Latest from Android Central

You can upgrade your TV's sound quality with the new Google Home Speaker surround sound option. Here's how

Nicholas Sutrich — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 07:53:00 +0000

Many cinephiles have amazing home theater setups with projectors, reclining and rumbling seats, multi-channel surround sound systems, and probably even a built-in popcorn maker in their theater room. While that's great for people who want to spend a lot of time setting up all the pieces to the home theater puzzle, plenty of people don't have the technical know-how, time, or money for such an endeavor.

Thankfully, Google is making a simple home theater setup with its new Google Home Speaker, which lets you quickly pair your speakers with your Google TV Streamer for a quick surround sound system without all the wires or wall anchors. This is a great option for anyone with less space to work with, or even just as a temporary solution for any reason.

The best smart speakers from Sonos and Amazon have had this capability for quite a while, but Google is finally joining the crowd with its latest speaker, the 2026 Google Home Speaker.

What's it like using a Google Home Speaker with a TV?

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

The 2026 Google Home Speaker upgrades the Nest Mini and Google Home Mini audio experience with a taller design and larger audio components, delivering significantly better bass and sound quality. It also uses 360-degree drivers, which can help create a virtual surround sound system with two speakers.

Traditional surround sound systems typically require you to hook up an amplifier and run wires for speakers that you'd normally mount on a wall or ceiling. Lots of people (including me) opt for soundbars for this reason: they usually connect to your TV, include a subwoofer, and sometimes add a second set of speakers for the rear channels.

All of these solutions generally require running audio wires, whereas a Google Home Speaker only requires a power cable. While the Google Home Speaker is the easiest solution in this set of options, it also comes with some caveats.

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

Compared to a traditional surround sound system or a soundbar, the Google Home Speaker won't have the booming bass of home theater systems, since it doesn't include a dedicated subwoofer. That might be better in a community housing situation (like an apartment), or in smaller living spaces.

While you can pair two Google Home Speakers with a Google TV Streamer, this only provides stereo sound with virtual surround options. It's not a true surround sound system since it doesn't have three or more speakers, so the overall quality and immersiveness of a traditional surround sound system will be missing.

That being said, this is a great option for simplicity's sake, to save space, and to reduce setup time, especially if you're not a person who enjoys running cables. If you pair only one Google Home Speaker with your TV, I recommend placing it under the TV or on a shelf at the front of your room. With two speakers, you have a bit more freedom to place them around the room.

Pairing a Google Home Speaker with your TV

(Image credit: Android Central)

To get started, you'll need at least one Google Home Speaker (two is best), plus a Google TV Streamer. I'll assume for this guide that you've already plugged in and set up your Google Home Speaker for regular use. If you haven't, go ahead and do that, then follow along with the guide:

1. On your Google TV Streamer, press the Home button, then select the Quick Settings option at the top of the screen.

2. On the pop-up window, select Audio output from the list of tiles.

3. In the audio output window, select Connect another device.

4. In the Remotes & Accessories section, select Google speakers from the list, then select Getting started.

(Image credit: Android Central)

5. A list of Google Home Speakers on your account will appear in the next window. Select all the speakers you want to use for TV audio output, then click Next.

6. Once setup is complete, all connected Google Home Speakers should appear in the Google speakers section of the Remotes & Accessories menu.

(Image credit: Android Central)

Now that youre Google Home Speakers and Google TV Streamer are connected, they will automatically connect and be used any time your Google TV Streamer is powered on.

Fixing audio latency issues with a Google Home Speaker and Google TV Streamer

Sometimes, when using wireless audio, you'll find that the image on the TV doesn't match the audio coming from your speakers. This is more than just annoying, as it makes it difficult to watch anything. Thankfully, Google has a simple built-in tool to fix this problem:

1. On your Google TV Streamer, press the Home button, then select the Quick Settings option at the top of the screen.

2. On the pop-up window, select All settings at the top.

3. Select the Remotes & Accessories section.

4. Select the Google speakers option.

(Image credit: Android Central)

5. Select the offending speaker from the list, then select Audio video sync.

6. Follow the on-screen instructions to adjust the audio latency to match the audio with the bouncing ball.

(Image credit: Android Central)

Using an older Google Home or Nest speaker as a surround sound system

If you're not willing to shell out $200 for a pair of new Google Home Speakers (and I can't blame you for that), your existing Nest or Google Home speakers can serve a similar function, but it'll likely require a bit more tweaking.

All Google Home and Nest speakers support Bluetooth, so you can pair them with your TV or preferred streaming device to enjoy higher-quality audio than the TV can provide. Bluetooth could have quality, range, and audio latency issues, but let's get things set up first before we assume those things:

1. Open the Google Home app on your phone.

2. Select All devices from the list (it's the 4-square grid icon).

3. Find your speaker in the list and tap it.

4. Tap the settings cog at the top of the screen.

5. Select Audio from the list.

(Image credit: Android Central)

6. Select Paired Bluetooth devices.

7. Tap Enable pairing mode at the bottom, then select the speaker from the audio section of your TV or streaming device.

(Image credit: Android Central)

Since every TV or streaming device is different, I can't walk you through how to find the audio section on those, but it's likely under system settings, audio, then Bluetooth or wireless audio. If you need to adjust audio latency, your TV or streaming device should have options for it in the same section.

Whichever method you use, Google Home and Nest speakers are a great way to add higher-fidelity audio to a TV without running wires, which can make a big difference in your TV experience.

Is the Oura membership worth it? 5 reasons why I think it is

derrek.lee@futurenet.com (Derrek Lee) — Sun, 05 Jul 2026 06:11:00 +0000

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

(Image credit: Android Central)

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.

(Image credit: Derrek Lee / Android Central)

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

(Image credit: Derrek Lee / Android Central)

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

(Image credit: Android Central)

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

(Image credit: Android Central)

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

(Image credit: Derrek Lee / Android Central)

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.

Google Home Speaker (2026) vs. Nest Mini: Taller or smaller?

Nicholas Sutrich — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 19:19:48 +0000

Google

Home Speaker

The best for audio quality

Google is taking a two-pronged approach for its latest smart speaker. It's both a "speaker first" and simultaneously the first speaker "built for Gemini." With better audio quality and better local AI processing, this is the speaker for the future.

Pros

Lovely design and construction
Speaker quality is downright impressive
Can be used as TV surround sound speakers
Understands complex requests without a problem
Deep integration into Google Home ecosystem
A Thread border router with Matter support

Cons

USB-C cable is hard-wired
Some responses are very slow

Google

Nest Mini

The anywhere speaker

Nest Mini was designed to give you instant access to Google Assistant anywhere in your home, and it doubles as an impressive little speaker that can be easily mounted on any wall. Unfortunately, it's both out of date and no longer for sale, and many Gemini commands can be quite slow.

Pros

Excellent value (if you can still find one)
Built-in mounting hole on the back
Diminutive size

Cons

Slow Assistant/Gemini responses
Sound quality isn't great (especially bass)
Proprietary barrel plug power connector

Google's Nest Mini speaker was announced alongside the Pixel 4, which should give you a good idea of how old the speaker is at this point. While smart home speakers were never designed to be updated annually the way phones are, the Nest Mini's hardware is showing its age in the Gemini era. Most commands take a notable amount of time to process, and since the audio quality was never top-tier to begin with, it's likely you're considering an upgrade by this point, anyway.

That's where the Google Home Speaker comes in. Google has dropped the Nest name for its latest speaker, going all-in on Gemini integration and a powerful new speaker system. At $99, it's twice the price of the Nest Mini when it launched, and while it's certainly an excellent upgrade for every Nest Mini owner, there might still be a few reasons to keep that Nest Mini in the right room.

Google Home Speaker (2026) vs. Nest Mini: Design

(Image credit: Android Central)

My favorite Nest Mini feature was, undoubtedly, the mounting hole on the back. This ingenious little dimple lets it be hung on any wall, discreetly adding a speaker to any room you want. Whether you had the cord hanging freely (as in the picture above) or you got more professional with it and hid it, the Nest Mini was a great addition to any room.

The Google Home Speaker doesn't have this mounting hole, so it's not easy to hang on a wall, but it's a great addition to any shelf or nightstand thanks to its homey texture and colors. It uses a similar textile look to the Nest Mini, plus the same LED volume adjustment buttons on top and a thick rubber nonstick pad on the bottom to keep it from sliding or being bumped around.

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

You'll also find a hardware mute switch on the bottom of both speakers, so you can feel confident in your privacy if you just want these to act as speakers (and not a Gemini-powered assistant).

While talking to the Nest Mini, an array of LEDs lights up on top to let you know it's listening or processing a command. The Google Home Speaker spruces this up a bit with an LED ring on the bottom, which features a unique glow that's more obvious than the Nest Mini, which is particularly important since it tends to blend in well with decor on shelves.

(Image credit: Android Central)

Both speakers feature poor choices for power cabling, which is more than just annoying. The Nest Mini featured a proprietary barrel plug, which meant you needed to buy a new charger if something happened to it. The Google Home Speaker uses a USB-C charging brick, but the cable is hardwired into the speaker, so you'll likely have to buy a whole new one if something happens to this one.

Both wires are about the same length (~6.5 ft), and since they're either proprietary or non-replaceable, you'll have to choose a location close to an outlet or extension cord.

Google Home Speaker (2026) vs. Nest Mini: Sound quality and connectivity

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

Although Nest Mini's sound quality was an improvement over the original Google Home Mini speaker, neither model offered stellar sound. They were simply too small for that. The Google Home Speaker substantially upgrades the audio quality this time around, and it does so without drastically altering the speaker's footprint.

That's because, while the Google Home Speaker is about twice as high as the Nest Mini speaker (42mm vs 86mm), it's also about the same diameter (96mm vs 106mm). That's a very easy size to stuff into a bookshelf or a similarly small space (as evidenced in the photo above).

The Google Home Speaker also features an omnidirectional 58mm full-range audio driver, delivering 360-degree audio that sounds great no matter where the "front" of the speaker is. Nest Mini features a similar 360-degree design, but the 40mm driver and substantially lighter weight (181g vs 408g) mean the Google Home Speaker's bass quality simply sounds better.

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

Both speakers support the Google Cast protocol and multi-room speaker capability, so you can cast nearly any audio source to them, but the Google Home Speaker supports Google's new surround sound mode. That lets you connect multiple Google Home speakers to your Google TV streamer for surround sound while watching TV, giving you a great way to ditch the soundbar (or an older wired audio system) for something chicer.

The Google Home Speaker also supports faster wireless connectivity via Wi-Fi 6 (Nest Mini is Wi-Fi 5), better Bluetooth quality via Bluetooth 5.4 (vs Bluetooth 5.0 on Nest Mini), and full support as a Thread hub for Matter connectivity.

That last part ensures that the Google Home Speaker is a better choice for smart home connectivity, as it allows newer smart home devices to connect through a local Thread network for faster local commands.

Google Home Speaker (2026) vs. Nest Mini: AI capabilties and specs

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

Nest Mini was launched as a mostly cloud-centric computing device, often offloading even the most basic commands to Google Assistant in the cloud. Over time, as Google has migrated many commands to Gemini, Nest Mini has started to feel slower and slower.

The Google Home Speaker was built to help fix this problem, but it doesn't do it quite as well as I had hoped. The newer 2.0GHz CPU with a built-in NPU is designed to process more tasks and commands locally, but my experience with the speaker has shown that Google still offloads many commands to the cloud.

Google Home Speaker (2026) vs Nest Mini specs
Category	Google Home Speaker	Nest Mini
Speaker	Omni-directional 58mm full-range driver	360-degree sound with 40mm driver
Microphone	3 far-field mics, hardware mute switch	3 far-field mics, hardware mute switch
Dimensions	86.6mm/3.4in high x 107mm/4.2in diameter	42mm/1.65in high x 98mm/3.85mm diameter
Weight	396g	181g
Power adapter	30W USB-C PC/PPS charger	15W barrel plug adapter
RAM	1GB LPDDR4	1GB RAM
Storage	4GB EMMC	4GB EMMC
Processor	Quad-core A55 2.0 GHz with NPU	Quad-core A53 1.4Ghz with ML hardware engine
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, Thread 1.3 border router (2.4GHz), Matter, Google Cast	Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0, Google Cast
Colors	Globally: Hazel, Porcelain U.S. exclusive: Jade, Berry	Chalk, Charcoal, Coral, Sky

This results in a speaker that executes many commands fast (and some near instantly), but some commands are still absurdly slow. Even simple commands, like setting a timer, might take 20 seconds or more to execute if something goes awry. While this is likely just a bug happening with the Google Home Speaker at launch, it still shows that Google isn't keeping as many commands local as I'd like.

Since both devices support Gemini, there's no functional difference in these speakers' ability to use Google's AI-powered assistant. The difference is mainly down to speed, something I hope Google will continue to improve and tweak in the new speaker with future software updates.

Google Home Speaker (2026) vs. Nest Mini: Which should you buy?

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

While newer isn't always better (especially when it's double the price), Google no longer sells the Nest Mini. You could always pick up a second-hand unit on eBay and try your luck, especially if you just want a little speaker to hang on a wall.

Otherwise, the Google Home Speaker is an easy choice. It's got substantially better audio quality, support for Matter and Thread, Wi-Fi 6, newer Bluetooth for better audio quality, surround sound support with Google TV Streamers, and a better processor for faster smart home and Gemini queries.

I tested the Oura Ring 5 for a month, and it's exactly what other smart rings should aspire to be

derrek.lee@futurenet.com (Derrek Lee) — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 14:52:00 +0000

It's been less than two years since I reviewed the Oura Ring 4, so I was surprised to learn that the Oura Ring 5 was coming so soon. After all, we went roughly three years between the launch of the Oura Ring Gen 3 and the Oura Ring 4.

But while I expected the Oura Ring 5 to simply be a refresh, the updated design really proves it's something of a generational leap over the Oura Ring 4. In fact, with the smaller profile, long battery life, and other notable upgrades, the Oura Ring 5 feels like the smart ring that all other rings should strive to be.

Category	Oura Ring 5
Materials	High-performance titanium exterior, titanium interior
Protection	IP68 Water resistant at a depth of 100m/328ft
Sensors	Red, green, and infrared LEDs (heart rate, blood oxygen) Digital temperature sensor Accelerometer
Battery	6-9 days, up to 80-minute charge time
Connectivity	Bluetooth 5.0 LE
Platform support	iOS (Apple Health), Android (Health Connect)
Dimensions	Width: 6.09mm Thickness: 2.28mm
Weight	2g+ (depending on size)
Sizes	6-13
Colors	Silver, Black, Stealth, Brushed Silver, Gold, Deep Rose

(Image credit: Derrek Lee / Android Central)

At first glance, the Oura Ring 5 looks a bit smaller than the Oura Ring 4, but you don't really get the full effect until you hold it in your hand. At just over 2 grams for my size 11, the Oura Ring 5 is surprisingly light. It honestly feels like a regular ring in the hand, unlike previous generations, which had a little heft.

Not only that, but the ring is surprisingly small, and if you're coming from the Oura Ring 4 (and especially the Oura Ring 4 Ceramic), then you'll definitely notice the difference. The narrower width helps the Oura Ring 5 blend in with the rest of your jewelry, making it look like a regular ring rather than a smart tracker.

I can see this going a long way towards popularizing wearable tech, as a major problem users had with previous Oura smart rings was their size. I didn't mind the size of the previous models, but now that I've used the Oura Ring 5, I can't imagine going back to anything bigger.

Oura Ring 5 (right) on top of the Oura Ring 4 (left). (Image credit: Derrek Lee / Android Central)

The ring is also thinner than previous models, and that's great for multiple reasons. Firstly, it makes it less noticeable in general, especially when carrying things or lifting weights. That last part is especially important because the ring doesn't protrude as much, so there's less concern about scuffing it against items like dumbbells in your hands.

Secondly, the thinner profile makes it even better to throw on a cover without worrying about adding too much thickness. Oura still doesn't make first-party cases, so I continue to use third-party covers I find on Amazon when I work out. I notice that the ring doesn't appear to scuff and scratch as easily as previous models, but it's not immune, so a cover helps keep it as pristine as possible.

(Image credit: Derrek Lee / Android Central)

One thing that surprises me about the Oura Ring 5 is the battery life. Despite being 40% smaller than the Oura Ring 4, the latest model offers better battery life. Oura says it should last from six to nine days per charge, which is in line with my use.

When I began tracking the battery life, the Oura Ring 5 was at full charge on Monday morning, and I didn't need to charge it until the following Wednesday. This included several days of manual and automatic workout tracking, as well as daily sleep tracking, with 8% battery life left to spare.

Oura Ring 5 (right) next to the Oura Ring 4 (left) and Oura Ring 4 Ceramic (top). (Image credit: Derrek Lee / Android Central)

Speaking of tracking, the Oura Ring 5 still provides detailed health monitoring, especially for sleep. I've noticed that the heart rate data is much more consistent when tracking things like sleep or activities, whereas previous models would often have many gaps or fail to gather heart rate data altogether, particularly during workouts.

That said, workouts are the only area where the Oura Ring 5 falls a bit short. When tracking high-intensity exercise, I notice that the Oura Ring 5's heart rate data is often much lower than that of other wearables I've used, such as the Garmin Venu 4 and Fitbit Air. I don't notice this same deviation when at rest, as the live heart rate data lines up with the Garmin Venu 4 and Fitbit Air, but the Oura Ring 5, like its predecessors, shouldn't be relied on as a workout device.

(Image credit: Android Central)

That's actually not too surprising to me; the Oura Ring is more of a passive health tracker than an active fitness monitor. Fortunately, Oura has added the ability to connect another device to the app as a live heart rate source. You can use a dedicated heart rate monitor or even a smartwatch to see live heart rate data during your exercise, along with distance and pace (via location data from your phone).

Fortunately, the step count seems improved, despite this being an area that smart rings struggle with. I tracked a 5,000-step walk between the Oura Ring 5, Garmin Venu 4, and Fitbit Air, and while the ring had the largest deviation, it was only 15 steps off, which is pretty good.

Device	Step count
Oura Ring 5	4,985
Garmin Venu 4	4,996
Fitbit Air	5,004

One area where the Oura Ring 5 excels is automatic activity tracking. The ring can pretty accurately determine when I'm doing certain activities without me having to manually track them. That includes walks, runs, and even more varied activities, like yard work and dancing. I continue to be impressed every time I check my phone after a night out and see the ring asking me to confirm I was dancing.

