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The OnePlus Open schools Samsung and Google in foldable multitasking
OnePlus has found the best way to make the most of that big display so far
If you’re in the market for a foldable phone today, there is a good chance that you’ll end up getting a Samsung phone — the manufacturer makes most of our favorite foldable phones, after all. However, OnePlus wants to tip the scale in its favor with its first foldable phone, the OnePlus Open, which gets the better of the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and the Pixel Fold in more ways than one. While its physical enhancements are part of the story, the OnePlus Open quite literally teaches other foldable phones how multitasking should look on that big inner screen.
Where has this year gone? Halloween is now weeks behind us, Thanksgiving is coming in hot, and before you know it, it'll be the end of December. You won't hear us complaining though, as scores of Black Friday deals are starting to hit the web. We've already seen significant discounts on everything from top tablets to our favorite wireless headphones, and we expect to see many more in the coming days.
Android isn't cool with teenagers, and that's a big problem
Nearly 9 in 10 US teenagers use an iPhone, spelling disaster for Google's mobile future
Read update
It's no secret that Android is the most-used operating system in the world, a title it first earned after surpassing Windows in 2017. Unfortunately, that's a fact not quite represented in the US. Although Android held the top mobile OS spot for years, Apple finally managed to overtake the competition in September of 2022, surpassing 50 percent market share for the first time. As you'd probably guess, those numbers have only increased from there.
Google Pixel 9: News, leaks, rumored price, and release window
Let's look ahead at what Google has in store for its 2024 flagships
With the Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro launches out of the way, it's time to look forward to what's on the horizon. You could pick up this year's Google flagships — they're pretty good, especially on sale — but imagining what's around the corner is more fun. The Pixel 9 will be here before you know it. Considering Google's record for leaks, the possibility of seeing a device in the wild is higher than you might think. Here's everything we know about the Pixel 9.
Best Samsung Galaxy A54 deals: discounts, trade-in offers, and more
Get Samsung's already affordable Galaxy A54 at an even better price with these deals
With Black Friday sales well underway, some of the best Black Friday Samsung deals have arrived to make sure your next phone is a Samsung. That includes some sweet offers on the brand's most popular yet budget-friendly phones on the market, the Galaxy A54 5G. It's seen some great price cuts over the past few months, but one deal in particular is now available that makes it a must-buy for those who want a good yet cheap phone.
Samsung Galaxy S24: News, leaks, rumored price, and release window
Samsung's next flagship lineup will be here before you know it
Although the Samsung Galaxy S23 series remains some of the best Android phones you can buy right now — particularly the massive Galaxy S23 Ultra — it's easy to look ahead at what's next. Samsung recently announced two new folding phones, including the massive Galaxy Z Fold 5. But if you're uninterested in foldables, the Galaxy S24 series is the company's next set of incoming flagships, set for release early next year.
Samsung's foldables have been left behind by the competition
The original folding phone maker needs to step it up in 2024
I don't know about you, but any time a new gadget gets announced, I have to see what it's all about — even if all signs point to a small refresh. For me, I'm always hoping there will be something that hasn't leaked, delivering that "wow" moment we're all chasing. A perfect example is Samsung's first Galaxy Fold, which mesmerized both my inner and outer nerd. Of course, the first version had its issues, forcing a delayed launch, but nearly five years later, Samsung has dominated the folding phone market with both book-style and clamshell smartphones.
If you know anything about me, you know I'm a big fan of Samsung's smartphones. In fact, next March will mark the fifth anniversary of my move to Galaxy devices. I'd spent most of the 2010s using Nexus and Pixel devices, but on the heels of the Pixel 3, it was time for a change. While I've kept Google's hardware around primarily to test out upcoming Android releases, I've never felt the temptation to return — that is, until I laid eyes on the Pixel 8.
5 things Google and Samsung need to learn from the OnePlus Open
It's not perfect, but the OnePlus Open should be a wake up call to the competition
Although the OnePlus Open is the company's first foldable, realistically, it's a third-generation device, with Oppo’s Find N series paving the way. Even still, the Open features improvements that top the fifth-generation Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and add functionality that Google Pixel Fold users could only currently dream of. The OnePlus Open earns its status as a great foldable phone because it feels like it was designed and engineered by people who learned from previous foldable mistakes. And while the creature comforts might seem small, the result is definitely more impactful than the sum of their parts.
Epic's ruination of Bandcamp may have disastrous effects on the indie music scene
Has Epic gutted one of indie artists' best assets?
The music industry isn't exactly kind to upcoming groups and artists; breaking into such a competitive market can be a challenge even for the incredibly talented. This also obstructs fan engagement in terms of monetary support; it's hard to network when nobody can find your address. Bandcamp is the indie music cave of wonders, an app with countless artists selling their work and merch directly to fans. It's a haven for independent music creators, who can post, share, and generally sell their content, with the site taking a 15% cut of each sale — pretty reasonable.
