Articles by Ara Wagoner

The Google Pixel 4a is one of the most compelling phones of 2020, offering excellent performance and cameras for less than half the price of its flagship. While it might not cost thousands of dollars, that doesn’t mean it’s any less worthy of protection. Whether you need to spice up the Just Black of the Pixel 4a or need to keep it safe from the chaos outside your door, these are the best Pixel 4a cases you can buy right now.

Pretty protection

Caseology Parallax

Staff Pick

This hybrid case comes in three dazzling color combinations — a deep navy blue, a lighter purple, and a darling coral/gold two-tone — and offers drop protection and grip in a compact profile.

From $15 at Amazon $19 at Walmart

Guard the front and back

Poetic Revolution

This heavy-duty case comes with a screen protector built into the front frame, offering 360 degrees of protection for your new Pixel 4a. I also like the robust kickstand on the back that can be used in portrait or landscape.

From $19 …

Chromebooks are built light, lithe, and long-lasting, but as more Chromebooks shed USB-A and card-reading ports for future-proof, multi-functional USB-C ports, users are faced with a choice. You can try to upgrade all your peripherals to USB-C, or you can get a USB-C hub and keep using your USB-A keyboard and ripping photos off your camera’s SD cards. Many USB-C hubs also support HDMI monitors, Ethernet, and Power Delivery charging, too, so no matter your needs, there’s a great USB-C hub out there for you!

Best Gets Better

AUKEY Link PD Pro USB-C Hub

Staff pick

This is another refinement of our previous favorite USB-C hub, the Aukey Link PD, but this model adds an Ethernet port yet is somehow more affordable. You also get 3 USB-A ports, 100W USB-C pass-through charging, 4K HDMI, SD, and microSD card slots.

$38 at Amazon

Pocket-Friendly Powerhouse

Uni USB-C Hub

$34 at Amazon (6-in-1)
$40 at Amazon (8-in-1)

This credit-card sized hub allows you to swap out the host cab…

Bold color accents, great texture, and a nicely contoured camera cutout make the Nano Pop the one to beat.

While I adore researching the best cases for the Samsung Galaxy S21 — or whichever phone is hitting the market this week — I’m always a tad disappointed when I go look at the newest and fanciest ones a manufacturer offers and see that they’re only for iPhone. I can’t be too mad — when you’re starting out a new series, iPhone is the safer bet and its owners are never shy to call out anything they don’t like — but I am disappointed all the same.

Such was the case with the Caseology Nano Pop, which debuted for the iPhone 11 series in late 2019. It came back for the iPhone 12 with bolder colors, and I held out hope that it would soon make the jump to Android phones. That jump came with Samsung Galaxy 21, and it was worth the wait. I’ve long adored the Caseology Parallax Series for its fun colors and unique cubist design across the back, but the Nano Pop has more grip and m…

The Galaxy S21 Ultra is one of the biggest and most powerful Galaxies ever, as well as being the first to work with the S Pen, traditionally reserved for the Note line. The camera module on the Ultra is just as big as it was on the S20 Ultra, but the design’s been improved so that it looks more cohesive and meshes with the phone’s metal frame, but that design also means that you’re more prone to damage the cameras with a side-impact, so a case is more important than ever. The best cases for the Galaxy S21 Ultra are right here, whether you’re after a clear case to show off the Ultra’s design or a durable tank to keep it safe and secure.

Colorful and durable

Caseology Nano Pop

Staff pick

After two years of the Nano Pop being exclusive to iPhones, it’s finally coming to Samsung phones with the S21 series. The Blueberry Navy with its yellow accents is striking and classic, and the impact-absorbing pattern embedded in the back gives you slim protection.

From $15 at Amazon
$20 at Wa…

Samsung has nailed the perfect small watch hardware — now give us the software.

For the last couple of years, the best Android smartwatches actually haven’t run Android, they’ve run Samsung’s Tizen. This means that Android watch-buyers had to choose between getting great hardware or getting access to the apps and services they actually want to use like Google Assistant and Google Pay.

Samsung’s new watch will use Android to replace Tizen.— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) February 19, 2021

But if reports from leaker extraordinaire Ice universe are to be believed — and they usually are — you may be able to get the best of all worlds in Samsung’s next watch. Presumably the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 3 — since the Galaxy Watch 3 is only six months old — would be Samsung’s first Android watch since the Samsung Gear Live in 2014, back when Wear OS was still called Android Wear.

