someone who absolutely loathes wearing smartwatches to sleep, I've found the Oura Ring to be a vital part of my sleep routine. While you can get your sleep score without the membership, the subscription provides a deeper look into my sleep, including my sleep efficiency, restlessness, and how long it took for me to fall asleep. As someone who struggles with sleep, I find this information very useful in pinpointing ways I can improve.

But beyond sleep alone, a combination of these features provides you with a comprehensive view of your overall health and wellness. The Oura Ring is so easy to wear throughout the day that it makes it easy to measure all-day heart rate, automatically track activities, and monitor potential symptoms that may indicate illness or strain on your body.

What's more, you get to try features that Oura is testing before they become fully baked into the Oura experience. The AI Advisor was one such feature that I tested before it rolled out, and it has become a core part of the Oura app.

2. Automatic activity detection is actually pretty great

Automatic activity detection is perhaps one of my favorite Oura Ring features and one of the most impressive. While I prefer to manually track workouts, the Oura Ring is actually very good at detecting various activities, both in and out of exercise.

As a member, you will be able to use the ring to detect and analyze various activities, such as workouts and walks. The more you manually track workouts, the more accurate the Oura Ring gets, to the point where it's pretty good at recognizing when I'm doing HIIT or Pilates.

Even better, the Oura Ring can detect more day-to-day activities and even random things like dancing and yard work — something my other wearables, such as my Garmin Venu 4 (my preferred fitness wearable), can't do. Every time I go out, I'm always surprised to see the Oura Ring detect when I was dancing and for how long.

Furthermore, when the ring detects activity, it can include heart rate data and calorie calculations, making automatic tracking a valuable asset for your daily activity and health assessment.

3. Oura Advisor check-ins

Pretty much every tech company is diving into AI in some shape or form, and before Google introduced its Personal Health Coach, Oura launched the Advisor. With Oura Advisor, you're able to chat with the AI about your health and goals, and the AI will take what it knows about you into consideration.

What I like is that the Advisor checks in on you every so often, based on your daily activity and other metrics, to ensure you're on track. And you can even change the frequency of the Advisor's check-ins so it'll ping you weekly, daily, or somewhere in between. Furthermore, you can choose the Advisor's tone, which can be either more direct or more conversational.

Oura highlights that the Advisor is powered by a state-of-the-art large language model (LLM) and was recently enhanced with a new proprietary LLM designed for women's health. This gives Oura extensive knowledge of medical standards, research, and more, ensuring it's uniquely positioned to answer questions about your health and provide recommendations, especially with the additional context of your in-app data.

Of course, you should always take anything Oura Advisor says with a grain of salt, as it's not a medical product designed to diagnose or treat you, but I've found it gives some pretty sound advice in an easy-to-understand way.

4. Sync with third-party apps

Oura is great, but the ring doesn't always get all the information. Furthermore, not everyone likes wearing the ring while lifting weights, and I often track my workouts on a smartwatch. That's where third-party app integrations come in.

By connecting with Health Connect, the Oura app can pull workout data from my smartwatches and even weight data from my Withings scale to give me a full look at my day. The timeline feature helps me see my day in moments, including when I wake up, work out, and go to sleep.

Oura is basically a one-stop shop where you can get a pretty comprehensive view of your daily health and wellness, and it all contributes to your long-term health outlook.

And when I do track activities using the ring, the Oura app can send workouts to the Strava app, including location data (from the phone).

5. Oura puts its money where its products are

Considering the benefits, I think $5.99 per month is a pretty reasonable price to pay, especially given that Oura is still a relatively new and small company. We've consistently asked why Oura has retained its subscription model when other smart ring companies have gone subscription-free, and the answer is always the same: Oura uses the membership to help improve the product.

There's a reason why Oura continues to produce the best smart rings on the market, even as the competition heats up with new players and advancements. Even Samsung felt compelled to enter the smart ring market, only to seemingly fall short of Oura, despite not charging a subscription fee.

"We really, actually feel pressure from our members to continually drive research and pioneer what the smart ring can be and invest that back into our product," Oura told us after launching the Oura Ring 4.

After seeing the growth from Oura Ring Gen 3 to Oura Ring 5, it's clear to me that Oura is doing exactly that, expanding on the value of each model by continuously adding new features throughout its lifecycle. To me, that seems well worth the $6 a month.

An alternative way to pay for the Oura Membership

If you're hesitating on buying both an Oura Ring and the membership, it may help you to know that you can purchase both using your FSA or HSA. For many, that money is just sitting there, unused, so this could give you a reason to dip into those funds.

I've spent the past five weeks with Xreal ROG R1 glasses, a cutting-edge pair developed jointly by Xreal and Asus. As with all ROG-branded products, these glasses (also known as a wearable monitor) have a very specific design language, a near-ridiculous number of features, and a price tag that puts them squarely in "enthusiast" territory.

They also pose a rather interesting alternative to traditional monitors that I'm not sure smart glasses are quite ready to bridge yet: replacing a gaming monitor with a virtual one. That's not to say the picture quality, resolution, or even features aren't there — it's top-notch in these categories among any comparable pair, after all. Rather, I'm just not sure how many people are ready to make smart glasses a proper replacement for monitors.

But if you're seriously considering clearing off your desk or you just want a robust on-the-go virtual monitor solution, Xreal ROG R1 is the best pair of smart display glasses money can buy. It's the ideal combination of the Xreal One Pro's ease and the robust feature set of a ROG device. Here's everything you need to know before buying.

What is Xreal ROG R1?

Xreal ROG R1 is a pair of smart glasses jointly designed by Xreal and Asus, featuring industry-leading 240Hz micro-OLED displays and a unique desktop dock with multiple input options. ROG R1 also supports the Xreal Eye camera and prescription glasses inserts.

ROG R1 can be used independently of this dock, which is how I used them the vast majority of the time during my five weeks of use, including a week's vacation away from home and one particularly long travel day spent in airports and on planes with the glasses.

Xreal Rog R1 retails for $849.99 and can be purchased at Best Buy, Xreal's website, or Asus' website. The box includes the glasses, a USB-C cable for the glasses, a microfiber cleaning cloth, a manual, three total nosepiece shapes/sizes, a prescription glasses adapter, the desktop dock, plus two USB-A to USB-C cables for the dock.

Displays aren't the only headliner feature

The ROG R1's displays have a clear advantage, as they're the only pair of smart display glasses with a 240Hz display. That pair of micro-OLEDs runs at 120Hz when connected directly to any device, but connecting the glasses to the included ROG R1 dock unlocks 240Hz mode.

This is achieved through a special chip inside the R1 dock, which provides the extra horsepower needed to run at 240Hz. You'll need a device that can natively push 240Hz to take advantage, however, as the only interpolation mode supported on these glasses is upscaling 60Hz signals to 120Hz. There's no native way to scale 120Hz to 240Hz, which I was disappointed by, but I understand why it's a limitation.

Outside of 240Hz, the optics component of ROG R1 is essentially the same as in Xreal One Pro. When not plugged into the dock, it supports the same color and brightness output, plus the same 57-degree FoV via prism lenses. So, if you're not particularly interested in the 240Hz or dock functions, is there still a reason to choose these over Xreal One Pro? Yes, but only if you enjoy tweaking every last aspect of a device.

Xreal ROG R1 sports the most detailed OSD menu I've ever seen on a pair of smart glasses. There are very few glasses that offer a proper OSD menu — Xreal One was the first — and while I thought Xreal's previous efforts felt like a monitor, ROG R1 takes those options to the next level.

Honestly, the number of features available for both the glasses and the dock is borderline overwhelming. You'll easily spend 30 minutes just scrolling through everything to test them out and, undoubtedly, much longer figuring out your favorite settings.

ROG R1 supports several different presets, too, including custom ones you can save for later use. While I love all the additional (optional) settings, I really enjoyed the refreshed quick settings menu, which lets you instantly adjust brightness, lens tinting, speaker volume, screen size, and screen distance without having to dive through a bunch of annoying menus. Just click the minus button to open this menu.

The temples offer three angle adjustment options, and the left and right temples are independent, so you can find the display angle that best matches your face shape. The three different nose pads further enhance comfort, and the arms all use spring hinges, so they bend backward quite a bit to accommodate different head sizes.

Both Anchor and Smooth Follow modes use low-persistence black frame insertion to eliminate motion blur that can occur with spatially tracked virtual screens, and both 3DoF and 6DoF modes use PWM dimming at all levels. The 0DoF mode uses DC dimming at brightness levels 3-10, while levels 1 and 2 use PWM dimming.

These are 8-bit displays with no 10-bit support, so there should be no dithering at all. Despite the PWM dimming, I found these glasses quite comfortable with the prescription inserts. Normally, low-frequency PWM dimming (240-1000Hz) hurts my eyes and gives me a headache, but Xreal appears to be following the refresh rate here (120Hz), which typically doesn't bother me.

The dock changes everything

No other pair of smart display glasses to date ships with a dock like ROG R1. This dock sports two HDMI ports, one DisplayPort, and two USB-C ports on the back (one is power), plus a USB-C port on the front for your glasses. This means you can easily connect multiple computers or consoles to the dock and switch between them using the buttons on top of the dock, similar to a KVM switch.

Better yet, each button and joystick direction can be customized to perform virtually any feature or function toggle supported by the dock, so you can truly nail down your ideal configs and have them ready with a single press.

While the dock is phenomenal for providing 240Hz support and expanding preset and monitor parameter adjustment options, it's also a weird downgrade for spatial tracking and quick settings.

While the glasses alone support five quick settings for adjustment, plugging them into the dock removes the audio adjustment option. It's also cumbersome to switch between spatially-tracked modes and 0DoF mode, as you either have to set it to one of the quick buttons on top or dig through a few menus. Note that 6DoF requires the Xreal Eye attachment for the glasses, which can't be used with prescription lenses.

I also find it irritating that all the buttons on the glasses are disabled when plugging them into the dock. I understand that Asus/Xreal wants the dock to be the primary option, but it's still annoying for someone who switches between using the dock and plugging the glasses directly into portable devices.

Xreal should be able to address those issues in a firmware update, though, so while this is certainly annoying in its current state, there's no reason it needs to stay that way. Overall, the ROG R1 is an incredible pair of glasses that offers higher-quality imagery and more options than any other pair of smart glasses on the market.

If you're looking for an ultra-clean desk setup with no monitors, this is truly an incredible solution, especially given how well Xreal's spatial tracking system works. I'd still recommend the $450 Xreal 1S for most people, but the ROG R1 is an impressive enthusiast option for gamers seeking the highest-end solution.