Google Pixel Fold: Price, specs, news, and features
Everything you need to know about Google's first crack at a folding phone
Google finally unveiled the Pixel Fold at Google I/O 2023, its first folding phone that goes head-to-head with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5. Like Samsung's flagship foldable, this device is a book-style folding phone that has a regular smartphone-like screen on the front and a tablet-like display on the inside. But unlike that model, it uses a completely different aspect ratio to make the device wide and short.
We all need to chill about Magic Editor
AI is troubling, but the Pixel 8's Magic Editor is the least of my worries
Last week, the Washington Post ran an opinion piece that proclaimed, rather boldly, that Google’s ad campaign for the Pixel 8 series "encapsulates all the horrors of our moment and gleefully promises to make them worse.” The phones’ “main selling point” — that they feature AI-powered photo manipulation tools — is, the piece intimates, a microcosm of the troubled, post-truth times we live in. “The message here is unmistakable,” Matt Bai writes. “Don’t be a prisoner to unsatisfying reality. Just make it whatever you want it to be.”
The Galaxy S23 FE is redeemed (and damned) by the Android Police podcast
And we can't keep the OnePlus Open shut (conversation-wise, that is)
After two weeks away, Daniel rejoins the Android Police podcast this week to be the ketchup to our mustard and mayonnaise... who the other two are is up to you. Anyways, we catch up with some chat on the Snapdragon X Elite chips, bemoan the Galaxy S23 FE, continue to praise the OnePlus Open, and give Google a sideways glance and ask how it's doing in court in the next 73 minutes... and then Baby Daniel joins us with his ten-year-old Nexus 5 review to wrap the show.
10 best tech toys and gadgets we reviewed this October
From folding phones to awesome audio, Tech-tober brought us a cornucopia of cool new toys
Tech-tober is in the books, and boy, howdy, was it a busy one! With Google and OnePlus launching their latest and greatest phones to an assortment of amazing new ANC earbuds to wonderful wearables and beyond, we've been up to our eyeballs in reviews, sharing the best and worst of these products with you. The beginning of this month and the Google Pixel 8 launch may seem like a lifetime ago right now, so in case you've missed a review or three, let's take a look back at the best of this bumper crop of glorious gadgets.
Budget Android flagships are better than ever — here's why
Spending $600 on a smartphone gets you a lot more than it used to
It wasn't long ago that premium features and performance were reserved for the best smartphones around, devices that regularly clock in at prices north of $1,000. But over the past couple of years, that's changed, with a range of offerings all for around $600. However, none of these phones come without compromises, with each manufacturer deciding how to cut costs on these “budget” flagships. With that in mind, let’s look at the most essential elements that separate a good budget flagship from a bad one.
Google’s Nexus 5 at 10: A glimpse into the future
The Nexus 5 was released right when Google started taking software and hardware seriously
It’s hard to believe, but the Nexus 5 is 10 years old this week. It was released on October 31, 2013, launching just about a month after the original Moto X. Google was in a weird position at the time, with the company having just bought Motorola and its own lineup of phones, all while keeping the Nexus series very much alive and well. In a sense, the Nexus 5 represented a real crossroads for Google, with the company starting to take software design and hardware ownership seriously. That pressure made the Nexus 5 one of the best phones of its time, even in a vastly different landscape from today’s best flagship phones.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3's secret sauce gets deconstructed with the Android Police podcast
Qualcomm's back in the conversation
Will is at the helm for this week's Android Police podcast, but he's also at Qualcomm's annual product launch press junket in Hawaii. Once again, Chris Patrick, SVP and GM of Handsets, joins us. So, what did the chipmaker bring everyone out to the islands for this year? ARM computing, artificial intelligence, mobile console gaming, and not much 5G. The agenda's definitely a different look from previous years, so let's get into it.
My OnePlus Open just survived a hard drop, dispelling the idea of the fragile foldable
While flexible screens are still delicate, foldable phones themselves have come a long way
While the OnePlus Open may have a thoughtful symbolism behind its name, the handset indeed opens the door for the company to join the growing club of super-premium foldable makers that not even Apple is a part of. Even though this is OnePlus’ first attempt at a foldable, the product itself doesn’t feel like it — it is considerably more mature and polished than many other handsets with a similar form factor. Oppo’s backing is certainly a strong factor here, but at the end of the day, the OnePlus Open is what most of the world will get and that’s how it’s going to be perceived.
Payday Crime War was always destined for failure
Let's explore what happened with this doomed mobile adaptation
Released in beta in 2018, Pay Day: Crime War was an ambitious attempt by then-developer Starbreeze Studios to bring the illustrious series to the mobile platform. It provided bite-sized coop-focused first-person shooter gameplay with an emphasis on high-steak criminal heists. Essentially, the familiar cops and robbers action the series was known for.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3: Everything you need to know
Curious what makes Qualcomm's latest flagship SoC tick? Here's what's under the hood
These days, if you have one of the best Android flagships around, it's probably powered by one of two mobile chipsets: Google's in-house Tensor series, or a Snapdragon 8 SoC. As much as we love the Google Pixel 8 Pro, Qualcomm has been absolutely destroying this space lately, pushing ahead of the competition over the last year and looking to do it again with the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Curious what makes this chipset tick? Here's everything you need to know about Qualcomm's latest launch.