(Image credit: Derrek Lee / Android Central)

As for the app experience itself, it's very visual, with a customizable set of focus metrics at the top. These shortcuts make it easy to dig into your sleep, activities, stress, and more. You can even track your weight either via manual logging or syncing to third-party apps like Withings, and the app will show your weekly, monthly, and yearly trends.

The Today view dynamically changes, showing the most important metrics at the top, such as your sleep score when you wake up and your steps toward the end of the day. You can also view a timeline of your activities toward the bottom, which also shows tracked activities or synced workouts from other apps.

The Vitals tab shows daily measurements, while the Health tab gives you a more long-term look at your health trends. From the + button, you can access quick actions, where you can start an activity, begin an unguided meditation session, or even log meals. The meal-logging tool is actually pretty neat, as Oura can fairly accurately analyze what you're eating from a photo and provide nutritional and meal-timing insights to help with things like regulating hunger and cutting down on snacking.

(Image credit: Derrek Lee / Android Central)

Throughout the app, Oura Members also have access to the Oura Advisor, an AI chatbot that focuses on health and wellness. You can trigger it using the + button for general questions, or within each major metric, like sleep and activity, for more specific conversations about recent changes and updates.

Unlike Google's new AI-focused Google Health app, which often feels like an overload of information, Oura's insights are light throughout the app, allowing users to tap Advisor to learn more. When chatting with the Advisor, you can ask it about your metrics or general health questions, and it will tap into its health-focused large language model (LLM), which "draws from a broad foundation of established medical standards, research, and knowledge sources," to provide relevant and contextual responses.

One of my favorite aspects of the Advisor is how it checks in with me every so often, based on recent activities and more. You can even change the tone of the Advisor's responses and how often it checks in, which adds a nice bit of customization.

(Image credit: Derrek Lee / Android Central)

One new feature for Android phones is Locate, which I've been asking for for years. With it, Oura Ring 5 owners can know where their ring was when it last connected to their phone, which can provide a good starting place for where to search. If you're within range, the app will let you know when you're getting close to the ring.

Since the ring doesn't have built-in GPS, ultra-wideband (UWB), or Bluetooth 6, the app won't give you precise tracking, so you'll have to rely on the app's proximity clues and do a bit of the work yourself. Still, it's a lot better than nothing, and will hopefully keep me from losing a third Oura Ring model.

(Image credit: Derrek Lee / Android Central)

Of course, nearly all of these features are available only via the Oura Membership, a monthly (or yearly, if you prefer) subscription that provides access to the ring's most useful features and insights. Many people are still unhappy to learn that the Oura app basically requires a subscription to be truly useful, but I do think it's well worth the cost, especially given how Oura has continuously improved its products over the years and consistently produces the best smart ring on the market.

And that's exactly what the Oura Ring 5 is. The Oura Ring 5 is what other smart rings should strive to be: slim, light, and practically invisible while keeping your health and wellness in check. Starting at $399, it's not cheap, and the membership is still a point of contention for some, but Oura proves that smart wearable tech can truly blend in.

Oura

Ring 5

Put a ring on it

The Oura Ring 5 is the latest smart ring from Oura, featuring a much smaller and lighter design but with longer battery life and better sensing.

I upgraded to the new Google Home Speaker for the AI, but I'm keeping it for the sound

Nicholas Sutrich — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 12:05:00 +0000

Google is relaunching its smart speaker ecosystem for the "Gemini era," as it has stated so many times with recent products. While I'm not fully convinced this new speaker is a truly revolutionary Gemini-powered speaker when compared to existing Google and Nest speakers, the overall quality of the Google Home Speaker is a great value for $99.

Whether you're looking for a new music-playing speaker that understands basic commands or want an extra speaker to enhance your smart home, this is a solid choice with some annoying software issues that will hopefully be cleared up in the near future.

Google Home Speaker price, availability, and specs

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

The 2026 Google Home Speaker is the first smart speaker from Google that's designed "from the ground up for Gemini." It's the first Google speaker to include a proper NPU for AI processing, an upgrade over ML processors in the past few Nest releases. It retails for $99 and comes in two colors globally — Hazel and Porcelain — while U.S. customers can also choose from Berry or Jade varieties. My review unit is Jade.

Google includes 6 months of Google Home Premium for free (a $60 value) when you purchase a Google Home Speaker before September 30, 2026.

Google Home Speaker (2026) specs
Catrgory	Google Home Speaker
Speaker	Omni-directional 58mm full-range driver
Microphone	3 far-field mics, hardware mute switch
Dimensions	86.6mm/3.4in high x 107mm/4.2in diameter
Weight	396g
Power adapter	30W USB-C PC/PPS charger
RAM	1GB LPDDR4
Storage	4GB EMMC
Processor	Quad-core A55 2.0 GHz with NPU
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, Thread 1.3 border router (2.4GHz), Matter
Colors	Globally: Hazel, Porcelain U.S. exclusive: Jade, Berry

Mostly the right priorities

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

For the past few years, Google has used the Nest brand name for its smart speakers, but I've rarely called them that. Whether it's the Nest Mini or one of the Nest Hub smart displays, my household always refers to them audibly as the Google speaker or the Google display.

Because of that, I think it makes a lot more sense to keep using the Google name as the proper brand, and I know I'm not the only person who calls their smart speaker "Google" something or other. Thankfully, Google rectified the name without ruining the excellent design and the sort of feng shui character of the Nest line of smart speakers.

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

The 2026 speaker is still clad in homey fabric that looks graceful and unobtrusive on a shelf. It's the ideal size between the tiny Nest Mini and the gargantuan Google Home Max speaker, with appropriately sized audio components. It's even got a cute little glowing light underneath that makes it feel more like you're talking to a smart little robot than mumbling into a speaker.

But I don't understand why Google speakers seem to almost always have some weird issue with the power cables. Earlier models used barrel plugs and proprietary chargers, creating unnecessary e-waste. This model uses a standard 30W Google USB-C charger, but the cable is hardwired into the speaker, meaning you'll either have to splice it when it eventually breaks or toss the speaker and buy a new one. Dumb.

Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central

Since it's slightly smaller than the Nest Audio speaker (yes, there have been a lot of options over the years), the audio quality won't be quite as good, but the Google Home Speaker's advantage is that its speaker is omnidirectional. Depending on how you want to mount it, this could make a big difference.

You can also use the Google Home Speaker in conjunction with a Google TV Streamer to create a surround sound setup, which is a great feature I'm glad Google finally adopted from Amazon Echo and Fire TV devices.

I'm not exactly an audiophile and don't care much about top-notch sound, so I found these speakers ideal, as they're a notable upgrade over the Nest Minis I have around the house. Nest Audio fans should stick with those unless they have issues with using Gemini.

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

And while "built for Gemini" should be the actual upgrade for the Google Home Speaker over any other Nest or Google speaker, my experience with it has been extremely inconsistent. If I ask it to turn the lights on or off, check my cameras, or even what the weather will be like next week, responses generally take about 1 second to process. This is much faster than the other Google speakers in my house, for the most part.

But some commands are bizarrely slow. Setting a timer, for example, often takes 20-25 seconds of processing time before I receive an "OK, setting a timer" response. Asking it to add bananas to my grocery list also takes 5-10 seconds. This bizarre behavior persists through reboots, so I don't know what to make of it. Clearly, the speaker isn't doing as much local processing for simple commands like this as I had hoped. Google is aware of the issues (as I'm not the only one experiencing them), and I will update this review if they are resolved.

This is particularly annoying because all of the other features I've used over the past week have been great. Gemini allows you to chain multiple commands together or even express complex commands, while Assistant can only do one at a time. For example, you can ask it to "turn off all lights except for the bedroom light," a command I issue nightly as I tuck in for reading time.

Android Central

This isn't particularly unique to this new speaker since Gemini has been rolled out to even the oldest 2016 Google Home speaker (which is still in operation in my house), but this speaker is certainly going to be supported for years to come, while those older speakers will eventually receive an end-of-life update.

At some point, Google had locked down several features behind the annoying Voice Match feature. I don't want to use Voice Match, but I (and others in my house) do want to check my calendar, and Google finally allows users to do that on its smart speakers.

This speaker also seems to actually understand commands, including simple ones like "stop" when a timer is going off, while I swear half my other speakers ignore my commands half the time. Maybe time will also turn this one into a pretty paperweight, but it's pretty great for the time being.

Should you buy it?

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

The 2026 Google Home Speaker is a generally good little product that delivers great audio quality in a compelling design, with a virtual assistant that seems to actually understand you. Processing time is strangely lengthy for some simple commands (like setting a timer), but this is almost certainly a bug rather than a product defect.

If Google can reduce processing time for some commands, this will be my go-to speaker recommendation for the future. Gemini has been excellent for smart home commands in my experience, and far more understanding of every other type of command than Assistant has been for the past half-decade, and that's really all I want out of a smart speaker, anyway.

Prime Day is done, but this best-selling 4K projector is still at its lowest price

harish.jonnalagadda@futurenet.com (Harish Jonnalagadda) — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 07:38:14 +0000

I tested all the projectors XGIMI released in the last five years, and there's no doubt in my mind that the Horizon 20 Max is the best of the lot. I want to highlight three areas where the projector has a clear advantage: lens shift with optical zoom, bright projection, and a built-in gimbal.

Lens shift in particular is a game-changer, as it basically allows me to position the Horizon 20 Max anywhere, and adjust the projection as needed. I used the projector with a 100-inch ALR panel, and setting it up with the screen was so easy that it just took a matter of minutes. I previously used the XGIMI Aura UST projector mostly because it was just easier to set up — I didn't want to bother mounting a long-throw projector — but with the Horizon 20 Max, I just put it on a nightstand, and the projector automatically adjusted the image scaling.

(Image credit: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)

Optical zoom also plays a big part in this, and the Horizon 20 Max has an adjustable throw range of 1.2–1.5:1, giving you much better flexibility on where to position the projector. Honestly, with these two features, you don't have to deal with any of the usual hassles involved in setting up a long-throw projector. The best part? The Horizon 20 Max is once again down to $2,199, its lowest price. The projector usually goes for around $2,699, but with the Fourth of July celebration, you can buy it for much less.

The Horizon 20 Max projects a bright image, is effortless to set up in a medium or large room, and has the best image quality in its class. If you're interested in a home theater and want a long-throw projector you can use throughout the day, this is now my go-to recommendation. View Deal

The design of the Horizon 20 Max is similar to its predecessor, the Horizon S Max. There are a few changes to the color scheme, and the 20 Max doesn't quite attract as much attention, which is a good thing. What I like the most is that XGIMI retained the gimbal system, and that makes it easy to orient the projector to your preferences. This is a key advantage over the Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2, and it is so convenient that I don't want to use a projector that isn't mounted on a swiveling base.

You get the usual connectivity; there are dual HDMI ports (with one eARC), optical and 3.5mm out, and USB-A ports if you want to attach an external drive. The projector uses Wi-Fi 6, and I didn't see any issues with connectivity in the six months I used it. Coming to the internals, it's powered by the reliable MediaTek MT9679 platform, and has 4GB of RAM alongside 128GB of built-in storage. The 4GB of RAM is absolutely needed to ensure the Google TV interface is lag-free, and thankfully, there are no problems in that area.

Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central

The projector gets two 12W audio drivers, and there's Dolby Digital Plus, DTS-Virtual: X, and DTS-HD. I'd recommend using a dedicated soundbar to make the most of the projector, but if that isn't doable, the built-in sound is decent enough.

Where the Horizon 20 Max truly shines is the projection; it delivers up to 5,700 lumens, and in real-world use, you can easily get over 3,500 lumens, making it one of the brightest projectors in this category. It's noticeably brighter than the Horizon S Max, Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2, and even the VisionMaster Max. Why is this relevant? If you don't have a dark room, you can still use the 20 Max during the day and not get washed-out colors, which is a problem with projectors that don't get as bright.

Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central

Colors are vibrant, and there's a noticeable difference between the 20 Max and the Horizon S Max in this area, particularly when it comes to HDR content. I also like that there's a dedicated game mode that works really well with the PS5. The 20 Max gets Dolby Vision and IMAX Enhanced, and while you miss out on the unique Dynamic Black Level feature — which boosts black levels — when using Dolby Vision, it isn't a huge omission.

The 20 Max uses pixel shifting to deliver a 4K resolution, and it goes up to 300 inches. Valerion's VisionMaster Max is the closest rival, and the 20 Max does a better job with auto keystone correction, overall brightness levels, screen alignment, and the ability to adjust color balance based on the wall color — this makes a huge difference if you're not using a dedicated screen. You get the standard Google TV interface, and while I'm not a fan of the UI, I didn't have any problems with lag.

On the whole, the Horizon 20 Max is the best 4K long-throw projector I used. While it had its share of bugs at launch, XGIMI did a good job addressing most of these with software updates over the last six months, and after extensive testing, I'm confident in my recommendation of this projector. If you need a bright 4K long-throw projector with standout colors and easy configurability, the 20 Max is the one to get, and coming in at $2,199, it is an unmissable deal in this category.

T-Mobile is finally letting go of 2G in August, so anyone with it will need to transition

nickodiaz@sbcglobal.net (Nickolas Diaz) — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 18:25:00 +0000

What you need to know

T-Mobile states it's retiring its 2G network on August 3, and anyone with devices that use this network will need to transition to newer phones.
An interview with T-Mobile's chief network officer, Ankur Kapoor, revealed that T-Mobile has held onto 2G for so long to not leave customers who rely on it in the rearview.
Recently, T-Mobile unveiled a limited edition $60 jersey with Umbro for its Member Month perks, ready to drop on July 7.

T-Mobile is making a change to its network. It's dropping some old network technology, and it's probably for the best.

The company announced in its Network Evolution log that it is preparing to retire its 2G GSM network. T-Mobile says its old 2G network will be shut down on August 3, 2026. With 2G preparing to go, T-Mobile reminds customers that anyone still using that old tech will lose "call forwarding, call waiting, caller ID, or fixed dialing numbers via device settings" on Android and iOS.

For Android specifically, you'd have trouble "sending large multimedia messages, such as photos or videos."

While it might seem odd that T-Mobile was still holding onto its 2G network, considering its Evolution log says it dropped 3G (CDMA) in July 2022, an interview with Fierce Network shed some light on that. T-Mobile's chief network officer, Ankur Kapoor, told the publication that it didn't want to "leave a bunch of customers in the lurch." What's more, Kapoor tells Fierce Network that it observed many people entering the United States with devices that didn't have VoLTE enabled.

However, now T-Mobile has gotten to a point where customers won't lose anything by shutting down 2G. Kapoor says customers have been notified, and anyone still using an older device with 2G has "ample time" to migrate to newer phones with 5G.

The network evolves

(Image credit: Future)

Android Central's Take

I'm sure there is still someone using 2G, right? It's a big blue world we live on, after all. A quick Google search would tell you how much a security risk 2G is compared to the current standard. In a way, T-Mobile's doing us a favor.

As we've mentioned, T-Mobile shut down its 3G (CDMA) network in 2022, but it knocked out Sprint's version first. The notice about it came several months prior in 2021, as T-Mobile gave users four months to grab new devices before the January 1, 2022, deadline. Shortly after, it revealed that it would shut down Sprint's LTE network on June 30, 2022.

Funnily enough, T-Mobile said in 2021 that it would eventually retire its 2G and 3G networks; however, the former is only leaving us now, years later.

Let's also not forget that T-Mobile is capping off its month of freebies with a rather unique $60 jersey for customers. The latest Member Month perk is a limited-edition Umbro soccer jersey that customers can grab through the T-Life app starting July 7.

Galaxy Z Fold 8 looks pricier in these rumors, which isn't shocking in the least

nickodiaz@sbcglobal.net (Nickolas Diaz) — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 17:49:03 +0000

What you need to know

Overseas rumors claim Samsung's upcoming summer lineup, featuring new foldables and watches, is set for price hikes.
Rumors suggest the Fold 7's successor, now rumored to be the "Fold 8 Ultra," could see a ~$114 increase for its base 256GB variant, and a ~$320 increase for its 1TB.
The Flip 8 could jump by ~$100 for its base storage, while the watches could rise by ~$45 to ~$50; however, these USD prices are simply estimations.

Price rumors are talking about Samsung's next wave of products this year, and what they're saying might (not) surprise you.

A post by WinFuture alleges a series of price increases for Samsung's upcoming foldables and watches (via Android Headlines). The publication cites its "reliable sources" in stating the Galaxy Z Fold 8 "Ultra," which was previously rumored to be the Fold 7's successor, could see a €100 (~$114) increase for its 256GB entry option. It claims that consumers looking to max out on storage with its 1TB variant might see a €280 (~$320) price hike.

That would put the 1TB variant at ~€2,799 (~$3,201). The "Wide" Fold 8 we've been hearing about could see a €1,999 (~$2,286) price tag for its 256GB model.

The post states that the starting price of the Galaxy Z Flip 8 could go up by €100. What's more, the starting prices for the 40mm Bluetooth Galaxy Watch 9 and its 44mm size variant could rise by €40 and €30 (~$45, ~$34), respectively. As far as the Watch Ultra 2 is concerned, the report claims that it could jump by €50 (~$57).

Nothing is set in stone, of course. These are rumors. Also, the USD estimations are simply estimations. Samsung usually tweaks these prices a bit to fit the market the device will be sold in. Keep that in mind. We are expecting Samsung to debut its next products in July, but there are other things we should discuss first.

What we might see

(Image credit: Onleaks and Android Headlines)

Earlier this week, alleged specifications for Samsung's wide foldable surfaced for the first time. We've "known" that this phone was going to adopt a wider stance than before; however, tipster Tarun Vats speculates the Galaxy Z Fold 8 (now the wider variant) could grab a 5.5-inch Quad HD Plus screen with a 16:10 aspect ratio. Inside, consumers could find a 7.6-inch Quad HD Plus display and a 4:3 aspect ratio.

The device is expected to use Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and a 4,800mAh battery. The cameras were another talking point back in May. Those reports suggest the wider Fold's cameras won't be as interesting as its shape. Supposedly, the company is dropping a lens. We might only see a 50MP main sensor and a 50MP ultrawide lens. Basically, we could miss out on a telephoto, which makes the standard Fold we're used to look a little more appealing.