Fitbit Air automatically detects activities in the Google Health app

The Google Fitbit Air is a screenless fitness tracker that monitors your health and activity data in the background. Without a screen onboard, there's no way to manually start tracking a workout directly on the Fitbit Air. Instead, users need to pull out their phone and open the Google Health app to manually track a workout with the Fitbit Air.

The alternative is to use the Fitbit Air's automatic activity detection feature. The fitness tracker monitors health metrics in the background, including your heart rate, steps, and cardio load. These metrics give your Fitbit Air an idea of when you're being physically active. After finishing, you can open the Google Health app to view automatically detected workouts or edit the details.

Google's automatic activity detection might not always get it right, and confirming or modifying the activity in the Google Health app helps improve the results. You can view activities recorded on the same day in the Today tab of the Health app, while older activities appear in the Fitness tab. From there, you can view workout recaps and tap a suggested activity type, or pick other options from the list to confirm.

Google says that "activity detection gets smarter the more you use it," and adds that you can choose from 150 activity types. You can customize activity types and minimum durations for automatically recorded activities in the app. For example, you might not want your 15-minute walk to work to count as an activity, so you could set a 20-minute minimum duration for walks that your Fitbit Air automatically detects.

To improve the accuracy of your Fitbit Air's automatic activity detection, manually start a 10-minute outdoor walking workout using your phone and the Google Health app. Keep your phone on you as you complete the workout. This will calibrate your Fitbit Air, making automatically detected activity data more accurate.

In short, your Fitbit Air can automatically detect activities. However, you may want to confirm or edit activities later in the Google Health app for the best results.

TL;DR

Bitdefender Mobile Security for Android focuses on the risks Android users increasingly face every day, including malicious apps, phishing links, risky permissions, and unsafe public Wi-Fi networks. Its protection tools work across apps rather than just in browsers, with background scanning helping to reduce exposure without constantly interrupting normal phone use.

Android phones are exceptionally capable these days, but they are also more deeply connected to everyday life. Banking, shopping, messaging, travel bookings, work accounts and even smart home controls now live inside the same device people carry everywhere.

All this integration has changed the nature of Android security threats and moved risks beyond the category of suspicious pop-ups or obviously malicious downloads.

Fake parcel delivery texts arrive through SMS, phishing links spread through messaging apps, and harmless-looking apps can quietly request access to photos, microphones, contacts or location data without users fully realising what they’re agreeing to.

At the same time, Android remains one of the most flexible mobile platforms available, which is part of its appeal. The ability to sideload apps, customise devices and install software outside traditional app stores gives users more freedom, but it can also create additional opportunities for bad actors to exploit.

That’s why mobile security in 2026 increasingly focuses more on reducing exposure in the background before problems escalate, which is exactly where Bitdefender Mobile Security for Android can help you.

The 6 biggest Android security threats in 2026:

1. SMS phishing (smishing)
2. Fake banking apps
3. Malicious APK downloads
4. Risky Android permissions
5. QR code scams
6. Credential theft through fake login pages

1. SMS phishing (smishing)

Many modern Android threats now appear inside everyday apps rather than through traditional desktop-style malware attacks.

Phishing attempts increasingly arrive through WhatsApp messages, Instagram DMs, Telegram chats and fake delivery texts designed to look legitimate at first glance. In some cases, users may never even open a web browser before exposing personal information.

2. Fake banking apps

Fake Android app updates have also become more convincing, with some imitating banking apps, streaming platforms or productivity tools closely enough to fool users into downloading malicious software or entering login credentials into cloned interfaces.

3. Malicious APK downloads

Sideloading remains another area where Android users need to stay alert. Installing APKs outside official storefronts can sometimes provide access to useful apps unavailable elsewhere, but unofficial downloads may also contain hidden malware, spyware, or aggressive advertising software that runs silently in the background.

This is where modern mobile security increasingly shifts towards prevention rather than reaction. Instead of waiting for a device to become obviously compromised, Bitdefender Mobile Security for Android proactively identifies suspicious activity, risky downloads and malicious links before they cause wider problems.

4. Risky Android permissions

App permissions control what software can access on an Android device, including microphones, cameras, contacts, files and location data. The problem is that many users grant permissions automatically without questioning why an app needs them in the first place.

A photo-editing app requesting permanent location access or a flashlight app asking to read contacts may not sound too risky, but permissions can potentially expose far more personal information than you think.

Android has significantly improved permission transparency in recent years, with clearer controls and better visibility into what apps access behind the scenes. That said, permission requests have become so common that many people automatically tap “Allow,” creating opportunities for malicious actors to quietly collect unnecessary data over time.

Bitdefender’s Mobile Security for Android can help users identify suspicious behaviour patterns without requiring deep technical knowledge or overwhelming them, and by simplifying decision-making while keeping people in control of their devices.

5. QR code scams

The way people use the internet on Android has changed dramatically over the past few years. Many users now spend more time inside apps than traditional web browsers, which means phishing protection can no longer focus solely on browser-based threats.

Malicious links are increasingly spreading through messaging platforms, social media apps, QR codes, and SMS conversations. A fake delivery notification, concert ticket update or password reset request can appear convincing enough to encourage users to click before questioning its legitimacy.

This is one reason why cross-app web protection has become increasingly important for Android security platforms.

A dedicated solution for your mobile phone, such as Bitdefender Mobile Security for Android or a Bitdefender multi-platform security solution, can detect suspicious links across multiple apps and services, reducing exposure wherever a potentially harmful link appears.

Background protection matters because modern phishing attempts often rely on speed and distraction rather than sophisticated hacking techniques.

6. Public Wi-Fi and credential theft through fake login pages

While public Wi-Fi remains convenient, it’s also a security risk for mobile users. Airports, cafés, hotels and train stations all rely on shared wireless networks, yet users often have limited visibility into how secure those connections actually are.

In some situations, attackers may attempt to intercept unsecured traffic, impersonate legitimate networks, or redirect users to malicious login pages designed to steal credentials or payment details.

Mobile devices are particularly exposed because they frequently connect automatically to previously used networks, sometimes without users realising it.

For Android users who regularly work remotely or travel with sensitive personal information stored on their devices, Bitdefender's secure browsing remains an important way to reduce exposure on unfamiliar networks.

Does Android still need antivirus software?

Android is considerably safer than it was a decade ago, thanks to stronger built-in protections, stricter app store policies and improved permission management. That said, modern mobile threats have evolved alongside the platform itself.

Rather than focusing solely on traditional “viruses,” many attacks now target phishing, account theft, malicious links, fake apps, and data-harvesting techniques that rely heavily on user behaviour rather than technical exploits alone.

As Android devices increasingly replace laptops for banking, shopping, communication and work, the amount of sensitive information stored on phones continues to grow.

That’s why modern mobile security tools increasingly focus on broader privacy and exposure reduction rather than simply scanning devices for malware signatures.

Android security works best when it stays out of the way

The best mobile security tools are often the ones users barely notice day to day. Constant warnings, intrusive pop-ups and complicated settings menus can quickly lead people to disable protections altogether, particularly on personal devices used for work, travel and entertainment throughout the day.

That’s why many modern Android security platforms now prioritise quieter background monitoring designed to reduce friction during normal usage. Background scanning, malicious app detection, and automated web protection enable security tools to operate continuously without forcing you to constantly manage alerts.

This is especially beneficial for families or households with several Android devices, like shared tablets and family phones, where not all users may be able to recognise risky download suggestions or suspicious links.

Fortunately, Bitdefender's system can manage this automatically, operating in the background without requiring users to surrender control over their privacy settings and permissions.

• Explore how Bitdefender security solutions can help protect your devices, identity and privacy — all in one place.

Insta360 is a brand better known for its lineup of rugged action cameras, but they also make other relevant equipment such as microphones. The Insta360 Mic Pro is a spectacular new wireless lavalier mic kit that has a distinctly unique feature unlike any other: E Ink displays.

Mics for Android, iOS, and cameras are probably not the first few keywords that pop in your mind when you think of E Ink displays. After all, these e-paper screens are more popular with reading tablets and digital frames. Insta360 is has actualized and unlikely convergence of the two.

Released on May 19, 2026, the Insta360 Mic Pro usually costs $329.99 for the dual mic and receiver kit, but you can get it for a $50 off right now thanks to Prime Day.

• Prime Day June 23-26: see the full list of deals

✅Recommended if: You need a versatile mic kit that works with plenty of platforms, has a rechargeable carrying case, and has built-in E Ink displays.

❌Skip this deal if: You want mics that aren't very visible.

The Insta360 Mic Pro also comes in a singular mic kit without a receiver as well as a single mic and single transmitter kit. Since the mics can be used via Bluetooth with Android and iOS smartphones, you don't need to buy the transmitter kit if you don't plan on using the mic with a camera.

The single mic kit without a transmitter is 15% off on Amazon, going from $99.99 to $84.99. Meanwhile, the single mic and receiver kit is also 15% off, selling for $169.99 on Amazon instead of the usual $199.99.

You get a plug-and-play experience when using the Insta360 Mic Pro on smartphones

Setting up the mic is a simple matter of downloading the Insta360 app and plugging the transmitter into the USB-C port of your smartphone. After that, the mic is ready to use. The transmitter automatically connects all mics to your phone.

Once connected, you can use the app to choose any picture you like and set it as the display image for your mics. Each individual mic can have its own wallpaper. The Insta360 app allows you to resize and preview the image before confirming.

The sky is the limit when it comes to display customization

Whether its faces, brand logos, photos or captions, as long as it's an image, you can set it as the mics' wallpaper. And because the mics use E Ink panels, once the image is set, it hardly affects battery life at all!

The Insta360 Mic Pro delivers superior audio quality and comes in a carrying case with USB-C charging. The transmitter, USB-C adapter, and both mics fit inside and charge wirelessly when docked.

You get a handful of other extra accessories in the box too, including two windshields, a 3.5mm audio cable, two button magnets, two clips, a carrying pouch, and a USB-C cable. That's a lot of value for your money.

Both mics in the Insta360 Mic Pro kit feature auto gain control, 32-bit float, a 30-hour battery life, a 400m connectivity range, 3-mic array & directional pickup, and NPU-powered noise canceling thanks to dedicated AI chips.

You can customize the settings of each mic within the Insta360 app. This is where you can enable or disable auto gain control, and choose the sound direction from four options: Omni, Voice focus, Cardioid, and Figure 8.

Here are various audio samples recorded outdoors with different settings and a lot of background noise like traffic and chatter.

