The smart home is going through a sort of reinvention with the arrival of Matter, and that’s given the market a chance to improve on old ideas and try out new ones too. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been able to use one of those new ideas in Samsung’s SmartThings Station, a Matter hub that can wirelessly charge your phone and control smart home devices with the push of a button.

Beta 1 of Android 14 is available today as most people’s introduction to Google’s next major OS version.

Wireless Android Auto is easier to get than ever before with handy little wireless adapters. Now, prices on those adapters are starting to drop, with a few options around $50. But do you lose anything by buying a cheap wireless Android Auto adapter for half the price? That’s what we’ve put to the test.

One of the tools that I’ve always been a little envious of from Apple’s ecosystem has been AirDrop. While it’s not something I want to use constantly, being able to throw a file from my phone to my computer or vice versa is compelling. Now, that’s finally possible on Android and Windows, as Google has released Nearby Share for the Microsoft-owned platform, and it’s wonderful.

E Ink has been around for years, but has mostly been delegated to cheap and simple devices used for reading and nothing more, most famously Amazon’s Kindle devices. As time has gone on, though, the technology has advanced tremendously, and now there are full Android tablets with E Ink displays, and there might be no more impressive option than the Boox Tab Ultra.

Welcome to the redesigned 9to5Google! Since we’re in the habit of breaking news rather than making it, let’s jump straight to the changelog:

Never settle. It’s the tagline that OnePlus has used since its inception, and also the line that has become a bit of a mockery as the brand has changed over the years. But compromises are a part of any good phone, and with its latest OnePlus 11, I’ve got to admit, I’m actually a lot happier with the balance OnePlus has struck than I thought I would have been.

It’s hard to find a bad smartphone camera in the year 2023, but with expectations so high, picking what the better camera is really comes down to personal preference and splitting hairs about where one camera does better than the other. As it stands today, the Galaxy S23 Ultra and Google Pixel 7 Pro are widely regarded to have the best cameras in Android phones but with wildly different approaches to the same end goal. Which is better? Today, we want you to decide.

Foldable smartphones open up a world of new possibilities but also one of new limitations. Where Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 4 asks you to weigh out your priorities, the Oppo Find N2 Flip pushes the boundaries of what’s possible in this form factor.

Foldable smartphones have been on the market for the better part of five years now, but they’ve been dominated by just one brand – Samsung. But, finally, competition is coming, and the Oppo Find N2 Flip is just the start of a brighter future for foldables.

In a way, smartphones continue to stagnate year after year as changes become more and more minimal with each new generation. But with its new Galaxy S23 Ultra, Samsung shows that, to some extent, there’s still reason to get excited about minor changes. This is easily the best Samsung smartphone yet not because it introduces new features, but because it takes some of the core fundamentals and just about perfects them. Others… not so much.

Since the debut of the Pixel Watch, band selection has been somewhat of a sore point. Though google offers a selection, they’re nowhere near cheap. Ringke offers a cheaper solution that is up to par with the Pixel Watch’s quality.

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” That sentiment, along with derivatives like “people don’t know what they want until you show it to them,” makes predicting the future of technology difficult as it takes one innovation to completely shift the paradigm. It’s especially the case for the coming wave of AI features for new and existing Google apps.

While we’re still sad to see Google Stadia shutting down this week, Google did the right thing in refunding customers and, on top of that, unlocking Bluetooth support on the Stadia Controller. But how does that controller actually hold up on PC games? Let’s take a look.

It’s been almost a decade since Google first launched Android Auto, a way of maintaining control over music, maps, and messages while behind the wheel. Over that time, Android Auto has undergone three major versions with the latest, “Coolwalk,” bringing a dashboard that delivers on some welcome upgrades.

With the Pixelbook Go seemingly on the cusp of being discontinued, let’s take a look at each ChromeOS laptop/tablet successor that the Made by Google team appears to have canceled in the last four years.

The month of December has gone by super quickly, and as the holidays approach, you might be running out of time to get gifts. If you still need a gift for someone in your life with an Android phone or who might be an Android enthusiast, here are our top picks that you can either buy locally, or get shipped quickly.

Google Stadia may not have been the most popular way to play games in the past few years, but for those it did service, it reignited a flame for gaming because it did so in a way that nothing else really could. After three years of making Stadia a core part of how I play games, its shutdown leaves a void, but one that the Steam Deck has been helping me to fill.

The height of — what I deemed — an Assistant takeover was when “Google Assistant” got listed after Android in the “Operating System” section of the Pixel 3’s tech specs. A few years later, things have changed and the clear trend for Google Assistant in 2022 is one of retreat. 

It’s no secret at this point that there’s a Google Pixel Fold in the pipeline, and all signs point to the hardware being quite similar to the Oppo Find N2. Is that the right choice? Personally, I have mixed feelings.

Foldable smartphones aren’t exactly “new” anymore, but there are still only a few options and a lot of room for improvement. Today Oppo announced the Find N2 series, which builds on the company’s first foldable and is perhaps one of the most polished foldable smartphones released to date.

Chromebooks have certainly made their mark for those who need productivity on the go without all the prowess of an energy-sucking laptop. It seems though, that the tables have turned, and the era of gaming Chromebooks is here, starting with the impressive Lenovo i5 Gaming Chromebook.

Whether it’s intentional or not, over the past few years Google has been following a tried and true path first taken by Apple when it comes to its smartphone endeavours. The Pixel 7 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are similar devices but how do they stack up? Here’s everything you need to know.

There is more to your home than meets the eye. Some of your regular old appliances and non-smart technology can tap into the power of the Google Assistant, and we have the perfect gifts to turn friends, relatives, or your own home into a certified Google smart home.