Android Central's Take

These rumors can get confusing. We've got name changes galore, and not much that's confirmed. Samsung recently started a marketing campaign after completely wiping its Instagram account. It's trying a different approach to teasing the next foldables. That means we—the users—need to turn into detectives and figure out what's going on. I think I'm more interested in finally seeing what these phones will offer than going over these rumors.

The end for the Phone 1: Nothing's final update hits the phone that started it all

nickodiaz@sbcglobal.net (Nickolas Diaz) — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 16:53:12 +0000

What you need to know

Nothing announced the final software update for the Nothing Phone 1, the original device that debuted in 2022.
It carries bug fixes and the July 2026 security patch, while also celebrating the phone's achievements thus far.
A major highlight for the Phone 1 during its teasers was its Glyph Lighting system, which has seen a few iterations since then.

It's the end of an era. Nothing announces before the U.S. holiday that its original phone has obtained its final update.

In a community post, Nothing officially drew the curtain over its first phone as its final supported software update has been pushed to users. The final patch is pretty light. Nothing states users can expect "general improvements" and bug fixes (pretty standard stuff). It's also rolling out "overall system stability" updates and the July 2026 security patch, wrapping up four years of security fixes.

If you have a Phone 1, you're one of a kind. Nothing walks through the device's achievements, noting that it first debuted with Android 12 and that its final OS update brought it to Android 15. Not only did the Phone 1 begin our journey with Nothing, introducing us to "ideas around a cleaner, more intentional smartphone experience, from the Glyph Interface and dot matrix design language to a more focused take on Android."

Nothing credits its design philosophy to the Phone 1, as the lessons learned from it continue to shape its software and phones. To celebrate, the post adds that its Software Marketing team member, Rohit, is going back to the Phone 1 for a month to share their experience with it in 2026 and see how it holds up.

It all started in 2022

(Image credit: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)

If we're talking about four years of updates, that takes us back to 2022. Teasers said Nothing's first phone was "Coming Soon" in the summer of 2022, and there was some serious hype around it. For the sake of this post, I'm talking about our readers. You could say that ~80% of our readers were either "definitely interested" or curious about the Nothing Phone 1. Around 19% said the device didn't interest them, but not everything is for everyone.

Nothing had truly inserted itself into a market heavily dominated by Apple and Samsung. It wasn't easy, yet here we are. The device's Glyph Lighting system was the star in teasers showing the phone in full shadow. What's more, Nothing's head of design, Tom Howard, said the clear chassis, which let us see its internals, was because they "really wanted to bring the inside out, and that meant working with the engineers to start from first principles."

Bringing things to 2026, we've been seeing people on TikTok drop their iPhones for the Nothing Phone, or at least think about doing it. Perhaps this timing is significant. Nothing's O.G. device is no more (for updates), while it teases a new era: the Nothing Phone 4b.

Android Central's Take

Nothing was interesting four years ago, and it's still interesting now. I'm a gamer, and you could say that whenever a gamer sees glowing lights, you've got their attention. To that, I'd say you're damn right (for me, anyway). My dumb jokes aside, Nothing's phones have always held a different aesthetic compared to the rest of the industry. There are risks. It's what sets them apart. Even its OS is something different that helps its phones stand on their own.

This exclusive T-Mobile deal gets you a powerful Samsung tablet for only $99 — but you're running out of time

patrick.farmer@futurenet.com (Patrick Farmer) — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 14:35:00 +0000

Whether you're on the road or on the couch, tablets have become essential devices in today's world. They can also cost a pretty penny without a good deal attached, which is where companies like T-Mobile come in.

This weekend only, the iconic wireless provider will give you the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE 5G for only $99 when you add a line with an eligible data plan on its website. That's a straight $500.99 discount, no trade-in required.

See my guide to the best T-Mobile deals of the month

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE 5G 128GB: ~~$599.99~~ $99.99 with Tablet Unlimited Plus or higher at T-Mobile

In the market for a new couch companion? The Galaxy Tab S10 FE 5G is an excellent choice, and now T-Mobile will give you the 'Fan Edition' tablet for only $99 when you add a line with the Tablet Unlimited Plus plan (or higher). The exclusive offer expires on July 8th, however, so don't wait too long to make your move. View Deal

The Galaxy Tab S10 FE is designated a "Fan Edition" tablet because it takes the most popular features of more-expensive Samsung tablets and loads them onto a versatile, midrange package that should please just about everyone. Straight out of the box, you get a vibrant 10.9-inch 90Hz display with an included S Pen stylus that magnetically connects to the side of the tablet. The Tab S10 FE also boasts a sturdy aluminum build with IP68 water-and-dust resistance, which is rare for a tablet in this price range.

Under the hood, the Galaxy Tab S10 FE is powered by an efficient Exynos chipset with 12GB of RAM, plus you get a 12MP front-facing camera, expandable storage up to 2TB using microSD, and a large 8,000mAh battery should easily last a full day on a single charge.

Sure, there are more powerful Samsung tablets out there, but the Galaxy Tab S10 FE is a reliable, balanced choice for users who don't want to break the bank. This $500 discount from T-Mobile is just the cherry on top.

So what's the catch?

Like I mentioned above, you'll need to sign up for the Tablet Unlimited Plus plan (or higher) to enjoy the $500.99 in savings over 24 months. These data plans start at $25 per month using AutoPay, which you probably would've paid anyway if you plan to connect the tablet to a wireless network. You'll also need to cover a $35 activation fee and any applicable sales tax.

T-Mobile's Tablet Unlimited Plus plan gives you unlimited high-speed data every month, plus 15GB of mobile hotspot data, HD video streaming, and unlimited texting with 5GB of data in over 215 countries around the globe.

Google Home Speaker has a problem: users report incredibly slow response times

nickodiaz@sbcglobal.net (Nickolas Diaz) — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 10:11:00 +0000

What you need to know

Google Home Speaker users have reported a glaring issue: their device's assistance has become incredibly sluggish.
Other users have experienced the same; however, this latency problem appears to affect more than the Home Speaker, as other Nest devices struggle, too.
Google has responded to this thread, stating a fix is being worked on "ASAP."

Google's latest smart speaker got off to a fast start, but users are reporting anything but good news, as problems emerge.

Earlier this week, reports surfaced on the Google Home subreddit from a user with a Home Speaker (via Android Police). The root of their report is that their Home Speaker has weirdly become sluggish. They say that the "First day all was smooth... the second day every single question (even 'hello') needs at least 30s of answer time." Troubleshooting provided no such relief from this issue.

Users started flowing into the thread, stating that others with the Home Speaker are having the same problem. The publication spotted another thread from a user that blows this problem wide open. It's not just a Home Speaker issue, but rather a Google smart home issue that's affecting a range of its products. The user says, "Everything is timing out."

They add that their smart home devices are all struggling with delayed or sluggish response times. Resetting has seemingly offered no aid in solving the issue. One user said, "Definitely noticed this since the update. Especially for simpler tasks which used to be snappier, eg turn on the light, change to warm white, set 50%." A subsequent report says they haven't noticed anything timed out, but rather their streamed content (like music) is stopping midway.

Google has become aware of this smart home problem. A community member says the company is "working on a fix ASAP." There's no clear timeframe for when we could see this, so users will have to tough it out as best as possible.

Updates were made to do the opposite

(Image credit: Google)

Android Central's Take

It's a bit strange to see issues surface for something Google has tried to make faster. It's like being caught in the strangest whirlwind. An update will likely be required to solve this problem, the only thing is when will we see it?

It's interesting to see users bring up the fact that the Home Speaker "used to be" snappy with its response times for mundane tasks. Google rolled out an update for Gemini's home assistance in March, quickening its responses by ~30% to ~40%. This patch reduced the latency between the user giving the task and Gemini responding to it/following it.

Google's smart speakers were brought into the spotlight a week ago, as the company fixed a long-standing SiriusXM radio problem. Users had been receiving errors with SiriusXM on their smart speaker, stating, "I looked for that, but it either isn't available or can't be played right now." SiriusXM would work via the user's phone, just not on Google's smart home devices. All is seemingly well now after Google's patch.

Samsung might bring Privacy Display to every Galaxy S27 model

techkritiko@gmail.com (Jay Bonggolto) — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 09:15:00 +0000

What you need to know

Samsung is reportedly considering bringing its built-in Privacy Display to every Galaxy S27 model, not just the Ultra or the rumored Pro.
Unlike traditional privacy films, Samsung's solution is built directly into the OLED panel, preserving brightness and image quality while blocking side glances.
Samsung hasn't confirmed the feature's rollout or even the existence of the Galaxy S27 Pro, so these rumors should be treated cautiously.

Samsung's hardware-based Privacy Display may not be exclusive for much longer. Now a new report indicates the company is considering rolling out the feature across the entire Galaxy S27 series, potentially bringing one of its most useful upgrades well beyond the Ultra.

That’s a big shift from previous rumors that suggested Privacy Display would only extend as far as the rumored Galaxy S27 Pro. But now, new information from The Elec suggests Samsung is mulling the feature for all Galaxy S27 models — the standard Galaxy S27, Galaxy S27 Plus, the rumored Galaxy S27 Pro, and the Galaxy S27 Ultra.

Privacy Display first debuted on the Galaxy S26 Ultra, eliminating the need for traditional stick-on privacy screen protectors. Samsung’s solution is built into the OLED panel itself rather than a dark film, which always has an effect on brightness and image quality. This limits the display’s viewing angles so that when it’s on, only the person with the phone can see the screen clearly, and anyone trying to look from the side can see very little. It can also be set to automatically turn on when you open banking apps, read sensitive notifications, or enter passwords.

The tech itself is based on Samsung Display’s Flex Magic Pixel system, which combines two different kinds of subpixels. Both are active during normal use to provide a standard viewing experience. Turning on Privacy Display disables the subpixels at a wider angle, significantly reducing side visibility, with no external accessory required.

The wider rollout also coincides with rumors of a shake-up to Samsung's flagship lineup. A series of leaks suggest a new Galaxy S27 Pro alongside the standard, Plus, and Ultra versions, making a quartet of devices. The Pro should offer a ton of Ultra-grade features in a smaller form factor but won’t have the integrated S Pen.

Naturally, none of this is official. Samsung hasn't confirmed which Galaxy S27 models will get the Privacy Display or if the rumored Galaxy S27 Pro will even ever launch. There were also rumors that the company would launch a Pro-branded Galaxy S26 before settling on a three-phone lineup, so these reports should be taken with a grain of salt.

Android Central's Take

Hopefully this leak is accurate because Privacy Display sounds like a feature that shouldn’t be a luxury add-on. The feature does solve a real problem, and I would much rather see Samsung bring real privacy improvements to all flagships rather than keeping them behind the Ultra paywall. That said, if the company uses Privacy Display as yet another excuse to carve its lineup into even more confusing tiers, it risks overshadowing what is actually a genuinely useful innovation.

Samsung's Galaxy Glasses leak reveals how the whole Galaxy ecosystem comes together

techkritiko@gmail.com (Jay Bonggolto) — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 08:10:00 +0000

What you need to know

A couple of Galaxy Glasses leaks reveal the companion app, touch controls, and deep integration with the wider Galaxy ecosystem.
You'll presumably be able to pair the glasses, install updates, tweak settings, check battery life, and automatically sync captured photos and videos to your Galaxy phone.
Dual LED recording indicators are said to alert both the wearer and people nearby whenever the camera is in use.

Samsung has already confirmed it’s joining the smart glasses race, but until now we haven’t really had an idea of what it’d be like to use its forthcoming wearable. Now, a couple of fresh leaks have not only revealed the companion app for the Galaxy Glasses but also how Samsung plans to integrate the device into the rest of its Galaxy ecosystem.

Thanks to SammyGuru, the newly leaked Galaxy Glasses Manager app offers us the clearest look yet at the software on which users will rely once the glasses arrive later this year. During setup, the app guides users through the process of granting permissions and putting the glasses into pairing mode before connecting the glasses to a phone. The onboarding screens also show Samsung’s Warby Parker-branded model, one of the two eyewear partnerships Samsung announced in conjunction with Gentle Monster.

Once paired, the app is the hub of control for the glasses. You will be able to install firmware updates, change the settings, and switch different features on or off. The main page also seems to show battery status and has a setting to automatically send photos and videos taken with the glasses directly to your Galaxy phone.

SammyGuru

The software also hints at a number of native features, including camera controls, AI assistants, notification readouts, accessibility options, advanced features, and a Find my glasses tool to find lost frames. SammyGuru couldn't see every menu, as it didn't have a working pair of glasses connected, so there's still more under the surface.

Android Central's Take

Smart glasses won’t go mainstream just because they’re smart; they have to fit in naturally with the devices people are already using every day. It just makes more sense to be able to control them with a Galaxy Watch or even a Galaxy Ring, rather than shouting voice commands in public. That said, Samsung has to make sure all of this works seamlessly rather than being another ecosystem perk that's only useful if you've gone all-in on Galaxy hardware.

The leak also confirms what Samsung had teased about its software platform. The Galaxy Glasses run One UI XR, Samsung’s interface, which is based on Google’s Android XR platform and is the same software that will be found on Samsung’s upcoming XR headset.

In addition to the companion app, another report from the same source gives us some insight into how you'll actually control the glasses. Samsung appears to be combining physical buttons with touch gestures instead of going fully on voice commands. A touch-sensitive panel is said to be located in the right temple. To move to the next song, swipe forward with one finger, or swipe backward to go to the previous track. Use two fingers to adjust the volume and tap to pause/resume playback. The same tap gesture can also be used to answer incoming calls.

There’s also a dedicated camera button near the hinge. A single press captures a photo, while pressing and holding starts video recording. Pressing again terminates the recording session. Also rumored to be included are two LED indicators to make recording more obvious, one facing outward to let people around you know the camera is active, and another facing the wearer to serve as a personal recording indicator.

Samsung's software experience could also be a good place to stash captured media. The leak says that newly captured photos and videos may show up in the Now Bar on supported Galaxy phones so that users can preview or reframe their shots. A connected Galaxy Watch may also show previews of similar things. But perhaps the most interesting discovery is how much Samsung wants these glasses to integrate with its other wearables.

The companion app’s code also makes references to a standalone Galaxy Glasses Controller app that could be pre-installed on Galaxy Watches. Other code strings reference gesture actions tied to the Galaxy Ring, suggesting that users could eventually control certain Glasses functions with hand or finger gestures detected by the ring. Samsung has not said how these gestures would work, but the references suggest that the company is actively developing tighter cross-device controls.

Of course, none of these features are official until Samsung introduces the product. Even if the Galaxy Glasses’ full release does come later this fall, the tech giant is expected to tease more of its Android XR plans in the coming weeks.

Platform Stability reached: Android 17 QPR1 Beta 6 is here for Pixels, quickly after Beta 5

nickodiaz@sbcglobal.net (Nickolas Diaz) — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 19:08:02 +0000

What you need to know

Google announced Android 17 QPR1 Beta 6 is rolling out for enrolled Pixel testers a week after Beta 5 dropped.
The patch is lighter, focused mostly on fixing issues Pixel testers have been reporting on the Issue Tracker.
Beta 5 carried a significant number of fixes for Pixel users, such as solutions for vanishing widgets, the Game Dashboard, and more.

The next beta for Android 17's first quarterly update has crossed a major developmental hurdle. Here's everything Pixel testers can expect to find.

Google announced that Android 17 QPR1 Beta 6 is rolling out now for enrolled Pixel users. As vCP31.260618.005 rolls out to Pixel 6 and new phones, Google states Beta 6 means the quarterly update has reached Platform Stability. This is a key milestone, as Google looks to begin preparations for a wider (stable) launch for phones. This latest beta is a bit lighter. Google only appears to have a few bugs it's looking to squash ahead of more testing.

The company states it's rolling out a visual glitch when "rapidly swiping through the media carousel." Google says users experienced this in the Quick Settings layout and settings icons. Another fix rolling in is the result of several reports across three Issue Tracker threads following Beta 5. Pressing the volume buttons was reportedly producing an unintended result in the Clock app.

The remainder of the changelog is as follows:

Users were unable to select multiple spell checker languages
An issue in WindowManagerGlobal that resulted in app crashes
Enabling the Wi-Fi hotspot displayed a generic default SSID instead of the user's saved custom name

The work continues

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

Android Central's Take

I wonder if Google is moving too fast. There are still so many pressing issues affecting users with Android 17, and other glaring problems for Pixels in general. Google has acknowledged some, but others have been happening for months now with no clear solution. I'd hate to see things get out of hand more than they are.

Beta 6 has stunned Pixel testers. It's only been a week since QPR1 Beta 5 rolled out, and that patch carried a significant number of bug fixes. The last beta rolled out a fix for an Android 17 problem stable Pixel users encountered: vanishing widgets. So, while Google has acknowledged and seemingly already solved this problem, Pixel users still have a while to wait before it hits their phones (unless they're in the beta). On the other hand, Google rolled out fixes for the Game Dashboard, a screen freeze with the Always-On Display, and more.

Android 17 QPR1 hitting Platform Stability early in July probably shouldn't surprise us. Google rolled out Android 16 QPR2 Beta 1 in August last year, shortly after the Pixel 10 launched. Google's been quickening its development process and trying to work through bugs at the same time. There's a chance we'll see something similar take place this year, too.

Your Galaxy Watch will lose Vascular Load, switches to blood pressure 'trends'

nickodiaz@sbcglobal.net (Nickolas Diaz) — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 17:58:22 +0000

What you need to know

Samsung Health app has posted a notice, informing Galaxy Watch users in the U.S. that Vascular Load will disappear with v7.0 of the app and One UI 9 Watch in July.
The company says it will replace this with "Blood Pressure Trends," which "periodically" checks your blood pressure to show your (potentially) changing trends.
Vascular Load was a part of the Galaxy Watch 8's Preventative Care features and would measure your blood flow and vascular stiffness while you slept.

Samsung is reportedly informing Galaxy Watch users that they will lose a heart wellness feature in the next major update.

Samsung rolled out a notice in its Health app this week titled "Vascular Load labs feature to be discontinued." A user on Reddit brought awareness to this notification as it's likely to affect Galaxy Watch users soon (via 9to5Google). The company states that, starting with v7.0 of the Samsung Health app and One UI 9 Watch, Vascular Load will disappear for U.S. users.