• Auto gain control disabled; sound direction set to Omni

• Auto gain control disabled; sound direction set to Voice focus

• Auto gain control enabled; sound direction set to Omni

• Auto gain control enabled; sound direction set to Voice focus

• Auto gain control enabled; sound direction set to Cardioid

• Auto gain control enabled; sound direction set to Figure 8

• Bluetooth connection

It's an excellent kit from Insta360 that's definitely worth the spend

The Insta360 Mic Pro is a value-packed wireless lavalier kit that can adapt to whatever environment it needs to record in. You can connect as many as four mics (receivers) to the transmitter, in case you'd like to add on more individual later on.

Maybe you're combing through the market to find a fantastic microphone kit for your vlogging needs, or maybe you are a amateur videographer. Or perhaps, you're just starting out as a student in media and journalism. For all of those scenarios and more, the Insta360 Mic Pro is a high-quality starter kit that's compatible with a wide range of devices.

After three years of trying (and failing) to build any semblance of a schedule, we wanted to get a smart calendar to see if it made things any easier. And with our toddler set to start pre-school soon, we needed a way to plan the family schedule, add and change meal plans, have a shared to-do list, and just bring some level of organization to the daily routine.

There's a decent amount of choice if you're looking to get a smart calendar these days. Cozyla, Skylight, Hearth, and Amazon all make dedicated devices aimed at this category, and while I liked the look of the Skylight Frame, I wasn't keen on yet another subscription just to use a shared calendar, and the coincidentally, I got a review unit of the Cozyla Calendar+ 2, so that's what we ended up using.

I tested the 15.6-inch variant of the Cozyla Calendar+ 2, and it costs $349 on Amazon as of writing. There's also a 24-inch model that retails for $699, a 32-inch model that costs $899, and a 32-inch 4K option that is available for $1,099. The larger 24-inch and 32-inch models are good to consider if you're mounting the calendar on a wall, but if you want to just position it on the kitchen island (like we have), the 15.6-inch model is arguably the better choice — and it costs a lot less.

I'll get to the features in a little bit, but let's talk about the product itself. The Calendar+ 2 is sold in a white color option, and it houses a 15.6-inch 1080p panel with a standard 60Hz refresh and chunky bezels on the sides. The panel itself is decent enough; it doesn't come close to the clarity of most modern tablets like the Xiaomi Pad 8, but it gets the job done in this context. I would've preferred an anti-glare coating on the screen given the use case, but that's only available on the 24- and 32-inch models, which is annoying.

Coming to the hardware, the Calendar+ 2 is powered by a Rockchip RK3576, which has Arm's v7 Cortex A72 cores running at 2.11GHz and A53 cores at 1.91GHz. There's 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, with around 38GB available for use. You won't see something this old on a phone or tablet, but it is serviceable on a device that's ostensibly meant as a shared family calendar.

On the software front, you get Android 14 out of the box, and while the Calendar+ 2 runs Cozyla's custom CalendarOS, you have the Play Store, so there's the ability to install custom apps. This is a big enough differentiator, and while the hardware is decidedly entry-level, you can install YouTube, to-do list apps, and just about any productivity app on this device without any issues.

The interface was laggy when we set up the calendar, but it has gotten much better thanks to recent updates. The home page pulls up the calendar view with widgets for tasks and meals, and there are dedicated tabs: Calendar, Tasks, Meals, Notes, and Settings. You get an App Library that serves as the app drawer, and you can add widgets, apps, or folders to the home page and customize it as needed.

In fact, the biggest advantage to the Calendar+ is the sheer amount of customizability. You can install any app you want and tweak the interface to highlight the information that matters to you. We used the Calendar+ 2 predominantly for two things: meal planning and managing to-do lists.

Adding a meal plan to the calendar was an exercise in frustration — when we set it up a few months ago. The interface on the Cozyla itself was slow, and while a desktop app would be ideal, Cozyla still doesn't have that, so we manually added everything via our phones.

Now, this was only a problem because we added an Indian meal plan. Cozyla has a recipe database, but that mostly includes western dishes, and even Indian dishes like rotis, dal, or chutneys weren't available, so we had to add all of these individually. Having said that, Cozyla rolled out updates in the last two months that made a big difference. There's a decent selection of global dishes now, and that's good to see — it made adding new dishes to the meal plan that much easier.

Setting up calendars is as easy as logging in to your account and syncing to the device. You can use Google, Apple, Outlook, Yahoo, and CalDAV as the providers, and it was relatively straightforward to link my Google calendar to the device. The best part of the calendar is the Tasks feature; it lets you add to-do lists and assign chores, and it made a big difference in how regularly I do the laundry.

We've been using this calendar for just under six months now, and honestly, I'm glad I waited before writing the review — the updates to the app and calendar made it much more responsive, and Cozyla sorted out a lot of the lingering bugs, making the Calendar Plus 2 a better overall product now. And the fact that you can get it for 20% off means now is as good a time as any to buy the smart calendar.

The next evolution of Meta AI glasses is taking an unexpected turn. The company announced three new styles today, one of which is co-designed with Kylie Jenner, but none of the new styles use familiar designer glasses brand names. Instead, 2026’s new Meta AI glasses prominently sport the company's branding, and I got to try them all on at a hands-on event in New York.

Meta Fury, Meta Adventurer, and the Kylie Jenner-styled glasses are all launching at a lower price point than the previous generation because of it, enabling more people to experience Meta AI glasses.

In a Q&A, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth told Android Central that these glasses are still built by EssilorLuxottica, the brand behind Ray-Ban, Oakley, Prada, and countless other popular fashion brands, so customers can expect the same quality and lens customization options as previous entries.

Meta showed us just a handful of the 26 total new styles it's launching, which include color and lens options from each of the three designs. Meta Fury are the thickest pair of the trio, Adventurer is a slimmer design than Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, and Kylie's design is all its own.

The new designs all come with more personalization options than ever, including 3-way adjustable nose pads to fit a wider variety of nose shapes, as well as adjustable temple arms that move 5 degrees inward and outward for added comfort. While the temple arms didn't feel like they did much for me, the adjustable nose pad angle made an immediate comfort difference.

Meta also added a new customizable action button on the top of the right glasses arm, which defaults to starting a Meta AI conversation so you can skip the “Hey, Meta” hot word. Alternatively, it can be used for different image capture modes, to start a live translation, to call the Be My Eyes service, to play music, or to start Meta AI in various ways.

All three glasses come with a charging case design that looks identical to Meta Ray-Ban Display, but now feature a detachable soft outer layer that you can swap out for different styles. Just like the Ray-Ban Display case, the sides can be folded inward and the case folded up to make it more pocket- or bag-friendly.

The Kylie Jenner “Starfire” model includes several special features over the other two models, as well, including metal nose pads (which Meta says are easier to clean), special action sounds, a custom Meta AI voice modeled after Kylie Jenner’s, and even a mirror inside the charging case.

Even more surprising is that these new glasses use the upgraded chipset that debuted with Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses late last year, giving them a slight advantage over other Ray-Ban- and Oakley-branded Meta AI glasses. While Meta was conservative with battery life estimates — which the company says is possibly slightly better than previous generations — they highlighted the smoother Meta AI conversations the spec bump brings.

These glasses also include turn-by-turn audio directions, bringing the feature over from the Display glasses. With the new glasses, Meta is also launching a bevy of new features for new and existing Meta AI glasses owners.

A whopping 14 new languages have been added to live translation: English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, and Vietnamese. While all of the new ones require cloud processing to work, that brings the total number of supported languages to 20.

A Meta representative had me run through a real-time demo while he spoke Chinese, a language Meta says is particularly difficult because words often require some context to understand. Processing latency on Chinese translation was noticeably longer than in other languages; however, the Meta AI app shows real-time progress and translations into both languages, so the person you're speaking to can understand what you say by reading the screen.

Meta AI glasses can now also help with food logging by analyzing photos of food with Meta AI. Just ask Meta AI how many calories are in whatever you’re eating, and it’ll give you a breakdown to help you more accurately log your food.

Meta Fury, Adventurer, and Meta Glasses by Kylie are available right now for $299 at Meta.com, Lenscrafters, Sunglasses Hut, Best Buy, and Amazon. You can order clear lenses, sunglasses, and prescription lenses for prescriptions from -12 to +2.25.

Anyone who has spent time diagnosing a warning light, tracking down an electrical fault, or dealing with a flat battery knows that the right tool can save far more than its purchase price. The trouble is that professional-grade diagnostic equipment has traditionally come with a professional-grade price tag.

Topdon has built a reputation among DIY enthusiasts, workshop technicians, content creators and automotive professionals by offering tools that bridge the gap between consumer affordability and professional capability.

Now, the brand’s Prime Day deals let you get Topdon’s top-tier tools for less. During the promotional period from June 23 to June 26, some of the company’s most popular products will be available at lower prices. Now is a good time to upgrade your garage setup or invest in equipment you've been considering for a while.

A diagnostic tool for almost every need

Not every vehicle owner needs the same equipment. Some drivers simply want a reliable way to read and clear fault codes, while others need thermal imaging, battery testing or emergency jump-starting capability. Topdon's Prime Day lineup covers all of these use cases and then some.

The flagship offer is a comprehensive diagnostic scanner reduced to $699.98. The Topdon One is designed for deeper access to vehicle systems and offers advanced diagnostics that go beyond basic code reading to identify issues more quickly and accurately.

For everyday drivers and enthusiasts, the Carpal OBD2 Scanner Bluetooth provides a more accessible entry point. Available for $37.97, it connects directly to a smartphone, giving you an easy way to monitor vehicle health, read fault codes and gain insight into what's happening beneath the bonnet.

The appeal of tools like these is that they allow you to identify potential problems before they become costly repairs. In many cases, a quick diagnostic check can help determine whether a problem requires immediate attention or can wait until the next scheduled service.

Seeing what the eye can't

Thermal cameras have become increasingly popular among mechanics, electricians, HVAC technicians and maintenance professionals because they reveal heat patterns that are invisible to the naked eye.

Hot spots can indicate failing components, electrical issues, overheating systems and insulation problems long before a visible failure occurs.

The TC002C Duo Thermal Camera, discounted to $229.68, is designed for users who need professional-grade thermal imaging in a compact package. It can help identify overheating electrical connections, battery issues and mechanical faults without dismantling equipment.

Meanwhile, the compact and portable TC004 Mini Thermal Imaging Camera, available for $149.99 during the promotion, offers a more affordable entry into thermal diagnostics. DIY users, homeowners and technicians who want thermal imaging capability without carrying bulky equipment will find this tool quite handy.

Insurance against unexpected breakdowns

Few situations are more frustrating than a flat battery when you're already running late, but Topdon also has a solution for this issue.

The Car Battery Tester 24V 12V Load Tester, available for $69.59 during the sale, delivers workshop-style battery diagnostics in a handheld format. It can assess battery health, cranking voltage, and charging performance in minutes, helping users identify problems before they lead to breakdowns.

