Samsung’s Galaxy S26 series was expected to deliver on a few key upgrades that were long overdue, but that all went out the window last year when Samsung apparently decided to go all-in on avoiding a price hike. Despite killing those upgrades, though, leaks suggest that the price is going up anyway.

After months of leaks, renders, and just a little bit of head-scratching, the Pixel 10a is finally official. While we’ll have to wait until a more complete unveiling to learn about its specs, those same leaks have done a pretty good job in painting a picture of a very familiar A-series launch from Google. Assuming everything we’ve heard about the Pixel 10a is true, if you have any interest in grabbing a new budget phone this year, picking up a Pixel 9a right now is going to save you an easy $100 without making much of a sacrifice.

Samsung’s Galaxy S26 trio is shaping up to be an interesting launch — it’s just that the phones themselves aren’t actually the interesting part. We already know that a lot of what could’ve made the S26 lineup different from its predecessors has been thrown out the window thanks to failed concepts and stiff competition. Now, Samsung needs to try to tease a lineup that appears unchanged even by this brand’s own standards, and so far, it’s a bit of a mixed bag.

Samsung’s Galaxy Z TriFold is finally going up for sale in the US this Friday, but as expected, it won’t come cheap. You’ll have to shell out $2,900 before tax for the company’s first tri-folding smartphone — nearly $1,000 more than Samsung’s already-expensive Galaxy Z Fold 7.

For the first time since the original’s release in 2021, Apple finally has new AirTag hardware, with the “new AirTag,” aka AirTag 2, delivering some hardware improvements that make me a little jealous as an Android user.

A major ice and snow storm is hitting huge parts of the United States this week, and in preparing for the storm, I was watching the forecasts closely across a slew of different weather apps for Android. And, sadly, Pixel Weather was perhaps one of the least accurate I was using.

If you’re a regular 9to5Google reader, you probably already know the turbulence happening inside the consumer electronics space. We’re all collectively looking down the barrel of significantly higher prices across the board, primarily — though not exclusively — thanks to increased component demand from AI companies. Put simply, buying a smartphone in 2026 is about to suck, but with a little bit of planning, you aren’t completely out of hope.

OnePlus has come out to confirm that it is not shutting down following an “unverified” and “unsubstantiated” article that claimed the company was on a fast path to shutting down. However, that was obvious given that the article itself had absolutely no new information to share.

As all attention moves over to Gemini, the experience of Google Assistant just continues to crumble, and that’s getting especially bad for Android Auto users as of late.

I’m a really big fan of how Google designs its smartphones, but if there’s one nitpick I have, it’s that the base Pixel phones keep getting a glossy glass finish on the back. After throwing a simple clear matte skin on the back of my Pixel 10 recently, I’m even more convinced Google needs to switch going forward.

Clicks might have cut its teeth developing add-on keyboards for various smartphones — first iPhone, then Android — but its latest announcement appears to be its most promising yet. The Clicks Communicator feels like the first real minimalist device to potentially provide a substantial improvement over your daily driver, even if many of us might feel it’s better as a secondary device rather than a replacement for whatever you already own.

A few months out from its likely launch window, we’re finally starting to get some insight into what Google’s next Pixel might look like. I’m not talking about the Pixel 11, of course — it’s the Pixel 10a that history suggests is set for a spring launch, bringing another value-focused smartphone to consumers. And yet, based on the few pieces of information we’ve seen so far, I’m not sure waiting for the Pixel 10a is the smartest move for your wallet.

This latest Pixel drop brought one of my biggest fears to Android: notification summaries. It’s something Apple botched in iOS 18 last year, and something I didn’t feel like Android needed given its top-tier notification management. After a week with the feature, though, I’m of two minds. Google is definitely doing this the “right” way, but does that mean I’m likely to leave this tool enabled for weeks to come? Unfortunately, not quite.

On the backs of the Pixel 10 Pro XL and latest iPhones, Qi2 25W has been heralded as the “next big thing” in wireless charging. Yet, it really doesn’t feel worth the effort of seeking it out for two key reasons.

If you’re anything like me, you probably have a pile of aging external batteries. Up through this year, I’ve had countless 10,000mAh bricks — the classic “big battery” size through most of the 2010s — along with a handful of smaller cells designed to offer something a little more pocketable and portable. If you haven’t upgraded your battery bank collection in a while, though, it might be time to make a change, especially if you don’t mind dropping some serious cash for a life-changing power solution.

The fight between Disney and YouTube TV might seem fairly commonplace on the surface, especially if you’ve followed any carriage disputes in the pre-streaming era. But despite Google’s cable replacement showing no signs of slowing down its growth, the stalemate between it and the House of Mouse has already expanded well beyond its usual scope, without any signs of peace coming any time soon.

For a lineup set to debut in just a few months, the Galaxy S26 series sure seems to be in a constant state of flux. It wasn’t long ago that Samsung appeared set to launch a radically different trio of phones: the usual Galaxy S26 Ultra paired with a Plus-replacing Galaxy S26 Edge and a smaller Galaxy S26 “Pro.” It took less than the entirety of October for that all to fall apart, with the Edge seemingly scrapped and that “Pro” suffix dropped entirely. In other words, its vision for 2026 seemed to collapse overnight.

The last few months of rumors have set Samsung up for a vastly different Galaxy S-series in 2026 than we’ve seen in recent years. In the span of just a couple of days, however, those looking for a more exciting non-foldable Galaxy release have watched their dreams shatter in real-time.

Google keeps experimenting with new Pixel colors, but after seeing the new Nest Cam and its “Berry” color, all I can think about is a red Pixel phone.

Although it’s been nearly two months since its launch event, Google’s still facing some heat in the aftermath of the Pixel 10’s arrival on store shelves. What started out as simple disappointment over the state of Tensor — following two years of what I can only describe as Tensor G5 overhype — ballooned into full-on outrage in the face of a Genshin Impact-inspired controversy that may or may not have been a controversy after all. Simply put, people are mad about what Tensor isn’t, rather than feeling satisfied with what Tensor actually is.

Alongside Google’s Gemini for Home push this week, the company also unveiled its Google Home Speaker, but it’s not coming until next year. That “delay” has drawn some criticism, but it’s actually a good thing.

Earlier this week, Amazon held its annual fall hardware event, unveiling its next-gen lineup of smart speakers, smart displays, and streaming devices. Alongside the launch of a new $40 Fire TV Stick Select, the company took this opportunity to finally unveil Vega OS, a long-in-the-works move away from its Android-based Fire OS platform. If you’ve been wondering how Amazon managed to score deals with every major platform publisher for streaming apps, however, the company’s solution might make you raise an eyebrow.

It’s been about 2 months since the Galaxy Watch 8 and Watch 8 Classic were made available, and having used the Classic edition nonstop for that amount of time, I can tell you: it’s rare for me to like a smartwatch this much. When the Pixel Watch 4 comes out, it will need to make some serious noise to top it.

It’s iPhone 17 review week, and word on the street is the base model is the one to buy this year. Pitting platforms against each other, Apple has a pretty distinct advantage over the Pixel 10 from the jump, with the iPhone 17 arriving with 256GB in its base $800 configuration, while Google delivers just 128GB for the same price. It’s easy enough to see this as a miscalculation on Google’s part — one it can rectify with next year’s Pixel 11 — but the Pixel 10’s status as a device “designed for AI” really feels at odds with this single decision.