Samsung states One UI 9 Watch is expected to debut this month (July). Users have started wondering when older devices (Watch 8, Watch 7, etc.) could see this patch. There hasn't been a beta for the watch software yet, despite Samsung's confirmed July release for One UI 9 Watch.

Replacing Vascular Load will be Samsung's "Blood Pressure Trends" feature. The notice says this feature will "check your blood pressure periodically to show you a trend over time. It will also give you tips to help support healthy habits." Samsung adds that these trends will be available on the next series, the Galaxy Watch 9. It stresses, as always, that Blood Pressure Trends is simply a "wellness-only" feature, and any concerns should be discussed with your doctor.

Preventative Care

(Image credit: Samsung)

Vascular Load was one of Samsung's Preventative Care features it highlighted for the Galaxy Watch 8. Many features under this umbrella focused mainly on the user's heart, and Vascular Load was no different. Its focus was to help highlight the strain on your heart. Samsung said the Galaxy Watch 8 used PPG waveforms to measure "your blood flow and vascular stiffness throughout the night."

A person's stress, diet, and sleep primarily affect this statistic. It states that, if left unchecked, consistent "high" Vascular Load could lead to more severe health problems. It's unfortunate to see this go; however, Blood Pressure Trends seems to piggyback off the main Blood Pressure monitoring feature. After months of talking about it and working to clear regulatory hurdles, Samsung rolled out Blood Pressure monitoring in March.

Users are required to use an upper arm cuff to calibrate their Galaxy Watch for the first time and then every 28 days after.

Android Central's Take

It's a shame this feature is leaving. Seeing a metric about the strain on your heart gives users another keyhole into their overall health. It's another piece of information to make you wonder if there's anything you should change, like your food or how much sleep you're getting. Understanding your blood pressure is as equally important. Who knows, maybe we won't miss this.

Samsung quietly brings back its BEST Galaxy S26 Ultra deal for the 4th of July weekend — with or without trade

patrick.farmer@futurenet.com (Patrick Farmer) — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 17:57:01 +0000

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is one of the most powerful phones ever built, but with a starting price of $1,299.99, it's also quite expensive. Fortunately, Samsung is attempting to ease the burden by resurrecting one of its best deals for the 4th of July weekend.

For a limited time, you can score up to $720 off the unlocked S26 Ultra when you trade in an old or broken device, no carrier activation required. Don't have anything to trade in? Skip that part of the process altogether and Samsung will STILL hook you up with $350 off the phone, a surprising straight discount that totally clobbers the current offers from Amazon and Best Buy.

Sure, Samsung Galaxy S26 deals are hardly uncommon, but it's unusual to see a straight discount this good outside of major sale events like Prime Day. If you want to buy the Galaxy S26 Ultra but hate all of the fine print included with most phone deals, this is your time to shine.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra 256GB: ~~$1,299.99~~ From $579.99 with trade-in | $949.99 without at Samsung

Buy the unlocked Galaxy S26 Ultra directly from the source and you'll be eligible for up to $720 of instant trade-in credit. Skip the trade-in process and Samsung will still carve a straight $350 off your purchase, no strings attached. View Deal

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is Samsung's best phone yet, coming complete with a massive 6.9-inch 120Hz AMOLED display (with embedded stylus), unbelievable performance from the Snapdragon chipset, and some of the fastest battery charging we've ever seen in a smartphone. You also get to experience Samsung's handy new Privacy Display feature, plus all of the latest Galaxy AI tricks and seven years of software updates guaranteed.

In addition to the discount described above, Samsung is also offering some impressive savings when you bundle the phone with the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro (~~$249~~ now $225) or Galaxy Watch Ultra (~~$649.99~~ now $435). Your purchase will also come with six months of SiriusXM streaming, two months of Adobe Lightroom, and a 30-day trial for Samsung Health.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra may not be a massive upgrade over its predecessor, but it's still one of the most powerful Android phones on the market today. If you missed the Samsung deals during last week's Prime Day sale, here's your chance to get a straight discount that's nearly just as good.

Xreal ROG R1 is crazy expensive, but it's easily the best wearable monitor I've ever used

Nicholas Sutrich — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 17:52:20 +0000

AC thVRsday

In his weekly column, Android Central Senior Content Producer Nick Sutrich delves into all things VR, from new hardware to new games, upcoming technologies, and so much more.

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.

Xreal ROG R1 specs
Display	Sony micro-OLED
Resolution	1920 x 1080
Refresh rate	120Hz standalone, 240Hz when docked
Brightness	700-nit peak
Color support	8-bit, 106% sRGB. Dock supports HDR10
FoV	57-degrees
IPD	Narrow size: 57-66mm Broad size: 66-75mm
Spatial tracking	3DoF native, 6DoF with optional Xreal Eye
Electrochromic dimming	Yes, 3 levels
3D support	Side-by-side, automatic AI-converted
Audio	Bose speakers
Temple adjustment	3 angles, spring hinge with flexible arms
Dimensions	153mm x 4.9m x 166mm
Weight	90g
Control dock	1x USB-C power, 1x USB-C data and power, 1x DisplayPort, 2x HDMI

Displays aren't the only headliner feature

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

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.

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

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.

Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central

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

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

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.

Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central

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.

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

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.

Does the Fitbit Air support automatic activity detection?

bradypsnyder@gmail.com (Brady Snyder) — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 17:50:00 +0000

Does the Fitbit Air support automatic activity detection?

Best answer: Yes, the Google Fitbit Air automatically detects and saves activities in the background. These activities later appear in the Google Health app, where you can confirm, change, or delete them. The Fitbit Air's algorithm will adapt based on how you use the tracker, eventually giving preference to the activity types you track most.

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.

Brady Snyder / Android Central

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.

Google

Fitbit Air

Automatic activity detection

The Google Fitbit Air is a passive fitness tracker that can automatically detect activities in the background. It lasts a week before needing a recharge, and users can view tracked activities in the Google Health companion app.

Gemini Omni is 'like Nano Banana for video' and I couldn't believe the results

bradypsnyder@gmail.com (Brady Snyder) — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 17:29:32 +0000

I use Gemini for all sorts of things on my phone, from general assistant help and smart home control to generative AI creation. The app tries to be a jack-of-all-trades, capable of creating text, images, audio, and video from simple prompts. Gemini Omni is Google's latest video-generation tool, announced at Google I/O 2026 and bundled with the June Pixel Drop.

Gemini Omni's calling card is conversational prompts. Like how you can generate images with Nano Banana from simple inputs, Google wants you to be able to do the same with Gemini Omni. I tried it on my Pixel 10 Pro, and the experience felt way more polished than any Veo model. I don't generate AI videos very often, but when I do, I'll be using Gemini Omni going forward. Here's how you can, too.

Gemini Omni is a new model designed to create videos

(Image credit: Brady Snyder / Android Central)

Open up the Gemini app and tap the model picker, and you won't see Gemini Omni. You'll find 3.1 Flash-Lite, 3.5 Flash, and 3.1 Pro (availability varies depending on your Google AI subscription), but not Gemini Omni. That's because Gemini Omni is specifically designed for video. In fact, Google's landing page for Gemini Omni says we should "think of it like Nano Banana for video."

The model you'll be using in the Gemini app is called Gemini Omni Flash, and it's also available in Google Flow and YouTube Shorts. While it's wholly focused on video for now, Gemini Omni will eventually support image and audio outputs as well. The idea is that Gemini Omni will one day be able to "create anything from any input," which is a lofty goal. This will happen "in time," according to Google, but you can start using Omni for videos today.

Another oddity about Gemini Omni is that it's highlighted as a June Pixel Drop feature, but it's available on any smartphone. Gemini Omni isn't a Google Pixel exclusive; it's limited by your Google AI subscription status. There is a free version with strict rate limits, but more availability is reserved for Google AI Plus, Google AI Pro, and Google AI Ultra subscribers.

That's good news for anyone without a Pixel — everyone can try it in the Gemini app or on the web.

How I create videos with AI using Gemini Omni

(Image credit: Brady Snyder / Android Central)

Gemini Omni is designed to support multiple inputs and conversational prompts. In other words, anyone can use it. Here's how to get started:

1. Open the Gemini app.

2. Tap the + button and select Videos.

3. Now, you'll see the Gemini Omni prompting box. Tap the bottom-left button to upload a photo or video as part of your prompt, or press the bottom-right button to choose between a Landscape or Portrait aspect ratio.

(Image credit: Brady Snyder / Android Central)

4. Next, come up with a text prompt. You can type your prompt or tap the microphone button to record an audio snippet as part of your prompt.

5. Tap the Send arrow to submit your prompt to Gemini Omni.

(Image credit: Brady Snyder / Android Central)

6. Wait for your video to generate. You may see the following message: "I'm generating your video. This could take a few minutes, so check back to see when your video is ready.

(Image credit: Brady Snyder / Android Central)

7. When your video is ready, you can hit the Share button to create a public link to it. Or you can tap the three-button menu and select Save video to download it to your device.

Now, you've created your first video with Gemini Omni. Remember, you can use any mix of text, images, audio, or video to inform your Gemini Omni prompt.

If you're not sure where to start, you can tap one of the suggestions on the Gemini Omni page. It'll tell you exactly what it needs to generate a video. For example, the Talking pets suggestion will ask you for a picture of your pet to customize the output.

Should you use Veo or Gemini Omni for videos?

(Image credit: Brady Snyder / Android Central)

Gemini Omni is replacing Veo models in the Gemini app, although you'll still be able to find Veo models in other Google products. I've used both, and my vote goes to Gemini Omni. With its broad support for inputs and easy-to-follow suggestions, it doesn't take much skill to create a fun AI video with Omni.

I made a video of my seafood dinner coming to life and jumping off the plate, and well, Gemini Omni did its job. I'm not sure how often I'll turn to Omni to generate videos with AI, but I know it's up to the task.

Google

Pixel 10

Best for Gemini

Gemini Omni is here on Pixels like the Pixel 10 following the June Pixel Drop. You also get other exclusive features, like Screen Reactions and Bubbles, before anyone else.

Pixel users aren't receiving calls, but the issue might be Google's phone app

nickodiaz@sbcglobal.net (Nickolas Diaz) — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 17:13:40 +0000

What you need to know

Pixel users have been raising an issue on Google's various subreddits and its Issue Tracker about a "missing incoming call" bug.
Users with a wide range of Pixel phones say their phones have been ignoring incoming calls, and rarely inform them that one has been attempted.
However, the problem could be with the Google Phone app, as this behavior has reportedly affected several phones for months.

Google Pixel users say they're suffering from a phone problem that no one (in this day and age) ever wants.

This Google Pixel problem reportedly concerns the phone's ability to receive calls, affecting a range of devices (via Android Authority). It's quickly become apparent through a Pixel subreddit report that this problem hasn't started in the past few days or weeks. Users state their Pixel has been missing calls for over a month. The original post (OP) says their Pixel 10 Pro XL "is not receiving calls after the last update." This was posted at the end of May.

They explain their situation, stating, "As mentioned since the last update people will call me and it won't go through. Just hangs on the calling screen and then hangs up. My wife said it happens routinely and she will have to call me 3 to 4 times and sometimes my phone will ring."

On their side, the user sees nothing. Their phone will remain idle with its display off. The user has run through a series of at-home troubleshooting steps (restarting, clearing cache, ensuring DND is off), but nothing has worked. Another user even further back reported this issue affecting their Pixel 7 Pro. Not only are users missing calls on Google's stable patch, but it's happening in Android 17 QPR1 Beta 5, too. This user says their Pixel 10 Pro XL only started missing calls after downloading the latest beta, adding that a thread has been opened on Google's Issue Tracker about it.

Android Central's Nicholas Sutrich brought this issue up earlier today after stating he's "had this behavior on several phones for months now." Sutrich adds that "it's a Google Phone app issue, not a Pixel issue." Android Central has reached out to Google about this missing incoming call issue and will update this post if we hear back.

This problem is dangerous

(Image credit: Apoorva Bhardwaj / Android Central)

A Google Community member did respond to one of the Reddit threads. We can at least assume the company is aware of the issue. This is a troublesome problem, especially if it's affecting the Google Phone app. That means more than just Pixels have this problem. There was one report that mentioned the Galaxy S25, so users should remain cautious.

The last memorable Phone app problem we've reported was more of an inconvenience than anything else. Earlier this year, the app constantly flipped its orientation. You'd typically want your call to remain in portrait, but the app would switch to landscape, messing up the buttons. Google fixed this by rolling out a "keep portrait mode" in the app's display settings.

Curiously, Google's Call Screen for Pixels was cited as a potential culprit behind this missing-call issue. The user on Reddit said that, after turning it off, their device would alert them to incoming calls as expected.

Android Central's Take

I'm surprised there isn't more urgency. Missing phone calls is an incredibly serious issue. I saw one person on Reddit mention that they have kids and older parents. There's no telling what could be wrong if they happened to miss a call. Their child could be sick, or their parents could've had something happen, too. The problem seems to have been escalating lately. Hopefully, this kicks Google into higher gear.

T-Mobile caps off a month of freebies with a $60 jersey nobody asked for

techkritiko@gmail.com (Jay Bonggolto) — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 14:29:23 +0000

What you need to know

T-Mobile's newest Member Month perk is a $60 limited-edition Umbro soccer jersey available through the T-Life app starting July 7.
The jersey is an original Umbro x T-Mobile design, not tied to any club or national team.
Existing T-Life perks aren't going anywhere, so the Umbro collaboration is an extra option rather than a replacement.

T-Mobile has been giving away everything from fuel discounts to entertainment perks for the past month, but its latest Member Month reward is taking a very different approach. Instead of another free giveaway, the carrier is joining in on soccer culture with an exclusive collaboration that customers can actually wear.

The company partnered with sportswear brand Umbro to introduce a limited-edition soccer jersey just for T-Mobile members. The catch? There is no free lunch. Starting July 7, eligible customers will be able to purchase the jersey for $60 through the T-Life app, while supplies last.

The jersey is not emblematic of any particular club or national team. Instead, it's an original Umbro and T-Mobile design that blends the sportswear company's football heritage with T-Mobile's signature magenta branding.

See my guide to the best T-Mobile deals of July 2026

(Image credit: T-Mobile)

The launch also is part of T-Mobile’s broader Member Month promotion, which celebrates 10 years of customer rewards. The company said the T-Life app had nearly 14 million members engaging with the app in the first week of the campaign, one of the busiest periods of engagement the platform has seen.

Customers were granted perks across the month, including discounted fuel, travel benefits, dining deals, and access to exclusive events like a members-only T-Pain show. T-Mobile also distributed more than 600,000 codes for fuel discounts and helped more than 1,500 drivers fill up at $1.99 a gallon.

Of course, the carrier’s existing benefits aren’t going away due to the Umbro collaboration. Customers on eligible plans still get access to ongoing extras such as streaming subscriptions, travel perks, DoorDash DashPass offers, and other T-Life promotions. The jersey is just the latest on that growing list.

Android Central's Take

As for me, I can't help but laugh at the sheer audacity of it all. A bold move, definitely, to end a month of real, tangible benefits like free food delivery and dirt cheap gas by asking us to pay a premium to become a walking billboard. Yes, the Umbro collab gives it a tiny shred of streetwear credibility, but at the end of the day, it’s still a $60 T-Mobile ad.

The best Verizon deals of July 2026 — so many free phones

patrick.farmer@futurenet.com (Patrick Farmer) — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 13:49:03 +0000

The summer sale season is upon us, and the Verizon deals are really heating up. Whether you're in the market for a flagship phone, innovative foldable, or budget device, I've collected the best Verizon deals of July 2026 into this guide.

Verizon has been a major player in the wireless scene for over 20 years, offering users a variety of plan options for every type of user (and budget) imaginable. The Big Three carrier also offers a ton of awesome deals on Android phones, with extra rewards for those who trade in or add a line with an eligible data plan.

Keep reading for all of my favorite Verizon deals of July 2026, and don't forget to check back later to see what's new: I add new offers to this list on a regular basis.

See the full list of deals at Verizon today

Verizon deals

Motorola Razr (2026) 128GB: ~~$799.99~~ FREE with eligible unlimited plan at Verizon

The Motorola Razr 2026 has only been out since May 21st, but you can already get the innovative flip phone for FREE when you add a line with the Unlimited Welcome, Unlimited Plus, or Unlimited Ultimate plan at Verizon.View Deal

Samsung Galaxy S26 256GB: ~~$899.99~~ FREE with eligible unlimited plan at Verizon

The Galaxy S26 has only been out for a few months, but you can already get the new flagship for FREE by adding a line with the Unlimited Welcome, Unlimited Plus, or Unlimited Ultimate plan at Verizon. View Deal

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra 256GB: ~~$1,299.99~~ $5.55 per month with Unlimited Ultimate plan at Verizon

It's not hyperbolic to call the Galaxy S26 Ultra the most powerful Android phone of 2026, but this performance comes with a steep price tag to match. Fortunately, if you order the phone and add a line with the Unlimited Ultimate plan, Verizon will give you an S26 Ultra for only $5.55/month for 36 months.View Deal

Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus 256GB: ~~$1,099.99~~ FREE with eligible unlimited plan at Verizon

Similar to the S26 deals that I described above, if you're interested in the super-balanced Galaxy 26 Plus, you can get the phone FREE by adding a line with the Unlimited Plus or Unlimited Ultimate plan at Verizon.View Deal

Google Pixel 10 Pro 128GB: ~~$999.99~~ FREE with eligible unlimited plan at Verizon

Add a line with Verizon's Unlimited Welcome, Unlimited Plus, or Unlimited Ultimate plan and the carrier will give you the powerful Google Pixel 10 Pro for FREE! View Deal

Google Pixel 10a 128GB: ~~$499.99~~ FREE with unlimited plan at Verizon

The long-awaited Google Pixel 10a finally hit store shelves on March 5th with a bunch of great deals in tow. Buy the midrange masterpiece from Verizon with a new line on the Unlimited Welcome, Unlimited Plus, or Unlimited Ultimate plan and you'll get enough promo credits to make the phone totally free. View Deal

Google Pixel 10 Pro XL 256GB: ~~$1,199.99~~ $8.33 per month with eligible unlimited plan at Verizon

Add a line with the Unlimited Ultimate plan and Verizon will give you the super-powered Pixel 10 Pro XL for only $8.33 per month for 36 months, no trade-in required. View Deal

Motorola Edge (2026) 128GB: ~~$529.99~~ FREE with eligible data plan at Verizon

The Motorola Edge (2026) is a versatile midrange phone with great battery life, IP69 durability, and solid performance from a MediaTek chip. Add a line with the Unlimited Welcome, Unlimited Plus, or Unlimited Ultimate plan and Verizon will give you the device for 100% free. There's also some trade-in credit up for grabs if you're looking to ditch an old phone. View Deal

Back to the top^

Meta's AI Glasses golf integration is so in-depth that it has me looking for clubs

nickodiaz@sbcglobal.net (Nickolas Diaz) — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 18:25:00 +0000

What you need to know

Meta AI glasses announce major golfing integrations coming to the U.S. and Canada as 18Birdies and Arccos enter with hands-free AI assistance.
Users will receive a "voice-first experience" while golfing, capable of telling the AI to "start a round of golf" and receive shooting tips, club recommendations, hazard alerts, and more.
Other Meta glasses, such as the Oakley Meta Vanguard, have been praised previously for enhancing the experience for athletes.