For those seeking extra peace of mind, the JS3000 Jump Starter, discounted to $132.98, is designed for petrol engines up to 9.0 litres and diesel engines up to 7.0 litres and provides emergency starting power when it's needed most.

More than just hardware

One reason Topdon has gained traction among enthusiasts and professionals alike is its focus on software support and ongoing development. Many of its products receive software updates that add features, improve functionality and help maintain compatibility with newer vehicles and systems.

The company also emphasises customer support and after-sales service, helping you get the most from your equipment long after the initial purchase. This combination of value, capability and support is what makes the brand’s Prime Day offers particularly compelling.

For anyone considering a diagnostic scanner, thermal camera, battery tester, or jump starter, the June 23–26 Topdon Prime Day sale offers an opportunity to buy tools that could save time, money, and frustration for years to come. The only question is which one will earn a permanent place in your toolbox.

Slowly but surely, Huion has been expanding its focus outside of professional-grade drawing tablets and graphics tablets. I tested the Kamvas Slate 11 for amateurs and hobbyists and was quite pleased with its performance. A newer, more compact tablet has now joined the brand's Android tablet portfolio.

The Huion Note E is an Android 15 tablet that came out on May 20, 2026. Fresh out of the oven, this 8.4-inch tablet comes with a paper-like IPS LCD that has an anti-glare coating on top, designed to imitate paper or E Ink.

Priced at $369 on Amazon, this-stylus bearing tablet isn't the cheapest budget tablet. But it's shockingly adept and carves out a niche for itself, overlapping with both cheap Android tablets and E Ink tablets in a way.

It's not an E Ink tablet, but feels non-distracting like one

While you get full access to Android 15 and the Play Store, users need to manually register their Huion Note E on the Google Device Registration website to enable Play Protect. Do this as soon as you set up the tablet, and you'll have zero issues with apps. I installed all the usual Google apps — Chrome, Drive, Docs, YouTube, Photos, etc. — as well as others like Goodreads, Pinterest, Stremio, Moon+ Reader, and CamScanner.

Not once did an app crash on me, nor did multitasking give me trouble, though I admit I did not try gaming. The 6nm Mediatek Helio G99 processor paired with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage delivers reliable everyday performance for daily usage. Based on the chipset's popularity with budget phones, I'd say light gaming should be smooth sailing as long as you're not expecting anything extravagant.

Apart from swiping or using buttons to navigate or access quick settings, the layout of the Note E isn't typical for an Android tablet. There's a bar on the left with shortcuts for Home, Notes, To-Dos, Favorites, Apps, Files, Feedback, and Settings. You can add apps of your choosing to Favorites. It reminded me very much of an Onyx Boox tablet.

Notes is basically the native Huion Notes app seen on other Huion tablets, like the Kamvas Slate 11. It has cloud sync and backup, as well as useful features like OCR, image uploading, and drawing.

You also get Huion's HiPaint drawing app preloaded, which I found very easy to draw on. The matte 60Hz screen produces 16.7 million colors and 300 nits of brightness, so the color production is accurate but doesn't feel washed out. This makes annotating, highlighting, and sketching a blast. Comics also look spectacular.

As an avid reader who prefers E Ink displays, I was not expecting to use the Huion Note E as much as I actually ended up using it. Huion is focusing more on the note-taking aspect rather than drawing or reading, with a bigger emphasis on the former. You can write directly into any text field, and the native OCR does a fine job, even with my wonky cursive.

Thanks to the battery-free EMR stylus powered by PenTech 3.0, the writing experience is charming. The paper-like display mimics the scratchy, calming sensation of etching on paper with the stylus. The stylus can detect 8,192 levels of pressure, and it attaches to the side of the tablet magnetically. Huion also provides a free case with stylus storage.

Huion could improve some aspects of the Note E tablet

There is no physical volume button, and the stereo speakers are easily put to shame by any budget Android phone in terms of both loudness and clarity. However, a pair of Bluetooth earbuds or a speaker can fix that.

The Huion Note E also has an 8MP camera, which is sufficient for scanning documents, but I don't recommend it for much else unless you're in a pinch. Here's a sample photo taken in the daytime with plenty of natural and artificial light:

Notice how dull and grainy the image is. Still, the textures of the dress are captured, so it's not too shabby.

The 4,500mAh battery delivers about 6.5 hours of screen time. I found that with a few hours of use every day, the tablet easily lasted for two to three days. The 18W "fast" charging is, however, comparable to a snail's pace, and it takes two hours to fully recharge the Note E.

How does it compare to an E Ink tablet?

As I mentioned, I ended up using the tablet every day. Funny enough, I didn't read for very long on it. Compared to an excellent E Ink tablet that runs Android like the Onyx Boox Note Air 5 C, I can spend hours reading on the Boox, but the Huion gave me a headache after an hour. The eye comfort of an E Ink display cannot be beaten by a typical LCD.

What I did find superior, however, was the snappy refresh rate compared to an E Ink tab. Despite having the layout of an e-paper tablet, it responds instantly and has no ghosting. Multitasking is fluid, video playback is dynamic, and even writing is snappier. This is a drawback of E Ink devices as a whole. Drawing or writing in color is so much more appealing on an IPS display as opposed to a color E Ink screen. Naturally, the Note E shines in comparison.

I have picked up crafting and beaded jewelry making hobbies lately, and the Huion Note E has been a boon. I can swipe through designs and ideas on Pinterest, download them, and then add the file to HiPaint and create my own templates or tutorials.

Sometimes when I'm lazy, I just sketch the design quickly in the Notes app. I have a smooth workflow now, and because I'm honing my craft daily, I'm using the Note E every day too.

Is the Note E tablet worth your interest?

I can see students benefiting greatly from a tablet like the Huion Note E. The tablet is perfect for note-taking, studying, drawing, and sketching. You can download any app, like a university or school's learning management app, like Moodle. From its stylus support to its UI layout, it is a true blue digital notebook that makes studying easier at all levels.

And unlike E Ink tablets, video playback is possible. Apps like Canva and Camscanner are also much easier to use on a snappy tablet like the Note E as opposed to the Onyx Boox.

Of course, there are cheaper alternatives out there, like the Xiaomi Pad 7 or the Amazon Fire Max 11. There are also bigger, more powerful tablets with better productivity features, like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra.

But Huion offers something unique that's definitely worth your interest: a non-distracting tablet that's almost like an E Ink tablet, offers better eye comfort, has fantastic stylus support, but doesn't have the limitations of an E Ink tablet. It is easily one of the best tablets for students.

How Oura Ring 5 tracks activities

Since the Oura Ring 5, like any smart ring, is a circular device you wear on your finger without a screen or buttons, everything is controlled in the app. With AAD, you can begin a specific workout, and the Oura Ring can use its motion-sensing accelerometers and heart rate measurements to determine not only that you're doing something but, in many cases, also pinpoint the specific activity.

This could be housework, walking your dog, or going for a run. Oura says the feature is 89% accurate, meaning it can guess the activity and begin logging it accordingly. It doesn't always get it right, but if it doesn't, you can edit the log and change it to what the activity really was. This level of intricate logging is challenging to accomplish, since most smart rings and even smartwatches with automatic activity detection can only detect specific activities with very distinct movements, like running, boxing, or rowing.

Oura says incorrect activity detection was one of the biggest pain points for customers with previous-generation rings like the Oura Ring 4, so the company set out to fix it. In fact, user input helped build it. The more users corrected the incorrect logging of an activity, like thinking a hike was an elliptical workout, the more these updates were slowly training its algorithm. The update will, as noted, apply to rings dating back to the Oura Ring Gen3.

Company employees also put the feature through rigorous tests to help the machine learning algorithm better detect specific movement patterns. Following the tests, Oura said logging of activities like hiking, yard work, and housework saw up to a 50 percent gain in prediction accuracy. For those who engage in intense activities, you'll also see more data, like more accurate total duration, intensity, and active calorie burn.

It isn't perfect, of course. The device is worn on your finger, which moves less than your arm during exercises but more during activities like typing or washing dishes. This makes it a challenge for the sensors to intelligently figure out what you're doing. If an activity involves limited or no hand movements, such as lifting weights, riding a bicycle, or using an elliptical machine, it might not get it right. But AAD has been refined to take into account certain factors it never did before. Oura even had volunteers take fake showers to train the algorithm not to count movements during showers as activity!

The result with the Oura Ring 5, one of the best smart rings, is that you can not only more confidently go on with your day's regular exercises knowing that the smart ring will track them even if you forget to manually set it in the app, but it may also track activities you never gave yourself credit for before, like walking the dog, doing chores around the house, or dancing.

Being able to simply do an activity instead of telling an app you're about to do it and advising once you've stopped makes the process easier. And these updates to AAD with Oura Ring 5 also ensure you get the credit you deserve for every moment of log-worthy movement throughout your day.

Tribit makes some of the best budget Bluetooth speakers that money can buy. While I have tested many speakers from the brand, I had not gone hands on with in-ear or over-ear audio accessories from them until recently.

Priced at $49.99, the Tribit QuietPlus 81 over-ear headphones face extremely tough competition against other budget wireless headphones. Tribit tried to pack as much value as possible to compete with alternatives. But is it enough to justify this price tag? Here's what I found out after weeks of testing.

What the Tribit QuietPlus 81 over-ear headphones bring to the table — or to your ears

Tribit released the QuietPlus 81 over-ear headphones in December 2025. There is only one color variant, Black, and it costs $49.99. If you're lucky, you can grab these headphones at a discount during the upcoming Prime Day or during Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales later in the year.

Here are the key technical specifications of the headphones.

The Tribit QuietPlus 81 headphones have an adjustable headband, a foldable design, and soft, cushioned ear cups that can rotate. The ear cups are made of breathable protein leather and memory foam. While they are very comfy, even for someone like me with several piercings per ear, they get really hot and sweaty after a while.

Multipoint connection is available, but the headphones can only connect to two devices. A USB-C to USB-A cable and a 3.5mm audio cable are included in the box.

The battery life is impressive and the touch pad feature is handy

The specs are impressive on paper, with the crown jewel being the 110-hour battery life with ANC off, and 70-hour playback with ANC on. I was astounded at how long these headphones last. If you don't use the Bluetooth mode and stick with the AUX cable, you'll seemingly never run out of charge.

Fast charging puts the cherry on top, delivering five hours of playtime with a quick ten minute charge.

The Tribit app is as handy as ever. Just like with the brand's Bluetooth speakers, the app also has an equalizer for the QuietPlus 81 Bluetooth headphones. Apart from the six presets, you can also fully customize the equalizer to your liking and save it under a name of your choosing.