While this change might seem like a downgrade to some, I think Wear OS could make the Galaxy Watch…

Flick, swipe, and spin your ways through the day with these new live wallpapers.

What you need to know

Action Launcher developer Chris Lacy has a new live wallpaper app out called SwirlWalls.
SwirlWalls is a paid live wallpaper app that features dozens of high-definition wallpapers that move when you interact with them.
You can spin the wallpaper with your finger or by flicking your phone side to side.
The app is $5 upfront, rather than a subscription or a supporter model, which is what Action Launcher uses.

When it comes to theming and making your Android phone unique and beautiful, Chris Lacy has been a man worth knowing for the last several years. As the developer of Action Launcher, one of the best Android launchers, Lacy has always pushed the envelope of what a home screen can and should be, and now he’s bringing that expertise to his first new app in years: SwirlWalls.

SwirlWalls is a live wallpaper app that allows you to interact with a customize your experience to produ…

The Google Pixel 4a is one of the most compelling phones of 2020, offering excellent performance and cameras for less than half the price of its flagship. While it might not cost thousands of dollars, that doesn’t mean it’s any less worthy of protection. Whether you need to spice up the Just Black of the Pixel 4a or need to keep it safe from the chaos outside your door, these are the best Pixel 4a cases you can buy right now.

Pretty protection

Caseology Parallax

Staff Pick

This hybrid case comes in three dazzling color combinations — a deep navy blue, a lighter purple, and a darling coral/gold two-tone — and offers drop protection and grip in a compact profile.

$15 at Amazon
$19 at Walmart

Guard the front and back

Poetic Revolution

This heavy-duty case comes with a screen protector built into the front frame, offering 360 degrees of protection for your new Pixel 4a. I also like the robust kickstand on the back that can be used in portrait or landscape.

From $17 at Am…

Best answer: No, the Galaxy Chromebook 2 is a downgrade in every way and isn’t worth giving up the premium ultrabook you already spent $800-$1000 on, so please keep what you have and enjoy that lovely 4K screen that I’m still 100% jealous of even a year after launch.

The Galaxy Chromebook 2 is not an upgrade

I’d normally get into the finer points of why the next generation has some benefits even if it’s not as powerful as its predecessor (from the processor to the screen to the internal storage being eMMC instead of faster SSD storage), but I digress. Still, when investing in one of the best Chromebooks on the market, it’s important to take a hard look at some core specs and let them speak for themselves:

Category
Samsung Galaxy Chromebook
Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2

Processor
10th Gen Intel Core i5
Intel Celeron 5205U Intel Core i3-10110U

Memory
8GB
4-8GB

Storage
256GB SSD
64-128GB eMMC

Display
13.3″ AMOLED 3840x2160px (4K)
13.3″ QLED 1…

The Chromecast with Google TV is a great little streaming box, but it only has one port on it: a single USB-C port through which the device is powered. If you want to add extra storage to the internal 8GB or you want to add Ethernet for faster speeds and fewer buffering issues, you’ll need to get a USB-C hub that offers up a plethora of ports and pass-through charging to ensure your Chromecast with Google TV has the power it needs, too.

Hook it all up

AUKEY Link PD Pro USB-C Hub

Staff pick

This has been our favorite USB-C hub for Chromebooks for over a year, but it works perfectly well with the Chromecast with Google TV, allowing you to plug in Ethernet as well as three USB-A peripherals and a microSD card.

$38 at Amazon

USB-C data input

Anker PowerExpand 6-in-1 USB C PD Ethernet Hub

If you have a big external drive that uses USB-C, there are very few hubs that support it. Anker’s PowerExpand 6-in-1, however, offers both a PD pass-through port and a USB-C data input, so y…

The Power Delivery standard has paved the way for a new wave of the best USB-C battery packs that are both powerful and portable. While there are some massive power banks aimed more at charging laptops or powering devices through long camping trips, I much prefer the lighter and cheaper chargers that can quickly charge a phone while sitting down for lunch or in my pocket during long days out and about. Whether you prefer your power banks big or small, these are the best ones around!

Colorful chargers

Anker PowerCore Slim 10,000mAh PD

Staff pick

Anker’s top-quality, durable and dependable phone-sized power bank now comes in five colors and I, for one, am thrilled. The Terracotta Rose might not be for everyone, but the Deep-Sea Indigo and Dark Olive are universal and understated.

From $26 at Amazon
From $30 at Walmart

Not too big, not too small

AUKEY 15,000mAh USB-C Power Bank

Need to charge multiple phones over the course of your busy day or need a power bank that could la…