Golf isn't for the weak. It takes patience, skill, and understanding, and now Meta is looking to take advantage of its AI spectacles to help you strike like a pro.

Today (July 1), Meta announced that it's rolling out a "new era" of Athletic Intelligence for its AI glasses for golfers. The company's Ray-Ban Meta, Oakley Meta, and Meta Glasses are receiving significant golf integration, thanks to 18Birdies and Arccos. Of course, such integration is nothing without the user's choice of preferred app, and that's exactly what Meta is providing.

After deciding, users will experience a "voice-first golf experience" that delivers information about their game as they play. Course data, wind conditions, your performance data, club recommendations, and more will be spoken to you by Meta AI. Bringing 18Birdies and Arccos into the mix unlocks a whole new level of golf. Meta states that, with 18Birdies, users can say, "Hey Meta, start a round of golf." Yardage details, hazard warnings, and more become clear, all without you needing to ruin your focus.

Arccos handles the master-level recommendations for which club might earn you better results. Oakley showed off a demo of how Meta AI's golf integration can help a user figure out their aim and which club to use. The AI is specific, detailing how the hole is on the land, so you understand why the recommendation was given. When a round concludes, Meta AI alongside Arccos can deliver "insights into your play by accessing strokes-gained analytics, connecting with coaches on Skillest, and tracking your improvement over time."

Always go for a hole-in-one

A post shared by Oakley | Meta (@oakleymeta)
A photo posted by on

Meta says its AI-integrated golfing experience is here to lend a hand in strategy while you're teeing off. What's more, users can capture POV photos and videos while they play to share with others. Integration with 18Birdies and Arccos is rolling out in the U.S. and Canada for Ray-Ban Meta, Oakley Meta, and the Meta Glasses.

Meta highlighted an important pair of AI glasses in this announcement: the Oakley Meta Vanguard. The company's Oakley Meta HSTN was also mentioned as a pair of frames that enhance the experience for athletes. Regarding the Meta Vanguard, they're pretty handy to have for runners, hikers, and cyclists. The glasses feature strong integration with Garmin, letting users ask Meta about their "average/current pace" when on a run.

Android Central's Take

Golf has been recommended to me before on a couple of different occasions. What's gotten me interested in Meta's integrations, from an outsider's perspective, is how useful its AI seems. Those Instagram vids are a treat to watch, I'd encourage you to do so if you haven't. The user can ask about anything pertaining to their score, how their score is trending, and even how to strike the ball. All I'm missing is an arc to show up mid-strike it does in video games and we're set.

Discord on the Meta Quest brings your friends within an arm's reach in VR

nickodiaz@sbcglobal.net (Nickolas Diaz) — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 17:34:31 +0000

What you need to know

Discord announced that it has a native app launcher available for the Meta Quest 2, Quest Pro, and Quest 3 series models on the Horizon App Store.
The app will function similarly to what users would receive on their phone or PC, with servers, texts, group DMs, and more available.
Meta Quest also features a Steam app, capable of streaming PCVR games directly to the headset.

Discord is a popular app among gamers and friends. The app gained even more popularity a few years back, and now it's rolling out on Meta's VR headsets.

Discord announced that its app is now available on Meta Quest, and users will find a familiar experience. Users with a Meta Quest 2, Quest Pro, or Quest 3 series model can download Discord via the Horizon App Store. The company says it's breaking free from the Quest's browser. Now, after downloading, users will find their Discord servers, DMs, Group DMs, and more, as they would on their phone or PC client.

Meta Quest users will also benefit from their previously created "Meta Avatars." Discord says users can join video calls as their avatar. What's more, streaming content from your PC is a common occurrence on Discord. With the Meta Quest, users can stream the VR game they're playing while wearing their headset.

Discord worked on a refined experience that's true to the Meta Quest as its app hits the store. Users can open Discord and pin its contents to their viewing space. This gives you an easy route to join/exit a server, send a quick text, or start streaming. Users getting started can check the FAQ if there are any issues.

Also, Meta informed Android Central that from June 30 to September 30, "users who download and sign into Discord on Meta Quest can claim one month of Discord Nitro." Nitro is its subscription service, and claiming this would unlock HD streaming, 500MB file uploads, profile/avatar customization, custom emojis, and more.

Hey, join VC

(Image credit: Discord)

Gamers got a wondrous app on the Meta Quest via Valve's Steam library. Steam is a massive entry point for PC gaming. Thousands of new and old titles are available there, and now Meta's VR headsets are in on it. The "Meta-approved" Steam Link app lets users (Quest 2 and Quest 3) play PCVR games. Basically, what you're doing is streaming these titles to your VR headset. Users need Steam installed and a Wi-Fi 5 router (at least) to begin.

Then, from your PC, you'll need to enable remote play for this connection to work. We've essentially got the full PC gamer package now: Steam and Discord. VR gamers are eating good, and it's only getting better. Earlier this year, Meta's CTO, Andrew Bosworth, discussed what's going to change the Quest space for games. Bosworth stated that Meta was shifting its focus from first-party developed games to third-party.

Bosworth also stressed that "the narrative that Meta is abandoning VR is obviously false."

Android Central's Take

This sounds like the right call to me. If I had to choose between using Discord in my web browser or a native, well-built client, I'd pick the latter. There's no way I'm fumbling with tabs. Just imagine doing that on a VR headset. I'm sure the UI is fine, but that's not seamless. That's not easy to pick up and ago. That sounds like work, and I'm glad Discord's fixed that.

Reach the Summit: Qualcomm's Snapdragon event is set for September

nickodiaz@sbcglobal.net (Nickolas Diaz) — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 16:59:03 +0000

What you need to know

Qualcomm reveals that its Snapdragon Summit is set for September 22-24 in Maui, Hawaii.
The company's teaser was light, only stating "the future starts here," but we are expecting the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 to debut here.
Recent rumors claim that this chip might not be the only we're expecting, as an "8 Elite Gen 6 Pro" could join the fray.

We were all expecting it. Though it's happened a little later this year, Qualcomm is finally setting the date for when its next flagship chip will launch.

This week, Qualcomm started teasing its next annual event for the next generation of Snapdragon. The company claims "the future starts here" ahead of its Snapdragon Summit in Maui, Hawaii. Qualcomm says the event will take place from September 22-24, a three-day set that we've become accustomed to.

The teaser is minimal (per usual), but what it does is set us up for what's coming from Qualcomm. The company's next-gen flagship SoC will most likely advance the same power, power efficiency, and AI solutions it introduced with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. This chip is currently powering a multitude of flagship phones today, and its early benchmark tests highlighted Qualcomm's continued dominance.

Qualcomm put a bright spotlight on its chip's 20% increase in CPU performance, as well as a 35% increase in efficiency. A few multi-core tests from Geekbench scored the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 ~15% higher than other chips on the market. There's no hiding that Qualcomm's looking to continue this trend, but how it'll do it (and what chips we'll see) is another talking point.

Plant the flag

(Image credit: Qualcomm / X)

While we're expecting a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, rumors claim Qualcomm wants to add a "Pro" to the mix. Considering what we know about the 8 Elite Gen 5's performance, an alleged "8 Elite Gen Pro" could get aggressive with its performance. Qualcomm might boost totals even higher than what we're used to; however, only phones labeled as "Ultra" would see it.

This is a claim tipsters laid down early, and it gets us thinking about the Galaxy S27 Ultra and so on. It's also been suspected that Qualcomm will build this next on TSMC's 2nm process. Another round of Pro rumors talked about its potential core architecture. The 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro might deploy a 2+3+3 CPU structure. What's more, the Adreno 850 GPU was thrown into the discussion, with claims that the "normal" 8 Elite Gen 6 could reach for the Adreno 845.

Mint Mobile is calling this new deal its 'best offer ever' — so what's the catch?

patrick.farmer@futurenet.com (Patrick Farmer) — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 14:58:55 +0000

In my line of work, there is a lot of hyperbole. But sometimes when a retailer or wireless carrier claims that a new offer is its "best deal ever", it's worth taking a closer look. Case in point: Mint Mobile just launched a promotion that drops ALL of its wireless plans down to $15 per month, whether you're signing up for three months or a full year. It's that simple: switch to Mint and the savings are yours.

Switch to Mint Mobile and get 3, 6, or 12 months of wireless for only $15 per month

Join Mint Mobile with ANY 3, 6, or 12-month data plan and you'll only pay $15 per month. Wireless must be purchased in bulk, but considering that the minimum is $45 for three months, it's still cheaper than much of the competition.

Mint's Unlimited plan is easily the best value here, offering unlimited talk, text, and data, plus a free mobile hotspot and calls to Mexico, Canada, and the UK.View Deal

Mint Mobile has discounted its wireless before, but usually it requires the purchase of a smartphone to enjoy the savings. This is the first time that the T-Mobile-owned carrier has dropped all of its offerings to the same price, regardless of plan or commitment.

The only catch is that you'll need to pay for a minimum of three months of service to receive the savings, but that means it'll only cost you $45 out the door. Three full months of Unlimited wireless powered by T-Mobile for less than 50 bucks? Look at your last phone bill and tell me that doesn't sound good.

Need a new phone too?

Samsung Galaxy S26 256GB: ~~$900~~ $400, plus 50% off one year of Unlimited

Need a new phone to pair with your new wireless plan? Purchase the Samsung Galaxy S26 with one year of the Unlimited plan and Mint Mobile will give you $500 OFF the phone and 50% off the wireless. In other words, you're getting a top-rated 2026 phone AND a full 12 months of T-Mobile-powered wireless for only $580 (or $49/month using Affirm).View Deal

What is Mint Mobile?

Now owned and operated by T-Mobile, Mint Mobile is a prepaid mobile provider that specializes in selling its wireless in bulk. It's a perfect choice for users who want straightforward coverage for cheap, even if it means they lose the bells and whistles offered by more-expensive unlimited plans.

You purchase your coverage in 3, 6, or 12-month increments of time, and then you get talk, text, and data on T-Mobile's vast 5G network with no caps or confusing contract to worry about. Once your time allotment is over, you're free to switch to another carrier or upgrade/downgrade to a different plan with no penalty whatsoever.

Meta paywalls an offline smart glasses feature you’ve already paid for

techkritiko@gmail.com (Jay Bonggolto) — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 13:57:46 +0000

What you need to know

Meta is putting a paywall on Conversation Focus, limiting free users to just three hours per month unless they subscribe to Meta One Premium for $20/month.
The feature runs entirely on the smart glasses, meaning it works offline and doesn't rely on Meta's cloud servers.
Premium subscribers get up to 15 hours per month, but unused hours don't roll over.

Meta is officially ushering in the subscription era to the hardware sitting right on your face. The company is limiting its Conversation Focus feature on Meta smart glasses to three hours of use per month.

That means if you need more time to listen to the person sitting across from you, you’ll have to cough up $20 a month for a Meta One Premium plan, according to Meta’s updated help page (via The Verge). Conversation Focus, which launched in December 2025, allows you to reduce background noise while making the voice of the person you’re talking to sound a bit more vibrant. It's useful in crowded environments, whether you're in a busier cafe or waiting at a loud airport gate. All you need to do is tell Meta AI to turn it on, and the glasses do the rest.

Here’s the catch, and the reason this change feels so aggressive. Conversation Focus is not a cloud-based, computationally heavy AI tool. It runs entirely on-device. It doesn’t ping Meta’s servers and doesn’t even need an active internet connection. When you purchase the frames outright, you’ve already paid for the chipset that processes the audio.

Meta says the core AI smart glasses experience is free, but once you hit the three-hour limit, the only option is the $20-a-month tier, which bumps your allowance up to 15 hours. Unused hours will not carry over to the next billing period.

When asked about the change, Meta said that three hours is more than enough for the average person and that the subscription is an add-on for “power users,” who also want premium device support. But making it through 180 minutes is surprisingly simple. A few noisy dinner dates, some hours in transit, and a long work meeting will eat up your monthly allowance fast.

Charging users to offset the expensive server costs of cloud AI is one thing, but paywalling local, offline hardware capabilities crosses a new line in the wearables space. That’s a frustrating precedent to set for the tech industry at large.

Android Central's Take

The reason Meta’s Conversation Focus is one of the smartest features the company has put into its glasses; it solves a real-world problem. Which is why putting a timer on a feature that runs locally on hardware you already own feels like an unnecessary cash grab. If that’s the direction Meta is going, I’d much rather see subscriptions limited to cloud-powered AI features that actually cost money to operate — not for things your own smart glasses can already do for themselves.

PSA: Samsung Messages app on your Galaxy phone will stop working this month

sanujb6@gmail.com (Sanuj Bhatia) — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 12:37:49 +0000

What you need to know

Samsung Messages is shutting down this month, though the company hasn't confirmed an exact date yet.
Users on Android 11 and earlier are unaffected, and emergency calls still work after the shutdown.
Google Messages is the official replacement, and Samsung has made the transition fairly easy to do.

It's July, which means the month has finally arrived for the Samsung Messages app on Galaxy phones to shut down.

Back in April 2026, Samsung announced it would be shutting down its Messages app later this year. The company published an official notice on its U.S. website confirming the change and specifying July 2026 as the cutoff. That month is now here, which means the app could stop working at any point.

Samsung still hasn't confirmed the exact date, but the shutdown is expected to happen fairly soon. The company has already stopped preloading the Messages app on flagship Galaxy devices since 2024, and while users could still install it from the Galaxy Store, even that option was pulled with the Galaxy S26 Ultra earlier this year. A full shutdown now looks imminent.

It's over for Samsung Messages on Galaxy phones

(Image credit: Sanuj Bhatia / Android Central)

Users on Android 11 and earlier won't be affected and will still be able to use Samsung Messages on their devices. It's also worth noting that even after the shutdown, you'll still be able to use Samsung Messages on a Galaxy device to contact emergency services. However, you won't be able to send or receive messages from regular contacts.

Samsung has already confirmed it's transitioning Galaxy phones to Google Messages, and the company has made the switch fairly straightforward. We've written a detailed guide on how to move your messages from Samsung Messages to Google Messages that you can follow to transfer all your messages from the old app to the new one.

If you'd rather not use Google Messages, there are a few Samsung Messages alternatives worth exploring. That said, none of them are a true one-to-one replacement, so there's a good chance you'll end up going with Google Messages anyway.

Android Central's Take

I get why some people are upset about this. Nobody likes being forced off an app they've used for years. That said, Google Messages is in a much better place than it used to be, so the switch isn't as painful as it sounds.

Clicks just showed its BlackBerry-inspired Communicator in action — and it looks worth the wait

sanujb6@gmail.com (Sanuj Bhatia) — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 07:45:27 +0000

What you need to know

Clicks has shared a hands-on video of a working Communicator prototype, giving us our first real look at the device.
The Communicator runs a customized Niagara Launcher and lets you navigate apps by typing directly on the physical keyboard.
Hardware highlights include a fingerprint sensor in the space bar, front-firing speakers, a headphone jack, and a micro SD card slot.
Clicks is positioning it as a secondary communication-focused device running Android 16, with a Q4 2026 ship date.

We all remember the BlackBerry-inspired Clicks Communicator that turned heads at CES 2026, and the company has now shared a hands-on video showing off a real working prototype.

When Clicks announced the Communicator earlier this year, the BlackBerry-esque design paired with a modern Android experience immediately caught everyone's attention. But until now, we hadn't seen an actual working prototype. Clicks is changing that with a new hands-on video uploaded to its YouTube channel, giving us a proper preview of what's coming.

The video opens with Clicks VP Jeff Gadway walking through the Communicator's custom interface. He showcases the modified Niagara Launcher that'll come pre-installed on the device, demonstrating how you can customize it, reorganize apps, and quickly search and jump into apps by typing directly on the physical keyboard. The demo also covers how calls and other basic tasks work on the device.

Gadway also walks through some of the other hardware highlights, including a space bar that doubles as a fingerprint sensor for secure authentication. He talks about the front-firing speakers and an advanced microphone system built for better voice quality, and also shows off the 3.5mm headphone jack.

On top of that, he showcases the removable back cover and gives a peek at the internals, including both an SD card slot and a microSD card slot.

Clicks/YouTube

Beyond what's shown in the video, we already know the Clicks Communicator will run Android 16 and feature a 4-inch OLED display. Gadway also confirmed that more hardware features will be covered in upcoming videos, including a signal light LED, a prompt key, a touch-sensitive keyboard, and more.

This is still just our first real look at the Clicks Communicator. Clicks is positioning it as a secondary device built specifically for communication, while your primary phone handles everything else. It's set to ship in Q4 this year, and we'll be taking a much deeper look once we're closer to launch.

Android Central's Take

Okay, this is pretty exciting. After covering Android smartphones all year, most of which are great in their own right, the Clicks Communicator feels like something we haven't seen in a long time. The BlackBerry nostalgia is real, and I can't wait to get my hands on one.

Samsung's wide foldable just got its first detailed specs leak

sanujb6@gmail.com (Sanuj Bhatia) — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 07:20:00 +0000

What you need to know

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is rumored to adopt a wider 4:3 design to compete more directly with Apple's foldable iPhone.
Leaked specs point to a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, 12GB RAM, up to 1TB storage, and a 4,800mAh battery.
Samsung could make the Fold 8 one of its lightest foldables yet, measuring just 4.5mm thick when unfolded.