The trio of buttons are unintuitive and have a learning curve, but they can accomplish a number of tasks. What's really cool is the transparency feature of the touch pad. You can simply touch and hold the touch pad area in the right ear cup to enable a temporary transparency mode. The ANC itself is alright; works well enough but nothing groundbreaking, and some loud noises still seep through.

If you have a feeling someone is calling your name or talking to you in real life, or maybe you want to keep on ear out for a sound for a few seconds, it's pretty handy. There's no need to pause your audio playback or pop the headphones off your ears.

Unfortunately, there's not much more to love about these headphones.

The downsides pile up and drown the good parts

As much as I love most of what Tribit creates, this one's a miss for several reasons.

The buttons can be confusing to use. There's no dedicated pause/play or forward/backward button. Instead, the power button is used for all these actions and it can be very confusing. Also, the power off sound comes after a really long press, to the point that I initially thought there was no audio notification when shutting off.

There's no auto pause/play feature when you take the headphones off or put them back on. You also have to press and hold the volume button to reduce the volume, but press to increase, which is not user-friendly.

Also, the headphone jack is a little janky. When plugged into my laptop, there was a moment when only one ear cup was working. I had to twist and turn the cable until it worked. Bluetooth connection is smooth, however.

The touch pad that enables the temporary transparency mode also toggles Tribit's signature XBass preset on and off, and triggers the voice assistant. Although the transparency feature is really useful, the touch pad itself isn't the most accurate and does not always detect the taps correctly.

Honestly, I'd rather have physical buttons for this kind of stuff. Plus, there's no audio notification when XBass toggles on or off, so you lose track of whether it was enabled or disabled.

Naturally, the sound produced by the 40mm dynamic drivers is a significant factor. Despite all my best efforts messing around with the equalizer, the Tribit QuietPlus 81 headphones still sounded a bit murky and flat.

XBass is designed to add a magical bass boost that brings the audio to life, and it works well on Tribit speakers. But on these over-ear headphones, the audio is overwhelmingly bass-ridden, clearly compensating for lack of detail. XBass feels like an artificial enhancer: sickeningly sweet, almost medicinal and bitter if it were a flavor.

Should you buy the Tribit QuietPlus 81 headphones for $50?

The Tribit QuietPlus 81 headphones prove that a brand could do everything right on paper, but shoddy execution could still be their downfall.

Is this the best pair of wireless headphones for $50? The short answer is: no.

Competitors like Edifier, Sony, JBL, JLab, and a few other brands all have superior offerings in this bracket. It is a highly competitive arena, after all.

The Edifier W800BT Pro cost $49.99 too, but come with hi-res audio. Sony's WH-CH520 wireless headphones retail for $69.99 but frequently sell for half off. Even now, you can grab them for just $38 and enjoy incredibly high-quality sound on a tiny budget.

Then there's also the JBL Tune 510BT priced at $49.95 and the JLab Go Lux ANC that's usually $49.99, but currently on sale for $33.24.

Going off of sound quality alone, you're better off with almost anything else within the sub-$50 price segment.

Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip series has consistently offered flip phones fit to compete with Motorola's Razr lineup. When I reviewed the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 last year, I recommended it over the Motorola Razr Ultra 2025. Despite the raw performance and multitasking software deficiencies of the Galaxy Z Flip 7, it felt polished, premium, and durable. About a year later, the Motorola Razr 2026 family is already here, and we're awaiting the official launch of the Galaxy Z Flip 8.

If you were considering buying an Android flip phone ahead of an expected launch, I'd usually recommend waiting to see what happens. This year is different. Component shortages are raising prices across the board, and the Galaxy Z Flip 8 could be affected. For perspective, every Razr 2026 model — including the base, Plus, and Ultra variants — received a price hike of at least $100 this year. Could the latest flip phone launch be a sign of what's to come for the Galaxy Z Flip 8?

There's no perfect answer as to whether you should wait for the Galaxy Z Flip 8 or buy one of its competitors today. With so many unknowns, we don't know for sure how the Galaxy Z Flip 8 will stack up. That said, there's as good a reason as ever to buy now and avoid the risk of price hikes or sellouts.

Why you should wait for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8

Pricing considerations aside, this could be a big year for the Galaxy Z Flip line. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 is expected to include a number of upgrades, starting with the chipset. It'll be powered by the Samsung Exynos 2600, which uses a smaller 2nm Gate-All-Around (GAA) architecture. Compared to the Galaxy Z Flip 7's Exynos 2500 platform, the newer chip offers CPU performance up to 39% faster while delivering better power efficiency.

We know this because the Exynos 2600 already powers the Samsung Galaxy S26 in some regions, giving us a taste of how the Galaxy Z Flip 8 might perform. That processor is rumored to be paired with 12GB memory and either 256GB or 512GB of storage. The operating system will be One UI 9 based on Android 17, and we hope that Samsung finally opens up the cover screen for running full-screen apps without installing Good Lock.

There's quite a bit of room for Samsung to build upon the Galaxy Z Flip 7. The IP48 rating could be bumped to IP68, and the Qi2 Ready wireless charging could be replaced with the magnetic version. The device could get thinner or lighter, too. Unfortunately, none of these potential improvements is a sure thing for the Galaxy Z Flip 8. In fact, it may be more likely that the Galaxy Z Flip 8 doesn't include these upgrades, so keep this in mind as you make your choice.

For those who care about software support, the Galaxy Z Flip 8 will start with Android 17 and get a full seven years of guaranteed Android OS upgrades. While you could go with a Galaxy Z Flip 7 instead, it'll have a software support window that is a year shorter once it gets the Android 17 upgrade. The situation on Motorola Razr phones is worse, as you only get three years of Android OS upgrades, even on the flagship Ultra models.

You can also expect that the Galaxy Z Flip 8 will get new software features that may remain exclusive to Samsung's latest phones, at least to start. There's a new Gemini Intelligence suite of premium AI features set to debut on the Galaxy S26 and Google Pixel 10 series later this summer. Might the Galaxy Z Flip 8 also be included? It certainly sounds reasonable.

So, there are a few solid reasons to wait for the Galaxy Z Flip 8. You'll probably get a new processor and major software improvements, with other uncertain hardware upgrades possible as a bonus. If the price is the same or only slightly higher than the Galaxy Z Flip 7, the newer model will be worth the wait.

Why you shouldn't wait for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8

The biggest question mark surrounding the Galaxy Z Flip 8 is the phone's potential price point. If it launches at the same $1,099 sticker price as the Galaxy Z Flip 7, there may be enough upgrades to justify the purchase. After all, a new processor and exclusive software additions are all but guaranteed. That might be wishful thinking, though.

We just saw Motorola hike its flip phone prices, and Samsung increased the cost of both the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Plus earlier this year. Given the precedent, I'm going to assume the Galaxy Z Flip 8 will cost more until proven otherwise. To be clear, I hope I'm wrong. Reports from Korean news outlets like Newspim suggest the same.

A forthcoming Galaxy Z Flip 8 model with 256GB of storage could cost, say, $100 or $200 more and still make sense with carrier discounts. Those who purchase their phones unlocked and pay in full might find a $1,199 or $1,299 Galaxy Z Flip 8 a tough sell, and I can't really blame them.

Usually, I'd recommend interested buyers consider grabbing a discounted current-generation model ahead of the new one's debut, but the market conditions threw a wrinkle in that, too. The Galaxy Z Flip 7 isn't discounted at all by Samsung, Best Buy, or Amazon, likely due to the pricing challenges we've covered. If you're worried about the Galaxy Z Flip 8 being more expensive, it still might make sense to keep an eye out for a Galaxy Z Flip 7 deal instead of waiting.

An outside contender is the Motorola Razr Ultra 2025. The phone's successor, the Razr Ultra 2026, costs a whopping $1,500. It's not a serious option for people on most budgets. Meanwhile, the Razr Ultra 2025 is available for $800 and comes with 1TB of storage, and it'll make you think twice about waiting for the Galaxy Z Flip 8.

You'll need to accept the year-old processor and very short software support window. Those who can get over those hurdles could find themselves acquiring an outstanding flip phone for an even better price.

What about the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 FE?

Last year brought us the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and a cheaper Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE, but will we get two Galaxy Z Flip 8 models this time around? It doesn't seem likely, as we haven't heard much of anything about a Galaxy Z Flip 8 FE, and we keep hearing about the Galaxy Z Flip 8, Galaxy Z Fold 8 (wide), and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. Samsung might be skipping the "Fan Edition" version this year, so don't hold your breath waiting for it.

We won't have to wait much longer to see what the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 holds. Rumors point to a Galaxy Unpacked event in London set for July 22, 2026. This is likely where we'll see the new Samsung foldables for the first time, with general availability coming around two weeks later.

For a few years there, Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold series was feeling a little boring. Most releases were very minor tweaks of the previous year's design, and Samsung wasn't pushing specs like it used to. But last year's Galaxy Z Fold 7 changed that when it debuted as the thinnest foldable of all time, and Samsung apparently isn't done making major design changes for 2026's rumored release.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is rumored to debut in two sizes for the first time, and it appears to follow an industry trend of making book-style foldables wider rather than taller. If you don't like that trend, that's OK, because Samsung is allegedly going to offer both a tall and wide variant of the Z Fold 8, with a few other changes in store.

Is it worth waiting for the Galaxy Z Fold 8? Considering we're expecting to see the unveiling in just a few weeks on July 22 (per rumors), I'd say there's no reason to rush into a buying decision until then.

What changes do we expect for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8?

While the Galaxy Z Fold 8 family is sure to receive the latest round of Qualcomm processors, the rumored size changes are apparently making Samsung consider a bit of a name change to the Z Fold 8. Here's what we expect to see:

• The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra: This one's the "true" successor to the Z Fold 7 and is said to look nearly identical to that phone. Same tall dimensions, three cameras on the back, and top-tier specs with a slightly larger battery than last year. This one's rumored to be 2mm thicker than the Z Fold 7.
• The Galaxy Z Fold 8: The standard Z Fold 8 is said to be the wider model, which essentially looks like someone took a Z Fold 7 and squashed it down. This is supposed to be more of a passport shape, allegedly only has room for two rear cameras, and likely has a smaller battery than the Ultra.
• S Pen support is rumored to be added to at least one of these models. If I had to bet money on which one, it would be the Ultra since it's rumored to be thicker than the Z Fold 7.

S Pen support seems to be up in the air, depending on which rumor you follow. The latest rumors suggest the Ultra is 2mm thicker than the Galaxy Z Fold 7, making it 0.18 mm thicker than the recently released Motorola Razr Fold.

Motorola's excellent foldable supports stylus input on both the inner and outer displays, something Samsung never offered on the Z Fold series, so this rumored thickness increase for the Z Fold 8 Ultra is almost certainly S Pen-related, if it's true.

2 big reasons to wait

If you're happy with the current size and shape of the Galaxy Z Fold 7, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra should offer a similar look and feel, albeit in a slightly thicker form factor (assuming that rumor is true). Samsung likely chose the name Ultra for this model because it's packing in all the tricks instead of focusing on a single ultra-thin model, as it did in 2025.

That means potential Z Fold 8 Ultra buyers can expect better battery life than the Z Fold 7, as well as potential camera upgrades and likely S Pen support. The Galaxy Z Fold 3 through 6 supported S Pen input on their foldable inner screens, but Samsung removed this support on the Z Fold 7 to keep it as thin as possible.

Stylus support comes with a thicker build, and since the Z Fold 8 Ultra is rumored to be 2mm thicker than the Z Fold 7, we're feeling pretty good about potential S Pen support returning. Since the battery is rumored to only be increasing by 600mAh, there's little likelihood that the thickness increase is only for battery space.

Furthermore, if you find current book-style foldables to be too unwieldy and tall, Samsung's rumored Galaxy Z Fold 8 may be the device you were looking for. Oppo first launched a wide foldable in 2021, but abandoned the wide design a few years later. Google also debuted its first Pixel Fold with a wide design, and I hate to say I told you so, but Google got it right the first time.

Now, the wide design trend is back and looks to be better than ever. Huawei just launched its second-generation wide foldable, and now it's rumored that Vivo, Honor, and even Apple are launching wide foldable phones this year.

That means Samsung has a lot of upcoming competition in this space, so while you should wait for the Z Fold 8 if you want a wider foldable, I don't think you should actually buy something until you hear from the rest of those companies sometime this autumn.

Plenty of reasons to consider something else

Samsung gets a lot of things right, but the company has been guilty of "coasting" in more than one area in the past few years. Samsung's foldable phones nearly always sport the latest processors and have truly excellent software that's backed up for years to come, but the rest of the spec sheet falls behind the competition in some major areas.

Every other Android vendor with a book-style foldable phone — with the exception of Google Pixel Fold models — puts substantially higher-capacity, faster-charging silicon-carbon batteries inside their devices. That means longer battery life and less time hooked up to a charger than Samsung's phones.

Other companies, like Honor and Motorola, also offer even better build quality and life-proofing than Samsung does. The Razr Fold, for instance, has an IP49 rating, which makes it more resistant to water jets and other water-related activities than Samsung's IP48 rating. Folks outside of North America can also choose from the Oppo Find N6, which offers an IP59 rating, or the Honor Magic V6, which is IP69 rated.

Samsung also often falls behind in cameras and displays, even if the company often experiments with things like anti-reflective displays and its trademark Privacy Display. The rumor is that the Z Fold 8 and 8 Ultra won't see either of those display enhancements, and there's no word on whether Samsung will finally make its displays safe for PWM-sensitive people.

We've also seen a massive jump in foldable phone camera quality over the past two years, with brands like Honor, Oppo, and (surprisingly) Motorola leading the way. Much of this has come from hardware and design innovation, as manufacturers figure out new ways to put big camera sensors into thin phones.

The Z Fold has never had cutting-edge cameras, and the Z Fold 8 family likely won't either. That's even more the case if you're considering the wider Z Fold 8 model, which is rumored to only have two cameras on the back.

One more thing

If you've been looking to buy any new piece of electronics this year, you're almost certainly aware of the huge price increases sweeping the world as AI data center construction has jacked up the prices of storage and RAM. Given that Samsung has already raised prices on many of its existing phones, there's little doubt the Z Fold 8 family will be subjected to the same price increases.

Samsung isn't alone in that, obviously, but nearly any new phone will cost you more than it would have last year, and that's a difficult reality to deal with in a year of high inflation. Even if you were going to buy an existing phone, though, you're going to pay those higher prices, so you might as well wait for a new model and see what the final word is.

A souped-up Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and a wider Galaxy Z Fold 8 certainly sound enticing, especially if you live in North America and have fewer options than the rest of the world, so why not wait until mid-July to make a decision you won't regret? I know I certainly would.

The Motorola Razr Fold has arrived, and there's a lot to like about Motorola's first book-style foldable. From its performance to the impressive cameras, the Razr Fold is a great first attempt at this type of foldable phone, making it a worthy competitor to Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold lineup.

But even though the Razr Fold just hit store shelves, we're already looking forward to the next iteration and how the company can improve upon an already great package. So, after spending several weeks with the Razr Fold, here's what I want to see out of the Razr Fold 2027.

More colors

Lately, Motorola is known for its bold color choices, especially since partnering with Pantone a few years ago. Just about every Motorola smartphone is offered in exciting colors and finishes, such as vegan leather, Alcantara, and wood, which helps phones like the Motorola Razr 2026 stand out even more.

The Razr Fold is sort of the odd one out. Sure, Motorola still uses alternative and premium-feeling materials besides glass, which I appreciate. However, the Fold is only available in two colors, and they're basically black and white. This sort of runs counter to Motorola's color philosophy, which tends to steer away from "safe" colors.

On the one hand, I get that this is Motorola's first book-style foldable, so it wants to play it safe by offering just two color options. It is a rather expensive phone, and Motorola may use this to gauge demand for future models.

With any luck, the Razr Fold 2027 will add one or two more color options to its roster. After all, it's a great smartphone, and probably the best Motorola flagship since the Razr Ultra 2025, so I would like to see Motorola really show it off with bold color options.

More configurations

The Razr Fold is a powerful phone, and a big reason for that is the fact that Motorola paired the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 with 16GB of RAM. That's enough to run plenty of on-device AI features and tons of open apps without the phone breaking a sweat. However, with the RAM crisis inflating prices across the board, perhaps it's time for Motorola to consider offering more than just one configuration for the device.

This is a strategy Samsung utilizes with its devices. For example, it offers three RAM/storage configurations for the Galaxy Z Fold 7, starting at 12 GB/256GB and going up to 16GB/1TB, allowing Samsung to offer the phone at a variety of prices.

Motorola could do the same thing with the Razr Fold 2027, not only to benefit consumers willing to pay more for higher RAM and storage, but also to offer a cheaper model, perhaps with just 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. For many on-device AI features, 12GB is plenty, and 256GB is a good amount for many people, especially as cloud storage options become more prevalent.

This way, the Razr Fold 2027 could start at a lower price of, say, $1,700, allowing Motorola to further undercut its rivals.

Magnets everywhere

The Motorola Razr Fold has great charging specs, offering 80W wired charging and 50W wireless charging. That last one is particularly interesting, especially since achieving such speeds will likely require a very specific type of wireless charger, like the Motorola TurboPower 50W Wireless Charger. Wireless charging this fast is often hard to come by (it's not even on Motorola's website) or expensive.

Instead, I would love to see Motorola offer the Razr Fold 2027 with Qi2 charging capabilities, especially given how the standard is growing and how many Qi2 chargers are already out there. Furthermore, the Razr Fold should come with built-in magnets to fully take advantage of the standard, unlike Samsung's stopgap Qi2-Ready implementation.

Sure, charging may be limited to just 25W with the Qi2.2 standard, but that's still plenty quick (many Samsung phones charge at the same speed using a cable), and if you need faster charging, you could just plug it in. Frankly, I would be willing to cut the wireless charging speed in half if it means I get to attach magnetic accessories to my phone or stick the Razr Fold on a magnetic stand without needing a case.

A truly flagship chipset

Performance on the Razr Fold is pretty spectacular, despite the fact that the phone is running a sub-flagship chipset. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 is a step below the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, and it's more in line with the original Snapdragon 8 Elite, albeit with lower clock speeds. Still, given how volatile smartphone pricing has been in 2026, it's no surprise Motorola didn't go for the top-of-the-line chipset, likely to keep costs down while providing plenty of performance.

It's a strategy Motorola is known for with its flagship foldables, with its previous highest-end Razr phones generally opting for sub-flagship options rather than the most premium chip available. The company changed that up with the Razr Ultra 2025, which sported the Snapdragon 8 Elite, so we hoped that would be the case with this year's Razr models.

But while the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 is still a great chip, it would be nice to see the Razr Fold 2027 running on whatever flagship chipset we get from Qualcomm, which will likely be the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6. This would help it compete better with some of the best foldables from Samsung and others.

Motorola might even consider giving it a flagship MediaTek chipset, as the company isn't shy about mixing chips among the Razr series, as the lowest-end Razr flip phone usually runs a MediaTek Dimensity chipset. This could potentially help offset costs, as Qualcomm isn't exactly cheap.

And again, Motorola can help offset the cost of its next Fold by offering more configurations, giving it more wiggle room to feature a more premium chipset that we expect to see in a flagship of this caliber.

Better durability

The Razr Fold is a pretty solid phone, especially as foldables go. It has an IP48 and IP49 rating, meaning it's largely protected against water ingress and water jets. You can get it wet or submerge it, and it should be fine in most common conditions (although it's not completely waterproof).

That said, dust protection leaves a bit to be desired. That "4" means it's protected against dust particles 1mm or larger, but anything smaller could still cause some damage.

Right now, the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold is the only foldable phone with full dust protection, meaning it is possible. And given that consumers are still concerned about foldable durability, the Razr Fold 2027 should step up its protection to give them more peace of mind.

And on that note, I would like to see more cases and screen protectors available, both first and third-party. After all, you can never be too safe when it comes to a $1,900 product.

The Motorola Razr Fold has one of the best cameras on a foldable phone, thanks to its triple 50MP system and Pantone-Validated sensors. However, it's not just the sensors themselves that make the cameras great, but the software behind them.

Motorola has a few interesting tricks up its sleeve, such as Action Shot for fast-moving objects and Signature Style to create your own color science. But one interesting new feature is Frame Match, which sounds a bit like the Add Me feature on the Pixel 10.

You may not have heard of this feature, but with summer just around the corner and plenty of people likely to travel for the World Cup, the feature is perfect for taking better vacation photos, especially if you wanna be in them.

What is Frame Match?

Frame Match is a feature that helps users frame a photo just how they like it. You take a photo to create an overlay of the scene you want to take a photo of. The idea is that you can then give the phone to a friend or a friendly stranger, and they will see the overlay. You can then position yourself in the photo while the person taking it lines up the overlay with the scene in the viewfinder, ensuring it's framed exactly how you want while you're in it.

As someone who often tries to capture the best angles of others but is often underwhelmed with photos others take of me, I actually really love this idea.