It's officially July, which means we're finally in Samsung foldable season. And ahead of the company's rumored launch later this month, a new leak has revealed the full specs of the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 8.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 lineup is shaping up to be particularly interesting this year. Samsung is reportedly renaming what used to be the standard Galaxy Z Fold into the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, while the regular Galaxy Z Fold 8 is expected to become a wider, shorter foldable designed to compete more directly with Apple's rumored foldable iPhone.

Tarun Vats, who frequently shares One UI-related leaks on X, now claims the Galaxy Z Fold 8 will feature a 7.6-inch Quad HD+ internal display with a 4:3 aspect ratio. The cover display is said to be a 5.5-inch Quad HD+ panel with a 16:10 aspect ratio. Both displays will reportedly use Dynamic AMOLED 2X panels with support for up to a 120Hz refresh rate.

(Image credit: X/@UniverseIce)

In terms of design, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is rumored to measure just 9.7mm thick when folded and only 4.5mm when unfolded. Its full dimensions are said to be 123.9 × 81.9 × 9.7mm folded and 123.9 × 161.4 × 4.5mm unfolded. The phone is also expected to weigh around 200 grams, which would make it impressively light for a foldable.

Like Samsung's other 2026 flagships, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is expected to be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, the same chip found in the Galaxy S26 Ultra. It will reportedly come with 12GB of RAM and storage options of up to 1TB.

Coming to the cameras, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is reportedly set to feature a 50MP primary camera alongside a 50MP ultra-wide sensor on the back. Both the cover and inner selfie cameras are also expected to use 10MP sensors.

Android Central's take

On paper, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is looking like a very compelling package. It seems to check almost every flagship box although the biggest differentiator this year could end up being the price. I'm actually more interested in seeing how the regular Galaxy Z Fold 8 performs than the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra this time around.

One welcome upgrade is the battery. The leak suggests Samsung is increasing capacity to 4,800mAh, which is larger than previous Galaxy Z Fold models. The phone is also expected to support Super Fast Charging 2.0, although the exact charging speed hasn't been revealed yet.

Samsung still hasn't officially announced its summer Galaxy Unpacked event, but the company has started teasing its next launch on Instagram, suggesting an official announcement may not be too far away.

Samsung hits restart with a viral marketing campaign ahead of the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Flip 8

nickodiaz@sbcglobal.net (Nickolas Diaz) — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 23:30:00 +0000

What you need to know

The company has kicked off a new social media campaign on its Samsung Mobile and Samsung Mobile USA Instagram accounts after hitting reset and wiping every post.
Samsung says it's looking to tell a new story ahead of its Galaxy Z Flip 8, Fold 8 launch with a series of cryptic posts that users will be required to unravel and "decode."
It states that "when we're ready" it will reveal everything we're used to seeing about phones ahead of a major debut.

We've been anticipating the launch of Samsung's next foldables for months. Tonight (June 30), the company's kicked off a new social media campaign, and it's completely wiped its Instagram.

Samsung says it's "hitting reset" leading up to its Galaxy Z Flip 8 and Fold 8 launch. The company's new social media campaign focuses on Instagram, as it states its account feed will be wiped completely. This will take place before Samsung's wave of "cryptic teaser videos." While this might seem a bit odd, Samsung says there's a purpose behind this campaign.

The company is interested in telling a different kind of story. One that's inspired by "familiar cultural touchpoints." Instead of dropping various details about its next foldables, Samsung says it's going to invite theories and speculation. This campaign will involve a series of mysterious "simple and highly visual" posts that seem mundane. However, there's a deeper meaning to these clues and posts, which Samsung says will require users to "decode."

Certain aspects of these cryptic posts will unearth patterns that users will have to be sharp to spot. Samsung says it won't explain anything until it's ready. When that time comes, it will dive into features for its next foldables. Until then, you might want to try to emulate the great Sherlock Holmes.

The campaign begins on Samsung Mobile and Samsung Mobile USA.

What does it all mean?

A post shared by Samsung Mobile USA (@samsungmobileusa)
A photo posted by on

There's quite a bit that we'd like to see from the next wave of Samsung foldables. However, there's a particularly strong focus on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 (and all the rumors surrounding the extra stuff). In terms of design, we're not expecting the Fold 8 to stray too far from what the Fold 7 offered. The Fold 7 was incredibly popular when it debuted, for more reasons than one.

The device integrated a thinner form factor, a refined hinge, and display upgrades, which captivated consumers. It would seem strange for Samsung to teeter away from this, but we'll have to see what this social campaign has in store. On the other hand, a Samsung exec, shortly after the Flip 7 and Fold 7 debuted, said the company was "thinking about" bringing the S Pen back. Such a return would require the device to thicken again after becoming so slim.

Android Central's Take

At the time of me writing this post, Samsung's social media accounts are completely wiped. There's not a thing there. And it's funny to see, considering they have nearly 2 million followers on one of them. Samsung is looking to generate a buzz. It wants the attention, it wants the hype, the eyes, the press. It's encouraged us to "follow along." So I shall.

Motorola's next phone could beat Samsung to a charging feature only Apple and Google have

sanujb6@gmail.com (Sanuj Bhatia) — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 20:33:51 +0000

What you need to know

Motorola Edge 70 Max has appeared in the WPC database, suggesting the phone could launch with native Qi2 support.
The certification points to Qi2.2.1 support, giving the phone up to 25W wireless charging under the latest Qi2 standard.
The listing also mentions a Magnetic Power Profile, hinting that built-in Qi2 magnets may be included instead of requiring a case.

It looks like Motorola could beat Samsung to bringing native Qi2 wireless charging to its smartphones.

For years, iPhones were the only phones with built-in MagSafe-style magnets. Android users could get a similar experience, but only by using third-party magnetic cases. That finally changed with the Pixel 10 series last year, which became the first Android phones to ship with native Qi2 support and built-in magnets, allowing Qi2 and MagSafe-compatible accessories to attach directly to the phone.

Even when Samsung launched the Galaxy S26 series this year, it stopped short of adding full Qi2 support. The phones are only Qi2 Ready, meaning they support the underlying wireless charging standard but don't include the built-in magnets required for the full Qi2 experience. It now looks like Motorola could be next to take that step.

As spotted by Fwned (via Android Authority), Motorola is preparing to launch a new phone called the Motorola Edge 70 Max. The device has reportedly appeared in the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) certification database, confirming its name, model number, and Qi wireless charging support.

Motorola might beat Samsung to native Qi2

(Image credit: Wireless Power Consortium)

According to the listing, the Edge 70 Max supports Qi2.2.1, which effectively means support for the latest 25W Qi2 wireless charging standard.

The more interesting detail, though, is that the certification also references a Magnetic Power Profile, which typically indicates the presence of built-in alignment magnets. If that's accurate, the Motorola Edge 70 Max would support the complete Qi2 experience, including both the charging standard and native magnetic attachment.

We don't know much else about the phone just yet, but if this leak proves accurate, Motorola could beat Samsung to offering full native Qi2 support on its smartphones. That would be a significant step forward for Android, especially since most devices today still rely on third-party magnetic cases to achieve the same functionality.

There's still very little information available about the Edge 70 Max beyond this certification and model number confirmation, but we expect to learn more in the coming weeks.

Android Central's Take

Native Qi2 is one of those features I've wanted on every Android flagship for years. If Motorola really gets there before Samsung, that's a surprisingly big win and another way for it to stand out as it continues eating into Samsung's Android market share.

Commodore's day-one discount is live, and so are Callback 8020 pre-orders

nickodiaz@sbcglobal.net (Nickolas Diaz) — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 19:07:04 +0000

What you need to know

Commodore announces that pre-orders for its Callback 8020 are live, and users can take advantage of a day-one code for an extra discount.
Consumers adding CHICKENLIPS to their Callback 8020 pre-order at checkout will receive an additional $50 off its new $399 price.
The Callback 8020 in BASIC Beige, ProtoPET White, SX Silver, and Starlight Edition can be pre-ordered for $399, while additional bundles start at $640.

Commodore's got a blast from the past that's here—now. The company shared details regarding pre-orders and a discount that consumers can use today only.

Commodore's press release today (June 30) highlights the launch of pre-orders for the Callback 8020. This phone takes us back to Y2K (in a way). Pre-orders are live for the phone for $399. The company says this is a "smart flip phone designed for modern life, not modern distractions." However, while pre-orders are live (and cheaper than before), consumers can cash in on another $50 off.

Android Central's Take

The Callback 8020 is interesting purely because of how different it is. It breaks the "norm" that Commodore's CEO and president realizes consumers have become accustomed to. I like the wildcard. The one that does things its own way without fear. The Callback 8020 is an interesting phone, and the hype is clearly real.

Interested parties pre-ordering the Callback 8020 on June 30 can add the CHICKENLIPS discount code at checkout. Consumers can use this code anytime between now and 11:59 pm PDT on June 30.

Leading up to today's pre-orders, Commodore states it amassed 100,000 waitlisted users in two weeks. The company's CEO and president, Peri Fractric, said, "The modern world is defined by distractions, and nowhere is this more debilitating than in social media." Fractric adds, "Most phones are built to keep you looking down. Callback is built to help you look up again."

What's more, Peri Fractric touches on one of the major hallmarks of the Callback 8020: its strong privacy. Fractric says that the strong interest the phone has garnered over the past couple of weeks indicates users are tired of the "data-stealing" phones and devices that have come to "define modern life" over the past 20 years.

Consumers can find the Callback 8020 in BASIC Beige, ProtoPET White, SX Silver, and Starlight Edition for $399. However, the Founders edition and other accessory options can be purchased for $640.

Peace of Mind

(Image credit: Commodore)

Commodore had to return to the spotlight a bit earlier than it wanted recently. After the Callback 8020's debut, consumers weren't too pleased about its price point. Commodore stated in a follow-up announcement that it worked to address that major consumer issue with its partners. The result is what we've seen again as pre-orders open: the Callback 8020 is now available for $399. The company was able to drop its original price by $ 100 to meet consumers' desires.

Commodore stressed that this wasn't an easy task, simply due to how smartphones are made. Privacy, the current worldwide RAM issue, and accessories were named as the chief issues it needed to address before handling the price concerns. As such, Commodore has split many of these additional options into bundles consumers can pick from during checkout.

The Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 are among the most versatile earbuds I've ever tested — and now they're 50% OFF at Best Buy

patrick.farmer@futurenet.com (Patrick Farmer) — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 18:39:58 +0000

Deals on wireless earbuds are hardly uncommon, but finding a discount that drops 50% off one of my favorite models? That's when I really start paying attention. This week only, Best Buy's 4th of July sale is carving half off the Momentum 4 True Wireless earbuds by Sennheiser, knocking the price of the top-rated buds down to only $149.99.

These are some of the best wireless earbuds we've ever tested, with Sennheiser's famously versatile sound profile, some powerful active noise cancellation (ANC), and a comprehensive suite of handy customization features. The Momentum 4 earbuds may be a few years old at this point, but slap on a 50% discount and they become an absolute steal.

Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4: ~~$299.99~~ $149.99 at Best Buy

If you listen to all kinds of music, you need some versatile earbuds that always sound great, regardless of genre. The Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 are those earbuds, coming complete with loads of customization features, ANC, and more. Grab a pair of these buds during Best Buy's 4th of July sale and you'll get a straight 50% slashed off your purchase. View Deal

Best Buy's 4th of July sale is LIVE: see the full list of deals

We gave the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 a near-perfect review back in 2024, and it isn't hard to see why. The earbuds sound great right out of the box, with support for plenty of hi-res audio codecs (including SBC, aptX Adaptive/Lossless, and AAC), plus you get ANC, wireless charging support, and up to 30 hours of battery life when you use the included charging case.

Speaking of the charging case, that's one of the best parts of the package here, sporting a high-quality tweed finish that feels like pure luxury next to the plastic stuff we usually have to deal with. The Sennheiser Smart Control app also lets you fine-tune the sound from your earbuds directly from your smartphone, letting you experiment with a variety of EQ settings, ANC transparency modes, and more.

Now, let's be real: given their age, I would no longer buy these earbuds at full price. There are plenty of newer noise-cancelling earbuds by companies like Bose or Sony that will do the job better in 2026. But now that the Momentum True Wireless 4 are sitting with a 50% discount at Best Buy, the prospect of buying some last-gen buds is more appealing than ever before. These Sennheiser buds have stood the test of time, and for $150, they're an incredible bargain.

RedMagic's compact, eSports-ready gaming tablet is here, and global users should prepare

nickodiaz@sbcglobal.net (Nickolas Diaz) — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 18:06:14 +0000

What you need to know

RedMagic debuts the Gaming Tablet 5 Pro in China, which will debut as the Astra 2 in global markets (announcement later in July).
The tablet features a 9-inch 2.4K display with a maximum 185Hz refresh rate, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, and more RedMagic AI for optimized gameplay.
The Gaming Tablet 5 Pro features a large 8,300mAh battery with 80W wired charging in China.
Consumers will find the tablet in black and silver colorways, starting at 5,299 RMB (~$780).

After earlier teasers, RedMagic is finally ready to debut its latest compact gaming tablet. This tablet boasts powerful specs, ready to take on the world of eSports.

Early this morning (June 30), RedMagic shared details about the launch of the Gaming Tablet 5 Pro in China. However, it adds that global users will see this debut as the Astra 2, the successor to the original Astra, in 2025. Driving the Gaming Tablet 5 Pro forward is its compact design. RedMagic states it's equipped with a 9.06-inch display with "narrow" 4.9mm bezels. The tablet's screen-to-body ratio is reportedly 90%, meaning RedMagic's attempts to immerse you in games might shine even brighter.

The 2.4K OLED display features a 185Hz refresh rate; however, users will have multiple refresh rate options. The tablet can switch between 60Hz, 90Hz, 120Hz, and 144Hz, alongside the highest choice.

Your reactions and the device's response time can be the deciding factor in many multiplayer games. If you're on it but your hardware isn't, that could spell defeat. RedMagic states its Gaming Tablet 5 Pro improves on its response times with Synaptics S3930 touch solution. Precision, sensitivity, and lower input lag are the hallmarks of this solution.

On the other hand, devices get hot—every mobile gamer knows this. To help, the Gaming Tablet 5 Pro offers liquid cooling. RedMagic reports this is the first tablet in the industry to deploy such a cooling tactic. Internally, the tablet features an ultra-thin micro pump that continuously "circulates coolant through nano-sealed tubing with minimal power consumption..." What's more, several internals, such as the tablet's vapor chambers and heat dissipation hardware, help keep the device cool.

(Image credit: RedMagic)

What brings RedMagic's newest tablet together is Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 SoC. Not only does the company highlight this tablet's strengths in "portable gaming," but it places its own RedCore R4 gaming chip and Energy Cube 3.0 engine right beside it. Elsewhere, a mobile gaming device is nothing without a capable battery, and that's where its 8,300mAh cell comes into play.

While the Gaming Tablet 5 Pro is RedMagic's China model, its battery differs from that of the global Astra 2.

RedMagic says the Chinese version will feature 80W fast charging. Once the Astra 2 debuts, we'll know for sure what charging wattage it will provide. The company's 1227 stereo speaker system enhances the tablet's audio for "richer bass response, greater spatial depth, and immersive audio for gaming, movies, and music." AI is another aspect RedMagic has worked on to assist gamers.

Its OS 11.5 software introduces MORA AI Agent 2.0 to optimize gameplay and assist with everyday tasks.

eSports and more

(Image credit: RedMagic)

RedMagic's efforts in building a capable gaming tablet have resulted in validation for use in eSports environments. The press release states, "The device has received official certification across multiple top-tier mobile esports competitions spanning FPS, MOBA, racing, and tactical shooter genres, demonstrating its ability to meet the demanding standards of professional gaming."

With the official launch underway in China, the RedMagic Gaming Tablet 5 Pro is offered in black and silver colorways. Additionally, users in China will find it available in the following RAM/storage options: 12/256GB, 12/512GB, and 16/1TB. The Gaming Tablet 5 Pro starts at 5,299 RMB (~$780).

It's worth remembering that this device will launch as the RedMagic Astra 2 in global markets. More details are set to be revealed on July 17. RedMagic warns that certain features, specs, and configurations may differ between global and Chinese markets, so its upcoming announcement will be important.

Android Central's Take

I'm always for devices that can run games well. By that, I mean there's very little input lag, little FPS drop, and the like. It's a struggle, obviously. Mobile devices are a bit more limited in what they can do due to size and internals. But RedMagic's continued to hammer away at solving that, and the upcoming Astra 2 is no different. Receiving strong eSport validation is a sign that this tablet can hold it's own, and for some pretty big tournament names, like Call of Duty: Mobile Masters and Arena Breakout Vanguard Cup.

Best Buy launches huge 4th of July sale event — see the 25+ deals that Android users should actually care about

patrick.farmer@futurenet.com (Patrick Farmer) — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 17:28:03 +0000

The 4th of July is swiftly approaching, and Best Buy is marking the occasion by dropping hundreds of outstanding deals across its site. Whether you want a kitchen appliance, smart TV, or top-rated smartphone, there is no shortage of discounts to check out this week.

That said, if you don't feel like scrolling through page after page of products to find the right deal for you, you're in luck: I've picked out all of the best discounts for Android users and dropped them below.

These offers range from deals like 52% off the Samsung S90F OLED TV, no strings attached, to this Prime Day-level $600 discount on the Motorola Razr Ultra (2025). Needless to say, there are plenty more offers where those came from, so keep reading for all of my favorites.

Best Buy's 4th of July sale is LIVE: see the full list of deals

Phones

Motorola

Razr Ultra (2025) 512GB

Samsung

Galaxy A57 5G 128GB

Samsung

Galaxy Z Flip 7 512GB

Motorola

Moto G Stylus 5G (2024) 256GB

Motorola

Razr (2025) 256GB

Motorola

Razr Plus (2025) 256GB

Samsung

Galaxy S25 Ultra 256GB

Motorola

Edge (2025) 256GB

Samsung

Galaxy A37 5G 128GB

Wearables

Samsung

Galaxy Watch 8

Samsung

Galaxy Watch 8 Classic

Samsung

Galaxy Watch Ultra

Oura

Ring 4

Amazfit

Balance 2XT

Garmin

Instinct 3

Tablets and Chromebooks

14 2-in-1 Chromebook

Lenovo

Idea Tab w/ Pen, Folio Case

Acer

Chromebook 315

Headphones and earbuds

Bose

QuietComfort Headphones

Beats

Studio Pro

Sennheiser

Momentum 4

JBL

Tune 245NC

Sennheiser

Momentum 4 Earbuds

Samsung

Galaxy Buds 3 Pro

Smart TVs

Samsung

65" Class S90F Series OLED

Insignia

55" Class F50 Series Fire TV

Samsung

75" Class U7900 Series 4K TV

65" Class C5 Series OLED TV

Toshiba

43" Class M450 QLED Series Fire TV

Insignia

55" Class F70 Series 4K Fire TV

When does Best Buy's 4th of July sale end?