Inspiration seems to have been taken from one of our favorite Pixel features. Add Me is a neat feature that lets one person take a group photo, and then they can be added into the image by giving someone else the phone and making sure they're lined up with the original photo. That way, no one is left out of the group pic.

Theoretically, you can probably do as much with Motorola's Frame Match, although I haven't tried this method yet.

For now, this feature is available on Motorola's latest smartphones, including the Razr 2026 series. It will likely come to other Motorola smartphones, such as its 2025 models, although it's not guaranteed.

How to use Frame Match

1. Open the Camera app.

2. Scroll through the carousel of camera modes until you reach Frame Match.

3. Tap the shutter button. This will take an initial image that will act as an overlay.

4. Give someone else the phone and move into the frame.

5. The person taking the photo can increase or decrease the opacity of the overlay using the slider at the bottom (they may have to tap the icon with the five squares to open it).

6. Once the images are lined up and you're positioned in the photo, the person taking the photo taps the shutter button to take the complete photo.

The result should be a photo with you in it and at the angle of your desire, ensuring you're getting the best parts of the scene into the image without having to direct the person capturing the photo. Motorola does the work for you.

This feature sounds perfect if you're traveling this summer

I don't expect to do much traveling this summer, but I can already think of some fun ideas that I would love to try out if I were. Imagine you're in Paris and want to snap a perspective shot of yourself with your finger on top of the Eiffel Tower. Or you're in Italy and want a fun shot of you "holding up" the Leaning Tower of Pisa. You know, typical tourist stuff.

Frame Match should make the process a bit smoother, especially if you know exactly how you want the scene to be captured. It's your vacation and your memories, after all, and your photos should come out exactly how you want them to.

The past two years have yielded significant advancements in smart glasses. Whether you're looking at a "wearable TV" or a pair of glasses with an AI companion built in, smart glasses have never made more sense to get than they do now. And as they continue to grow in popularity, they're only getting better and better.

Viture specializes in the "wearable TV" smart glasses segment and recently delivered its first pair of glasses with built-in spatial tracking. It also offers the best smart glasses ecosystem you can find today; that includes the only smart glasses that work with the Switch 2, a wearable spatial neckband, and several controllers.

I had a conversation with Viture's Optical Lead, Dr Deqing Kong, about the company's latest releases and learned about even more exciting products in the pipeline for the future. These represent the next generation of quality and eye comfort, and it won't be too long before they're ready to buy, too.

The roadmap to perfection

My biggest issue with smart glasses today isn't display quality or functionality; it's comfort. Smart glasses like Viture Beast offer built-in spatial tracking and a design that's significantly smaller and lighter than a VR headset, but the micro-OLED displays at the heart of the optics engine aren't always the most comfortable to look at for long periods of time.

For me, this is because I'm sensitive to low-frequency PWM dimming. Almost all smart glasses that use PWM dimming employ a 120Hz or 240Hz frequency, while RayNeo's most recent two generations offer 3840Hz (not a typo) PWM dimming. According to Dr Kong, this disparity is due to two factors: display quality and manufacturer specifications.

RayNeo uses SeeYa micro-OLED displays, a smaller firm out of China, while Viture and Xreal utilize Sony micro-OLEDs. Viture used SeeYa SY049 panels for the Viture One, but Dr. Kong told me that Sony panels offered greater color saturation and pixel density, so Viture switched to Sony for future product releases.

SeeYa panels have historically been more comfortable for me, in part because they use different dimming methods and, according to Dr. Kong, because Viture One's optics have a narrower FoV and higher pixel density. All major Viture and Xreal models released in the past year have a much wider FoV over 52 degrees, which lowers the pixel density of the glasses, but Viture's next glasses will more than make up for this.

Dr. Kong tells me that Viture's upcoming smart glasses, set to release later this year, will feature a large FoV with 2560 x 1600 resolution, a notable upgrade from the 1920 x 1200 resolution Viture's latest releases sport. The following year, we should expect a further bump in resolution, which may also coincide with an increase in FoV.

In addition to this, they'll feature up to 3840Hz PWM dimming, ensuring that people like me can find them comfortable no matter how long they're worn. That solves two huge problems in one fell swoop, and while there are plenty of other obstacles that'll need to be overcome to make smart glasses "perfect," these important steps will ensure that everyone finds the sweet spot as products evolve.

Pushing the boundaries of wearable tech

Every pair of smart display glasses (wearable TVs) you can buy today uses micro-OLED displays, regardless of which company makes the display or the glasses. While micro-OLEDs deliver some of the same great advantages of OLED TVs and smartphones, they also need to work a little differently because of the inherent nature of how lenses work on a wearable.

So while the latest Sony ECX348 micro-OLEDs can pump out an eye-searing 5,000 nits of brightness, that amount of light is cut by 1/5th — meaning your eyes receive around 1,000 nits — by the time it hits your eyes because of the glasses' birdbath optics. That number is even lower on VR headsets, and even though headsets like Galaxy XR and Apple Vision Pro use similar 5000-nit panels, their pancake optics reduce brightness down to under 200 nits by the time the light reaches your eyes.

For a VR headset, this low brightness level isn't a huge deal since most headsets block out external light, but smart glasses have to work around this differently since they don't obscure your vision. Glasses like Viture Beast and Xreal 1S use dimmable electrochromic film, which you can adjust in the glasses settings, adding tinting to the front of the glasses to reduce light interference with the display.

And while electrochromic film is very effective in reducing forward light, these glasses still have to overcome peripheral light leaks with higher brightness levels. Dr. Kong tells me the next Viture glasses will feature displays with a peak brightness of 8,000 nits, which, if the math stays the same, means they'll deliver an effective brightness level of 1,600 nits to your eyes.

Dr. Kong indicated that VITURE's display roadmap extends well beyond next-generation glasses, with further gains in resolution, brightness, and custom silicon on the horizon.

At the same time, we'll also see an improvement in color reproduction and capabilities. Current micro-OLEDs use 8-bit SDR color output, and while glasses like RayNeo Air 4 Pro are the first to debut with HDR10 support and 10-bit color, RayNeo's HDR10 implementation uses temporal dithering — a software flicker technique that simulates HDR.

VITURE's position is to wait for true panel-level HDR rather than ship a software workaround. Any flickering like this can cause headaches and discomfort for some people, so companies must offer ways to disable these techniques for affected users.

These upgraded micro-OLED panels will also feature RGB self-emission, which means they'll work more like the OLED screen in your TV or smartphone. Current smart glasses and VR-mounted micro-OLEDs feature white light pixels with RGB filters on top. Self-emissive color pixels will provide an upgraded color range and power efficiency.

I'm not privy to which of the two upcoming generations of glasses will support a wider color gamut, but Dr. Kong tells me that future Viture glasses will support 10-bit HDR output and 100% DCI color. Some of these improvements are tied to the coprocessor in the glasses, and Viture is working on a new, custom chip scheduled to debut in 2027.

That new chip will also support AI-based super-resolution, similar to AI upscaling on phones like the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but the quality upgrade will likely be even more pronounced because of the perceived size of the virtual display in Viture glasses.

Lastly, Viture tells me it's working on several other pain points for its users. Native color options, "professional grade color management," anti-aliasing, and anti-chromatic aberration are all in the pipeline for future Viture glasses. That last part, in particular, is music to my ears, as many glasses with larger FoV suffer from chromatic aberration around the edges of the lens.

This all spells an incredibly exciting future for smart display glasses, especially ones that focus on delivering top-tier image quality. Viture Beast was a huge step forward for the company's glasses, adding native spatial tracking and several other important features. The company's next steps look to take those improvements and combine them with the Luma line to create something even more impressive.

And if you absolutely can't wait, stay tuned for Prime Day (starting June 23) to check out some smart glasses sales. These kinds of products always go on discount for Prime Day (and similar sales events), which makes it the perfect time to pick up a pair.

If you are interested in Samsung Wallet, surely you must have heard the news that your Samsung phone is officially a TSA-approved digital passport. This means that you can now use a digitally stored passport inside Samsung Wallet at most Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints across the U.S.

Samsung partnered up with CLEAR to bring verified digital IDs into Samsung Wallet for Samsung Galaxy phone users.

If you want to learn how to set up your digital passport, read this handy guide we have. After setting it up, you must be wondering about compatibility. Here's what you need to know.

Where can you use Samsung Wallet?

First, lets start off with availability of the e-wallet from the Korean tech giant. Samsung Wallet itself is available in the following countries:

• Australia
• Bahrain
• Brazil
• Canada
• China
• Denmark
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Hong Kong
• India
• Italy
• Kazakhstan
• Korea
• Kuwait
• Malaysia
• Norway
• Oman
• Qatar
• Singapore
• South Africa
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Taiwan
• Vietnam
• UAE
• U.K.
• U.S.

Samsung Wallet availability in a region includes features such as adding debit, credit, prepaid, and loyalty cards, as well as digital keys. Not only can you keep passwords, addresses, and card details within Samsung Wallet, but you can also unlock, lock, and start your car from your Samsung phone.

Note that some features of Samsung Wallet may not be available in certain regions or may be available only in a limited capacity. It depends entirely on the region.

Where can you use your digital passport stored in Samsung Wallet?

Moving on to Samsung ID with CLEAR, this is the part of Samsung Wallet that securely holds your digital passport. As of right now, this is a U.S.-exclusive feature, so only American citizens with a valid passport can store their passports digitally within their Samsung Wallet.

You can use your digital ID at more than 250 TSA checkpoints inside the U.S., and you can view the participating states on the TSA website. However, this digital ID will only work for domestic travel and not for international travel.

So if you're planning to go abroad, don't forget to bring the original physical copy of your passport with you!

Android gaming has come a long way in the last five years, but power constraints remain the biggest issue. Unlike a desktop PC, phones have significant thermal restraints and a power budget that doesn't extend beyond 5W. That's why we don't see many games with ray-traced shadows and realistic lighting effects, but that could be changing thanks to Arm's Neural Technology.

Arm introduced the tech last year, and the brand is now readying Neural Dawn, a game made in collaboration with Sumo Digital that highlights the best that the AI-assisted neural rendering suite has to offer on mobile. The game itself is launching later in Q4 2026, and Arm just rolled out a trailer. Ahead of its debut, I talked to Peter Hodges, Director of Developer Ecosystem Strategy at Arm, and Lukáš Medek, Art Director at Sumo Digital and Game Director of Neural Dawn, to get a better sense of what the tech has to offer, and why this is a big deal for mobile gaming.

Let's start with the game itself: Neural Dawn will have four levels and around 120 minutes of gameplay, and it follows a "research scientist within a cave network who is guided by light to uncover the truth behind a collapsing civilization, the head scientist’s hidden plan, and their own connection to it." Basically, the game sees the mobile debut of Unreal Engine 5.5's MegaLights dynamic lighting technique, and this allows game makers to add hundreds of dynamic lights into a scene. Medek talked about how the tech enabled Sumo Digital to deliver dynamic lighting instead of having to "bake" lighting into textures or use "fake shadows."

The issue with the lighting system is that you get a lot of noise, and Hodges says this is where Arm's Neural Denoising makes a difference. The tech ensures you still get a lot of detail, with minimal noise that isn't noticeable in most scenes.

It also allowed the studio to iterate faster, and make lighting an "active part of the storytelling process," and it is impressive that the tech is making its way to mobile. In addition to dynamic lighting, Neural Dawn gets Arm's Neural Super Sampling tech, which is similar to what NVIDIA does with DLSS and AMD with FSR. Essentially, upcoming Mali GPUs will have dedicated neural accelerators that enable higher-quality visuals while using the same amount of power. Hodges talked about how the tech will reduce overall rendering costs to deliver games with much better visual fidelity on phones.

With NSS, visuals are rendered at a lower resolution, and the tech leverages AI to essentially upscale textures. Arm also has frame upscaling that enables smoother motion, and it's great to see these features make their way to mobile devices. Arm says the AI-assisted suite will be limited to phones powered by the upcoming Mali GPUs — Hodges didn't go into detail about the actual products — as it needs the dedicated neural accelerators.

Ultimately, Neural Dawn is a great showcase for how Arm's neural rendering tech can make a difference on mobile devices. The brand is taking all of its learnings from the exercise and creating a playbook that studios can utilize to understand how to incorporate neural graphics into their own games, and the Neural Graphics Development Kit — which combines all of these technologies — is available in early access. The big question is whether other game studios will bite, but I'm hopeful that we'll see at least a few titles that leverage these features in the coming years.

That said, the fact that these features are only available on Mali GPUs is a limitation, as it rules out Pixels (the Pixel 10 Pro XL uses the PowerVR DXT-48-1536) and Samsung's Galaxy S devices — the S26 Ultra is powered by Qualcomm's Adreno 840, and the S26/S26+ have Samsung's homegrown Xclipse 960. That leaves phones powered by MediaTek hardware, which includes select OPPO, Vivo, and Xiaomi devices. There's a possibility that the neural tech won't see much mainstream use in North America — MediaTek just doesn't have enough of a presence in the region — but we should have more details around that situation when Arm details new hardware.

There's no shortage of ways to manage your data, whether it's an external SSD or HDD, a home NAS server, or buying a higher-storage variant of your phone. I have a DiskStation DS1823xs+ that stores over 150TB of my data, but when I'm on the go, I rely on external SSDs.

TeamGroup does a great job in this area, and its X2 Max is what I predominantly use while traveling. It resembles a USB flash drive, but it houses an SSD, and it has both USB-C and USB-A connectors, allowing me to connect it to just about any device. And coming in at $149 for the 1TB variant, it's a decent choice if you want a fast external drive.

If you want a drive that attaches to your phone, you should take a look at the PD20M. The key benefit to this external SSD is that it securely attaches to your iPhone — or any Android phone with a magnetic case. I have the 2TB model of the drive, and it currently costs $233 on Amazon, which is $60 more than what it launched at two years ago; you don't need me to tell you that all storage and memory drives have inflated prices these days.

I used a half-dozen of these MagSafe drives over the last two years, and I like the PD20M the most because of its size. At just 8.2mm and 40g, it is thin and light, and the build quality is decent. The drive is made out of plastic, and while it isn't anywhere as durable as LaCie's Rugged SSD4, it held its own in everyday usage.

There is some flex to the housing when you squeeze it, but after six months of extensive use, I didn't see any issues with the build quality. The only omission in my point of view is ingress protection — having any kind of resistance to dust or water ingress would have made it a much better choice for outdoor use.

The PD20M has a rubber base that ensures it doesn't damage your phone when it's attached, and the magnets have a strong connection — I didn't see any issues using it with my iPhone 17 Pro, Pixel 10 Pro XL, or Galaxy Z Fold 7. The PD20M has a flat cable that lets you connect it to your phone, and while it's long enough to attach without any issues, the cable gets in the way — particularly when you're shooting videos while it's connected.

I used this drive predominantly with the Pixel 10 Pro XL because it has the requisite magnets pre-installed, and as I have the 256GB model of the phone and constantly run out of storage, I needed a reliable external drive to store videos and photos.

The drive itself uses the USB 3.2 Gen2x2 interface and has a bandwidth of 2,000MB/s. In my testing, I got reads of 1,750MB/s and writes of 1,590MB/s, which is more than adequate when it comes to transferring data to and from the drive. The bandwidth makes it a great choice when recording 4K footage.

MagSafe inclusion gives it an edge over most other external SSDs, and even if you have a phone that doesn't have the requisite magnets, you can use it as a portable drive. However, the PD20M is best-suited if you have an iPhone or the Pixel 10 Pro XL, and the slim design along with reliable bandwidth make it a good overall choice.

Whether you're preparing for a long flight or a road trip, tablets have become must-have additions to any summer travel packing list. The best tablets for travelers should have great battery life, good-looking displays, and enough power to access your favorite streaming services or games without skipping a beat.

But with so many options to choose from, how can you select the Android tablet that's best for you and your needs? It's going to depend on a few factors, from budget and size to use case, so before you hit the road, let's take a look at the best Android tablets for travel in 2026.

What is the best tablet for travel?

As with most device purchases, the right tablet for you really depends on how you plan to use it. Need a versatile device with incredible battery life? The OnePlus Pad 3 is probably the best all-rounder, with impressive performance, a stunning display, and a reasonable price tag to match.

Need a laptop replacement? Devices like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra can handle heavy media consumption and large file management with ease. There are also plenty of great options if you just need an e-reader or something kid-friendly. Needless to say, we've tested all of the tablets listed above and can vouch for their quality, regardless of your needs or budget.

What features should I look for in a tablet for travel? 

The tablet you choose for your journey should have a nice display, a lightweight-yet-durable build, and enough battery life to handle those long travel days. The dimensions are important as well, so take a moment to think about the size of your luggage before you commit to a specific model. If you want to use accessories like a detachable keyboard or stylus, it's also important to confirm that the tablet is compatible.

Last but not least, I'd recommend confirming that the device you choose has enough storage to hold all of the stuff (movies, games, etcetera) that you need for those long trips when you won't have access to a cellular connection or Wi-Fi network. Some tablets might even come with a microSD slot so you can expand your storage capacity if necessary.

As much as I'm a fan of Google's products, the company's naming scheme is still incredibly confusing. Qualcomm probably still holds the crown there, but Google also has a habit of giving very similar names to products that are completely different. Just look at Google Wallet and Google Pay. And another perfect example of this is Android Auto and Android Automotive.

Android Auto and Android Automotive are two names that sound almost identical, which is probably why so many people still confuse them. I've lost count of how many times I've seen people assume Android Auto is simply a shorter name for Android Automotive.

But that's not actually the case. Despite the very similar branding, the two platforms work completely differently. Here are the five biggest differences between Android Auto and Android Automotive.

Android Auto needs your phone, Android Automotive doesn't

The most basic, and probably the biggest, difference between the two is that Android Auto mirrors your phone onto your car's display, while Android Automotive is a full operating system that actually runs the car itself.

Android Auto depends entirely on your smartphone. You connect your Android phone to your car, either wirelessly or through USB, and the car's screen essentially becomes a secondary display for apps like Google Maps, Spotify, WhatsApp, and more.

Android Automotive, on the other hand, runs directly on the car's own hardware. The operating system is built into the vehicle itself, which means you don't need your phone connected to use things like navigation, music streaming, or even video apps. Think of it as Android OS, but designed specifically for cars.

This also means Android Automotive vehicles usually come with their own cellular connection for things like traffic updates, app downloads, and other connected features.

Android Automotive controls the actual car

Another major difference between Android Auto and Android Automotive comes down to hardware access. Since Android Auto simply mirrors your phone onto the car's display, it only really has access to things like the screen and audio output. It can't control features like air conditioning, seat ventilation, or other vehicle functions,

Android Automotive, on the other hand, is built directly into the car from the ground up. Because of that, it can control much more than just infotainment. It can manage climate settings, heated seats, window defoggers, ambient lighting, and even EV-specific functions depending on the vehicle.

This also means you can directly ask Gemini on Android Automotive cars to control the car's systems, whereas you cannot experience this on cars with just Android Auto.

Android Automotive cars can be without Google apps

One thing that makes Android Automotive confusing is that not every Android Automotive car actually comes with Google's apps and services built in.

That's because Android Automotive itself is just the operating system. Car makers can choose whether they also want to license Google Automotive Services, or GAS, which includes things like Google Maps, Gemini, the Google Play Store, and other Google apps.

There are still some Android Automotive cars out there that don't ship with GAS. However, most newer Android Automotive vehicles from brands like Ford, Honda, Polestar, Volvo, and others are now moving toward including Google's services by default.

Android Auto, on the other hand, is much simpler in that regard. Since it mirrors your phone directly onto the car's display, you automatically get access to Google services like Google Maps, YouTube Music, and other apps straight from your phone once it's connected.

Android Auto and Automotive don't update the same way

Since Android Auto is mostly tied to your smartphone, new features usually arrive through updates on your phone itself. If Google adds a new Android Auto feature, you typically receive it through updates to the Android Auto app or Google Play Services, both of which usually update automatically in the background.

Android Automotive works very differently. Since it's the actual operating system running the car, updates are handled much more like phone software updates. Just like Google updates Pixel phones and Samsung rolls out One UI updates for Galaxy devices, Android Automotive updates are delivered through the car manufacturer rather than directly by Google.

That creates a much bigger dependency on the automaker itself. Some brands are excellent when it comes to long-term software support, while others can be noticeably slower with updates.

So while Android Automotive can potentially offer a much deeper and more advanced experience over time, the actual experience depends heavily on how committed the car manufacturer is to software updates.

If you've used Android in your car, it's probably Android Auto

All things considered, if you've used a modern car infotainment system at any point over the past few years, chances are you've used Android Auto.

That's because Android Auto is available across a huge number of vehicles today. Android Automotive, on the other hand, is a much bigger commitment for automakers since it requires them to build the operating system directly into the car's architecture instead of simply supporting phone projection.

Sure, there are now plenty of vehicles from brands like Volvo, Polestar, Ford, and others using Android Automotive as the underlying platform, but it's still fair to say that Android Automotive hasn't become nearly as common as Google probably hoped it would by now.