Best Buy's 4th of July sale ends Sunday, July 5th, which gives you a little less than a week to explore the retailer's discounts.

Google thinks you’re too lazy to read your own notes, launches AI video summaries instead

techkritiko@gmail.com (Jay Bonggolto) — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 17:17:37 +0000

What you need to know

Google's NotebookLM now condenses massive documents and notes into 60-second, TikTok-style vertical videos.
The feature is fueled by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite Image, Google’s fastest and most cost-efficient image generation model, boasting four-second render times.
Google is also previewing a robust full-video generation model that supports natural language editing, multimodal inputs, and native audio syncing.

Nobody really enjoys reading through a massive stack of notes or a 50-page research document when they're cramped for time. Google knows this, and so it’s rolling out a huge upgrade to NotebookLM that takes your uploaded documents and turns them into bite-sized, 60-second AI-generated videos.

For the uninitiated, NotebookLM started out as a simple AI research assistant, but it’s now a powerful learning tool. The latest feature, Short Video Overviews, expands on the Cinematic Video Overviews we saw earlier. But the real star of the show is the engine that powers it: Google's new Nano Banana 2 Lite.

Officially dubbed Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite Image, Nano Banana 2 Lite is Google’s fastest and most cost-efficient image generation model to date. You get a whopping four-second image generation time and a big jump in visual quality over the original Gemini 2.5 Flash Image (the first Nano Banana). This engine combines world knowledge with rock-solid consistency of character. It lets you quickly sketch accurate scenes, develop storyboarding tools and render legible typography for localized ads without compromising object fidelity.

Using Short Video Overviews in NotebookLM activates this model, which condenses your sources into a vertical video packed with narrative explanations and educational animations. It's purpose-built for people revising notes, presentations, or lengthy PDFs who just want the key takeaways. Before generating, you simply select "Short" from the output formats (alongside Explainer and Cinematic), pick your specific sources, and set the video's focus using a custom prompt or a suggested topic.

(Image credit: Google)

Alongside this, Google also pushed Gemini Omni Flash into public preview. This model is aimed at full video generation, with conversational editing (relighting scenes and swapping characters with natural language) and multimodal inputs. It has native audio pairing for each video output and syncs on-screen text with kinetic movements.

Short Video Overviews aren't available to everyone just yet. The feature begins rolling out over the coming weeks to English-speaking users aged 18 and older. When it goes live, you’ll be able to access it on the web, Android and iOS, whether you’re signed into a regular consumer account or Google Workspace.

Android Central's Take

If you’re a student cramming for finals or someone who hates reading dense reports, turning a 50-page PDF into a digestible, TikTok-style recap is a massive win. But are we really so allergic to actual reading that we need an AI to hallucinate a 60-second clip from our notes? Google wants to sell the service as the ultimate productivity hack, but it feels disturbingly like a crutch for our fast-shrinking attention spans.

Motorola gives its earbuds a luxury twist, but the Moto Tag 2 might be the bigger upgrade

techkritiko@gmail.com (Jay Bonggolto) — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 13:00:00 +0000

What you need to know

Motorola's new Moto Tag 2 arrives in North America with Bluetooth 6.0, UWB support, Google Find Hub integration, and over 500 days of battery life.
It adds Find My Phone, remote camera controls, location sharing, IP68 durability, privacy protections, and support for third-party accessories.
The Moto Buds 2 Plus are getting new looks with Swarovski-studded Brilliant Collection and new Pantone color options while keeping the same hardware.

Motorola’s connected ecosystem is getting a little boost, but only one of its latest accessories is actually new. The company is bringing the all-new Moto Tag 2, an upgraded Bluetooth tracker that includes newer wireless technology, longer battery life, and tighter integration with Google's Find Hub network, to North America along with fresh color options for the Moto Buds 2 Plus.

In North America, the Moto Buds 2 Plus are available in the eye-catching Brilliant Collection, which pairs a PANTONE Violet Indigo finish with Swarovski crystals, or a more understated PANTONE Cool White. There is also a Canadian PANTONE Silhouette option available.

The Brilliant Collection includes 12 Swarovski crystals embedded in each earbud, plus another 41 hand-placed crystals around the Motorola logo on the charging case.

Motorola

The styling is new, but the hardware is the same. The Moto Buds 2 Plus still have Sound by Bose tuning, dual 11mm dynamic drivers with Knowles balanced armature drivers, Hi-Res Audio support, Spatial Audio on compatible Motorola phones, and Dynamic Active Noise Cancellation. Transparency Mode and six microphones with CrystalTalk AI also return to enhance calls and keep users aware of their surroundings when necessary.

Motorola hasn't skimped on features, either. Bluetooth 6.0, dual-device connectivity with auto-switching, wear detection, customizable EQ, Bass Boost, low-latency Gaming Mode, Audio Share, Fit Test, and Motorola AI integrations are still present on compatible devices.

Battery life is rated at up to nine hours on the earbuds alone, or up to 40 hours with the charging case, with a quick 10-minute top-up delivering up to two hours of listening. The earbuds also boast an IP54 rating, while the charging case comes with an IPX2 splash resistance rating.

Pricing hasn’t changed much either. The Swarovski Brilliant Collection edition is priced at $200 in the US, while the PANTONE Cool White version is $150. Availability begins June 30 through Motorola’s online stores.

Android Central's Take

The Moto Buds 2 Plus has a lot of meaningful upgrades beyond the flashy Swarovski crystals, and the Moto Tag 2 finally catches up to newer Android tracking features. That said, I can't help but feel Motorola is trying a bit too hard to convince us that crystals belong on earbuds. I’d prefer companies to spend more time on pushing battery life, smarter software, and better ecosystem features than dressing up gadgets like fashion accessories.

The bigger announcement is the Moto Tag 2. Motorola's new Bluetooth tracker includes Bluetooth 6.0 with Channel Sounding and supports Ultra Wideband (UWB) on compatible Android phones, helping you locate lost items more accurately.

It also works with Google’s Find Hub network, so Android users can find tagged items through the crowdsourced network of devices.

Motorola is also emphasizing practicality. The Moto Tag 2 runs for more than 500 days on a user-replaceable CR2032 battery, carries an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, and works with Android 9 and newer devices.

(Image credit: Motorola)

In addition to basic item tracking, it has Find My Phone, remote camera controls, location sharing, unwanted tracking alerts, and end-to-end encryption and works with third-party accessories. Those additions make it more versatile and address growing privacy concerns around Bluetooth trackers.

After 25W, Qi2 chases 50W wireless charging with the WPC at Xiaomi HQ

nickodiaz@sbcglobal.net (Nickolas Diaz) — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 10:17:00 +0000

What you need to know

Recently, the World Power Consortium held a Qi Off-Cycle meeting at Xiaomi's HQ in Beijing, China.
Xiaomi and several more companies were there to discuss a new Qi2 charging standard: 50W.
The major talks have concluded, but there's more work to be done, and it's been reported that Qi2 50W might not debut until 2028.

Times are changing, and it looks like the World Power Consortium (WPC) wants to upgrade Qi2 to match what consumers are looking for.

It was reported by ITHome (Chinese) that the WPC's Qi Off-Cycle meeting at Xiaomi's HQ in Beijing, China, was to discuss the future of the wireless charging standard (via 9to5Google). Specifically, Xiaomi is spearheading the future of Qi2 by chasing a 50W charging standard. The publication reports that Xiaomi is focused primarily on "small inductance, low voltage, high power solutions" (machine-translated). Each of these is said to directly influence safety/charging efficiency, coil module loss, and more.

In short, what this new 50W direction wants to solve is "high-powered wireless charging."

The publication states that the meeting featured Xiaomi, as well as "over 20 companies" that have been working alongside it and the WPC to advance the Qi2 wireless standard. The companies met in Beijing to talk about Qi2's 50W "interoperability verification" and to highlight the prototype testing stage. These companies have been encouraged to continue working together to push 50W through, so the market (and consumers) can see it in their future phones.

However, there's nothing official just yet. Right now, what Xiaomi and its partners have been working on is just the groundwork. It's been reported that following Xiaomi's partnerships with domestic companies, Qi2 50W could be a reality by 2028.

25W was almost a year ago

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

Android Central's Take

It's all about giving users options, right? But if you see that wired charging is still the best route, why would you even look or think about a wireless charger? Xiaomi and its partners and other companies involved with the WPC and Qi2 see this issue and are actively working to solve it. It's pretty clear that this will take some time, but it's probably worth it.

Let's not forget that in July 2025, the WPC announced Qi2 v2.2.1. The version numbers equates to the wireless charging we have today: 25W. The WPC highlighted this new version as being "more powerful" than the original Qi2. A primary critique from consumers about wireless charging is its speeds. They're slow. The latest 25W version aimed to solve that, but it hasn't quite nailed that yet.

Charging speeds were previously stuck at 15W, and now they're 25W. However, if Xiaomi has anything to say about it, things won't stay there for long. It's not satisfied with 25W charging, and consumers aren't either. At the time, iPhones were among the first to bring this to its consumers, with Android makers adopting it soon after. There's a chance we'll see a similar occurrence whenever Qi2 50W arrives.

The WPC was also confident that even more Android phones would see Qi2, and that's thanks to Google and Samsung.

Walmart just doubled the price of its cheapest Google TV stick, and you already know why

sanujb6@gmail.com (Sanuj Bhatia) — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 08:12:00 +0000

What you need to know

Walmart has doubled the price of its cheapest Onn FHD Streaming Stick with Google TV, from $15 to $30.
Logged-in Walmart users still see the old price, but anyone not signed in is already seeing the higher tag.
Rising AI infrastructure demand is pushing up memory component costs, which is trickling down to budget devices.

Walmart makes some of the most affordable Google TV sticks under its Onn brand. But if you were planning to grab the company's cheapest streaming stick, you'll now have to pay double what it originally cost.

Walmart introduced the Onn FHD Streaming Stick with Google TV back in 2023 for just $15. The smart stick then pushed the price up to $20, but now, as spotted by 9to5Google, Walmart has bumped the Onn FHD Streaming Stick all the way up to $30.

As spotted by the publication, logged-in users are still seeing the original $15 price tag, but anyone not signed into a Walmart account is now seeing the $30 price. A similar thing happened with the mid-tier 4K Plus model first, so it's likely only a matter of time before the base variant sees a permanent increase as well.

(Image credit: Andrew Myrick / Android Central)

The move comes shortly after Apple raised prices on several of its devices, including the Apple TV. Walmart hasn't made any official statement, but the likely reason is the same one driving price increases across the industry: AI.

The push to build out AI data centers is driving up demand for memory components, which are also used in consumer tech hardware, and that's pushing component costs higher across the board. Since budget products already carry thin margins, it's natural for companies to pass those increased costs on to customers, and that appears to be exactly what's happening with Onn.

It's not the first time Walmart has raised prices on its streaming sticks, either. The Onn 4K Pro already costs $60, which is $10 more than the previous generation, while the Onn 4K Plus went from $30 to $40. Now the company's most affordable option is taking the same hit.

T-Mobile is killing off old plans and forcing loyal customers onto pricier ones

sanujb6@gmail.com (Sanuj Bhatia) — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 21:37:05 +0000

What you need to know

T-Mobile is forcibly migrating customers on older plans like Simple Choice, ONE, Magenta, and Sprint to newer ones.
The price increase can be as much as $6 per line per month, though some customers may see no change at all.
T-Mobile is sweetening the deal with extra benefits and a 5-year price guarantee on all the new plans.

T-Mobile has hit its older customers with a sudden price increase, with original plans being phased out and subscription costs going up by as much as $6 per line per month.

According to early reports, now confirmed by T-Mobile, the company has begun migrating a large number of customers from older plans to newer ones. Most of those affected are on the Simple Choice, ONE/ONE Plus, Magenta, and grandfathered Sprint plans.

T-Mobile has already started sending emails and messages to affected customers. In the notification, the company says users will keep their current benefits, while also gaining additional perks and improved service experiences. T-Mobile is also offering a 5-year price guarantee on the new plans.

In a statement, T-Mobile said it's retiring its oldest plans, some of which were built over 15 years ago during the 3G and 4G era. The company noted that "customers will move to modern plans with access to better wireless technology, enhanced features, and a 5-year price guarantee."

(Image credit: Future)

It added that some customers will see no change to their monthly bill, while others will see a modest adjustment, and that every customer moved to a new plan will keep their existing benefits while gaining improvements in network and service experience.

Unsurprisingly, customers aren't happy. Many have taken to social media and Reddit to voice their frustration, some have filed complaints with official state courts over the price lock guarantee, and a number of users are reportedly planning to switch to Verizon's new Simplicity plan.

A Reddit post has also shed some light on what the new plans will look like. They'll fall under a new category called Experience Signatures/Select/More/Beyond plans, and will include benefits like unlimited premium data with hotspot sharing and ad-free Netflix on most tiers.

A lot of users haven't seen any changes yet, but given that T-Mobile has now officially confirmed the transition, it's likely only a matter of time before you get a notification from the carrier as well. In the meantime, if you're sticking with T-Mobile regardless, here are the best T-Mobile phones you can get right now.

This Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 leak could be the upgrade we've been waiting for

techkritiko@gmail.com (Jay Bonggolto) — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 19:51:39 +0000

What you need to know

A new leak claims the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 could pack a blazing 5,000-nit display.
Samsung is also rumored to boost battery capacity from 590mAh to 800mAh.
The next Ultra may get an IP69K durability rating, offering stronger protection against high-pressure, high-temperature water than the current IP68 certification.

Samsung is gearing up for the release of the next generation of its flagship smartwatch, and if a new leak is to be believed, the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is coming in hot. Or, more exactly, bright.

Tipster Ice Universe, who has a good track record with Samsung leaks, revealed on Weibo that the company is working on a significant hardware upgrade for its next-gen wearable. The leak suggests the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 could be up to 5,000 nits bright at its peak. That's a massive jump from the current Galaxy Watch Ultra, which maxes out at 3,000 nits.

If it's true, it could make a real difference. More brightness means less squinting and fewer moments hiding the screen with your hand.

Battery life also looks to receive an upgrade. The leak says Samsung will pack the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 with an 800mAh battery, up from the 590mAh cell in the current model. This corroborates an earlier report, and it's a big jump in capacity and could translate into longer time between charges if Samsung backs it up with efficient software and hardware optimizations.

Samsung might be making the watch even more rugged as well. The Galaxy Watch Ultra already aims at those with active lifestyles, but the new leak suggests the sequel will get an IP69K rating. It is a more robust standard than the existing IP68 certification that covers high-pressure, high-temperature jets of water.

Samsung hasn’t confirmed any of these details, so take the leak with the usual dose of skepticism. But with the company’s next Galaxy Unpacked event looming on the horizon, we probably won’t have to wait long to find out how much of this report rings true.

Android Central's Take

Personally, I’d take these types of upgrades over another AI-powered smartwatch gimmick any day. I want to see a screen that’s actually readable in bright midday sun, battery life that makes me stress less about charging, and tougher protection long after launch day. My only worry is that Samsung can't count on incremental hardware improvements forever. There comes a point where brighter screens and bigger batteries aren’t enough, and the company will need to show why upgrading from the first Galaxy Watch Ultra is worth the investment.

Android 17 'sneak peek' at a foldable gaming mode has my attention—and then some

nickodiaz@sbcglobal.net (Nickolas Diaz) — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 18:17:00 +0000

What you need to know

Mishaal Rahman, an employee of Google's Community engagement for Android, teased Android 17's upcoming foldable gaming mode.
This gaming mode would split a foldable's screen during gameplay, featuring the game at the top half and a virtual gamepad below that.
It's a full gamepad, featuring all the buttons you'd expect from a PlayStation or Nintendo controller, and users will be able to customize it.
Rahman says this gaming mode is targeting a "platform release in the coming months."

A Google member has posted a generous early look at what's coming up for Android 17 and gaming for foldables.

On the Android Gaming subreddit, Mishaal Rahman, working for the community engagement side of Android at Google, posted a glimpse at Android 17's "foldable gaming mode." Rahman leads off by stating, "While touch controls work incredibly well for many titles, certain games are better enjoyed with physical gamepads." To solve this, Google is working on a gaming mode for these unique phones that splits their screen.

The top half would host your game, leaving the bottom half with a true (touch-based) gamepad experience. Rahman says the gaming portion of the screen will remain "unobstructed." To enable this, Google says users need only unfold their phone before or after launching a compatible game.

Another issue that Google sought to solve was users needing to carry a controller. While Android works well with physical controllers, traveling can be a burden. This foldable gaming mode is focused on games that support physical controllers. Rahman adds that devs don't have to change much for this virtual gamepad to appear; however, split-screen support is where their focus should be.

Mishaal Rahman / Reddit

The gamepads look familiar. If you were to compare it to Xbox or Nintendo controls, you'd feel right at home. Google worked in X, Y, A, and B buttons, alongside L1, L2, R1, and R2. Of course, users will find analog sticks for movement and a D-pad for their arrows. Android 17 will let foldable users customize their virtual gamepad's layout. You can have the sticks together in the middle, more like a PlayStation 5 controller, or staggered, similar to a Nintendo Switch 2 or Xbox controller.

What's more, users will be able to increase or decrease the size of their gamepad. Haptic feedback is another addition, teased as a toggleable option. Some Android games already have haptics. This might be an obscure or off-the-wall reference, but if you've played Pokémon TCG Pocket, you'd know.

Rahman says, "Foldable gaming mode is part of the Android 17 platform release and will be available in the coming months."

Onward, Android 17

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

Android 17 launched in mid-June after some rapid testing by Google over the past few months. This year's OS upgrade isn't quite as flashy as we've seen before, but it's effective for detecting threats and scams. What's more, the OS brings a few key features, such as Bubbles. This is a new way for users to multitask between apps on their device in a floating menu. While many users with slab phones (think Galaxy S25, Pixel 10) might not see much of a use for it, Bubbles truly targets large-screen devices (foldables).

Rahman teases this foldable gaming mode for a future platform release "in the coming months," and we can't help but look at Android 17's first drop. Right now, Google is engaged in QPR1 Beta 5 after rolling it out to Pixel users last week. The latest beta was pretty large, bringing fixes for vanishing widgets, Game Dashboard, and Pixel cameras.

Android Central's Take

Do I have to say much here? I think we all know that I really like what Google's teased for foldables. I might have to get myself one (pray for my wallet). Gaming on foldables hasn't been bad, but this change would make it better. I can see this useful for games that would truly benefit from a virtual gamepad. Think Wuthering Waves or Zenless Zone Zero. Quick button inputs, rapid movements. A lot of people game on their phones, and making foldables better at that would make them a little more appealing (at least for me).

Xiaomi 18 sees a battery upgrade rumor that's passable at best

nickodiaz@sbcglobal.net (Nickolas Diaz) — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 16:07:12 +0000

What you need to know

Rumors suggest the Xiaomi 18 could receive a modest ~200mAh battery boost over the previous model.
If true, that would place its Chinese version at ~7,200mAh, but it's unclear if this same boost or more could hit the global version.
Xiaomi's president, Lu Weibing, stated in a livestream last year that the Dynamic Back Display was popular, pushing the series to shatter records, and that the company would seek to do it again.

Xiaomi's next flagships (at least the top two versions) have been rumored for a while now. However, what's entering the fray is a rumor about an upgrade that its base version could bring to extend your usage.

Late this weekend, tipster Digital Chat Station (DCS) posted on Weibo about an upgrade Xiaomi is supposedly bringing to the base Xiaomi 18 (via GSMArena). The tipster suggests the Xiaomi 18 could receive a 7,200mAh battery when it debuts. Nothing's certain yet, but the 18 series could appear in the second half of 2026 if we're looking back to the 17 series' September 2025 arrival.

DCS adds that the device in question is a "prototype," so perhaps this battery total will change. As it stands, the Xiaomi 18 is only preparing for a modest 200mAh upgrade over the 7,000mAh cell in the 17. However, the publication notes an important fact: this 7,000mAh total was only present for the Chinese version of the Xiaomi 17. When it hit global audiences, that total dropped to ~6,330mAh. Maybe Xiaomi will increase totals a little more than 200mAh, or perhaps they'll keep it the same.

What's more, in the comments, Chinese users were discussing the phone's alleged specifications, to which DCS claims, "if you want both good image quality and a large battery, just buy a large-screen phone" (machine-translated). GSMArena expands on this, adding that the Xiaomi 18 is rumored to feature a 6.4-inch display and a 200MP telephoto lens. Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 is rumored, which isn't so surprising.

The Pro, Pro Max are cooking

(Image credit: Xiaomi)

Xiaomi's next flagship Pro and Pro Max have been talked about, but that's because the company's "magic" display, or "Dynamic Back Display," was so popular with consumers. Xiaomi's president, Lu Weibing, held a livestream shortly after the series debuted, stating the devices shattered pre-order records "minutes after" going live. While the 17 Pro performed well, it was the 17 Pro Max that was the shining star. Both devices offer a 2.1-inch Dynamic Back Display with unique interactions.

The company states it has already increased the budget for its R&D department to continue this design on future phones. More recently, rumors about the phones followed what Xiaomi's president said late last year. However, these rumors say the back display could increase to 4 inches with "higher brightness" and "privacy protection."

Android Central's Take

I'm hoping Xiaomi boosts its global version's battery a little more than 200mAh. Sure, it's already a good cell. 6,330mAh is great for keeping you engaged, playing, and scrolling all day long. But there's a pretty wide gap in battery capacity between the global and Chinese versions. Do the numbers have to match one-to-one? Not really. I wouldn't say I'm that picky. But boosting it by maybe 400, 500mAh would be nice.

You can reserve your WhatsApp username this week to keep your number private

nickodiaz@sbcglobal.net (Nickolas Diaz) — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 16:00:00 +0000

What you need to know

WhatsApp announced the beginning of its global username reservation period for the platform.
Users can begin reserving their desired username this week on WhatsApp, which lets them share this instead of their phone number for added privacy.
Small business owners and content creators can "claim" their usernames from Facebook or Instagram and port it into WhatsApp.

In the name of privacy, WhatsApp is rolling out username reservations, and this is how you can get started.

Today (June 29), WhatsApp announced that its "introducing usernames" to the platform this week. Users can keep their phone numbers to themselves and instead put their chosen username front and center. What's more, WhatsApp is adding a "key" to help users "control who contacts you by your username." To avoid overlap, the messaging platform is kicking things off with a reservation period before the username feature launches officially "later this year."

What's rolling out is a new Username option in your WhatsApp account settings (Settings > Account > Username). Tapping that will give an initial splash screen and a button to create one. The system will check to make sure your username hasn't already been taken. If it has, you'll need to create a new one. Additionally, the secondary level of security is the "key."

If you specify that only people with your key can contact you, WhatsApp will generate a unique string of numbers for you. However, you must share your username and this generated key before someone can start texting or calling you.

WhatsApp states that there is no "registry" or suggestions for usernames. People must know your name (and key, if you've chosen that) before they can contact you. For content creators and businesses on Facebook or Instagram, users can "claim" their username and transfer it to WhatsApp.

Reserved under...?

(Image credit: WhatsApp)

WhatsApp states usernames are rolling out "gradually over the coming months." The app will inform you when you can begin doing so in your country.

We've been hearing about usernames on WhatsApp for a while now. The messaging platform rolled out a few contact-focused features a while ago. The main goal was to give users the option to save contacts from WhatsApp web and Windows devices. It gave more flexibility when interacting with contacts, as the only way you could do so prior was on your primary phone.

However, the platform said this was done to begin setting the framework for usernames in the future. This would be that future. Global reservations for usernames are beginning this week, so users should start thinking ahead of time and get to it ASAP.

Android Central's Take

Usernames are simple. If you grew up playing multiplayer games, you'd know the feeling. They represent who you are (in a way), and are like fun codenames when you're playing games. The thing about phone numbers is that they're so personal. They literally connect you with someone else. If someone has it, they knew exactly how to reach you. Not everyone's ready for that kind of commitment, and I think usernames can solve that.

YouTube Shorts just borrowed more of TikTok's best tricks

techkritiko@gmail.com (Jay Bonggolto) — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 15:45:00 +0000

What you need to know

YouTube Shorts is getting a major usability upgrade with 2x playback, a clutter-free viewing mode, improved recommendation controls, and a redesigned Like button.
You can now speed through Shorts at 2x by holding either side of the screen, making it easier to skip slower content without leaving the video.
A new Clear screen mode hides on-screen clutter with a single tap, giving videos a cleaner, more immersive viewing experience.

YouTube is giving Shorts one of its biggest viewer-focused updates yet, making the experience cleaner, faster, and a lot more familiar for anyone who’s spent time on TikTok.

The rollout brings four major improvements to the Shorts player interface, including a faster playback experience, a clean viewing experience, improved feedback controls, and a new Like button, as per YouTube's announcement. The headline addition is 2x playback speed.

Shorts had previously been limited to normal playback speeds, while standard YouTube videos offered various playback controls.

(Image credit: Google)

With the new change, you can now hold either side of the screen to temporarily double the speed of playback. Then, release your finger to return to normal. If you want to keep it at 2x, just swipe down with the screen held.

Another welcome change is the addition of a new "clear screen” mode. Watching Shorts often means an overlay full of buttons, captions, usernames, and other interface elements. Now you can hide almost everything on the screen with just one tap, leaving only the video itself. Tap again if you want the controls restored. The feature is a close copy of TikTok’s Clear Mode, but it’s an improvement many Shorts viewers have been asking for.

YouTube is also altering the way viewers engage with Shorts. The familiar thumbs-up icon is being replaced with a heart, aligning the visual language of Shorts with other short-video platforms. It looks different, but it functions the same: tap it and you’re still giving the video a thumbs up.

The dislike button is dead

The bigger switch is dislike. YouTube is removing the dislike button from the Shorts player entirely and will provide users with more direct controls over recommendations. Viewers are asked to select “Not interested” or “Don’t recommend this channel” from the three-dot menu instead of just disliking a video. These tools, YouTube says, provide more accurate signals about what kind of content people actually want to stop seeing, which helps improve future recommendations rather than just relying on a simple thumbs-down.

But creators don’t need to worry about losing their historic data. The current dislike counts for Shorts will still be available in YouTube Studio. At the end of June, however, Google will stop collecting new dislike counts for Shorts, while long-form videos and live streams will continue to show dislikes like they do today.

Another quality-of-life improvement that comes with these changes: viewers can mute Shorts right from the player, making it easier to browse silently without having to use the device’s volume controls.

Android Central's Take

I think this is the kind of updates shorts has been needing for a while. Scrolling should be less frustrating and more purposeful if you could zoom through slower videos, hide the clutter on the screen, and fine-tune recommendations without resorting to a vague dislike button. That said, it’s hard to look past how many of these additions feel like they were lifted from TikTok, rather than truly original thoughts. By now, YouTube appears more interested in closing feature gaps than blazing its own trail.

Prime Day is over, but Samsung's best cheap phone is STILL selling for a record low price at Amazon

patrick.farmer@futurenet.com (Patrick Farmer) — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 15:11:32 +0000

Prime Day 2026 has come and gone, but you may be surprised at the number of Android phone deals that are still hanging around. One notable example of this would be the 256GB configuration of the Samsung Galaxy A57 5G, a midrange masterpiece that is still chilling with a 16% discount, days after the sale's end. That price decrease drops Samsung's 'budget king' to the lowest price ever recorded, no trade-in or Prime membership required!

The Galaxy A57 5G is the 'budget king', and now it's cheaper than ever before

Samsung Galaxy A57 5G 256GB: ~~$609.99~~ $509.99 at Amazon

Samsung's latest midrange masterpiece, the Galaxy A57 5G is an approachable Android phone that doesn't skimp on flagship-level specs. Grab the 256GB version from Amazon today and you'll score a historic 16% off your purchase.

Want to save even more? The 128GB version of the phone is also receiving an 18% discount, knocking the price down to $449.99 for a limited time.

💲Price comparison: Samsung - $509.99 | Best Buy - $449.99 (128GB version)View Deal

Although it often gets overlooked next to similarly-priced options like the Google Pixel 10a, the Galaxy A57 5G is an incredible phone in its own right, boasting a lovely 6.7-inch OLED display, versatile triple camera system, and IP68 water-and-dust protection, which is a rarity at this price point.

The A Series Samsung phone also comes with a durable aluminum-and-glass construction while still weighing less than Google's phone. Under the hood you get an efficient Exynos processor with 8GB of RAM and a 5,000mAh battery that should easily surpass a full day on a single charge.

On the other hand, the Galaxy A57 doesn't offer wireless charging support, the AI features are a bit lacking compared to some Samsung phones, and you only get six years of OS/security updates compared to Google's guaranteed seven. Still, the Galaxy A57 is a sophisticated smartphone that feels way more premium than its price would suggest.

Would I recommend buying the phone at full price? No. But slap on a historic discount and the midrange masterpiece becomes a seriously good value.

The portable Samsung T9 SSD is STILL selling for a record-low price after Prime Day — but how much longer can it last?

patrick.farmer@futurenet.com (Patrick Farmer) — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 13:42:31 +0000

It's no secret that SSDs and other storage devices are absurdly expensive right now, and it doesn't seem like that's changing any time soon. Fortunately, Prime Day gave us a few solid deals on portable SSDs and other storage devices, and even though that sale has officially come to a close, there are still a few leftover discounts hanging about.

One of my favorite leftover deals is this offer that slashes 38% off the 1TB T9 SSD by Samsung, knocking the price of the storage device down to $179.99 for a limited time. Up until Prime Day, the 1TB SSD was floating around $250, so this is no small discount — it essentially amounts to $0.18 per gigabyte. And the best part is that, unlike many of the official Prime Day deals we saw last week, you don't need to be a Prime member to enjoy the savings.

Samsung 1TB T9 Portable SSD: ~~$287.99~~ $179.99 at Amazon

Finding a good deal on a storage device can seem like an impossible task in 2026, but Amazon is making things a bit easier by slashing 38% off the portable 1TB T9 SSD by Samsung. This compact solid state device boasts shockingly fast transfer speeds with high-end encryption and a durable build that you can take anywhere.

Need more than 1TB of storage? It's worth mentioning that the 2TB and 4TB configurations of the device are also receiving 39% and 30% discounts, respectively.View Deal

Whether you're a photographer, musician, or business professional, if you're dealing with large files on the go, the Samsung T9 is the ideal companion. This compact device boasts read-and-write transfer speeds of up to 2,000MB per second, plus you get regular firmware updates with AES 256-bit password protection and a high-end thermal cooling system that keeps your SSD running smoothly, no matter how heavy the usage.

The SSD is also built from durable materials and has been drop-tested from up to 9.8 feet in height, so you can take it with you anywhere without worrying about the safety of your most important files. If something does go wrong, Samsung also offers a five-year warranty.

Indeed, the Samsung T9 is a powerful storage device for on-the-go file management, and this is a good price. If you're planning to upgrade your storage setup this year, I'd recommend jumping on this deal before Amazon's leftover Prime Day deals expire. After all, the current RAM crisis isn't going away any time soon, and if you miss this discount, you'll likely have to wait until Black Friday to save this much cash on a portable SSD by Samsung.

Ticketmaster's 'customizable pass' collab with Google Wallet sounds great for gameday

nickodiaz@sbcglobal.net (Nickolas Diaz) — Sat, 27 Jun 2026 12:24:00 +0000

What you need to know

Ticketmaster announced its partnership with Google Wallet, which brings "customizable passes" to Android.
Clients of events can customize their digital passes with flashy designs and up to 12 links for important venue details.
Users benefit from this last note, as they can find info on parking, food, drinks, merch, and VIP access directly from their pass.

This summer is going to be packed with events of all kinds. To try and help, Ticketmaster announced a partnership with Google Wallet for more unique digital passes on Android.

Ticketmaster says that what it's worked on with Google Wallet are "customizable passes" that are designed for "branded experiences" on Android. Passes are mobile tickets saved in Google Wallet, but Ticketmaster says this new direction offers a new sense of "brand presence." Brands can offer customized hero images, tour artwork, and more.

If you're attending a group's stop on their nationwide tour, you might see unique album artwork or sports game visuals if you're going to an NFL game.

Aside from flashy visuals, these customizable passes are getting more useful for you, the user. Ticketmaster says clients can add "up to 12 action links to each pass." These links will direct visitors to crucial event areas. Links for parking, transportation, gate details, VIP upgrades, and food/drinks can be found in these passes. This removes the need for users to conduct extra research before heading out or leading up to the event/gameday.

The post states that tapping a parking link will open a map of the venue, so you can plan where you might go. Additionally, users can download that event's affiliate app on their Android device through these links if desired.

Digital passes continue to evolve

(Image credit: Ticketmaster)

Passes and digital tickets have been a big aspect of Google Wallet for years now. The company rolled out a useful update to Wallet, one that would automatically surface a pass you might need. "Context-aware" is what drives this feature. Google states that as the user approaches a location, like a train station, the Wallet app would produce their train ticket on their lock screen.

This removes the need for users to open their phones, navigate to the Wallet app, and select their appropriate pass. Google says this capability extends to airport gates, concert venues, and stores. Considering this new partnership with Ticketmaster, perhaps something like this would occur for these customizable passes.

Android Central's Take

I like this partnership, and this is coming from a sports guy. Getting my tickets ready for gameday is an exciting feeling. I can just imagine a White Sox or a Bears ticket through Ticketmaster's new approach for passes. The hype would be unreal. What's more, these links would help with stadium navigation for parking in case anything changes.

It took a while, but Google's finally fixing a SiriusXM radio issue on its smart speakers

nickodiaz@sbcglobal.net (Nickolas Diaz) — Sat, 27 Jun 2026 11:17:00 +0000

What you need to know

Google states a fix is rolling out late in June for a bug that impacted several of its smart speakers and SiriusXM radio.
Users given multiple errors a month ago, when reports surfaced, and were unable to get their content to stream via a speaker.
While this issue gets resolved, Google's also debuted its new Home Speaker and expanded Gemini for Home to more partners.

Google has been busy with new launches and bug fixes since May. This week, it's been reported that a major fix is on the way for a satellite radio problem.

About a month ago, users on the Google Home subreddit reported a sudden problem attempting to listen to SiriusXM radio on their smart speakers (via Android Authority). Getting down to brass tacks, Google responded to this month-old thread this week, stating "We've resolved an issue impacting the ability to stream SiriusXM on some Google Home devices." These "issues" Google refers to were highlighted by the thread's OP (original poster), who states their smart speakers were unable to stream any content.

Specifically, the user states their device would consistently give them the following error: "I looked for that, but it either isn't available or can't be played right now." They checked their Google Home settings and ensured their SiriusXM subscription was properly linked. Spoiler alert: everything was fine. Further investigations showed that they could listen to the radio via the app, just not through their speakers.

Many more reports on the subreddit stated similar issues. After contacting Google Support, users were told to run through normal troubleshooting procedures. Many users already said they did this on their own, to be fair. However, through these reports, Google acknowledged it was an issue, at least that's what users said after contacting support.

Now, over a month later, a fix for the radio issue is coming through for Google Home smart speakers.

New speaker on the block

(Image credit: Google)

In the time that these issues were reported, Google launched the Home Speaker, its future of smart speakers and AI assistance at home. For $99, the Home Speaker is the brand's first device built completely around its AI, Gemini. The AI is capable of understanding normal speech, meaning users don't have to constantly remember and throw buzzwords around. The AI can act on multi-step commands, and users can engage in follow-up questions to keep their conversations going.

Since Gemini is so tightly integrated, we all know what that means: Gemini for Home is at its core. When Google expanded its availability to more countries, the company improved Gemini's response times by 40%. What's more, it improved the AI's ability to understand what device users are talking to about to (hopefully) avoid mistaken commands. On a related note, Google opened Gemini for Home to hardware makers and carriers.

This means consumers will likely see more devices hitting the market that support Google's AI natively.