Articles by Daniel Bader

If you’ve been waiting to purchase or upgrade your smartwatch but were waiting for a sale, well, have we got some amazing Prime Day smartwatch deals for you! Being an Android user means having open access to tons of devices like smartphones, tablets, and even wearables. So while the Apple Watch may be king over on iOS, we’ve got a ton of great options on our side of the fence as well.

Whether you prefer a rugged sports watch, a classic computer on your wrist, or a hybrid watch that has a more traditional look and feel, we’ve got you covered. Smartwatches from well-known companies like Fossil, Garmin, Samsung, and Fitbit are sure to catch your eye but don’t overlook some lesser-known players like Mobvoi and Amazfit. Regardless of which watch you wear, there are plenty of great deals on super smartwatches for you during Prime Day 2021.

Fitbit Sense | $99 off at Amazon

Pick up the Fitbit Sense smartwatch today at nearly $100 off its regular price via Amazon. It features built-in GP…

As high-end phones get more expensive, awesome budget Android phones are getting better. We’ve researched and ranked all of the best cheap Android phones you can buy, and with our buyer’s guide, you’ll find the perfect phone for you.

And if you’re phone shopping for Prime Day on June 21 and 22, we’re rounding up the best Prime Day Android phone deals for you.

What are the best cheap Android phones?

Last year was tremendous for Android phones in the budget space, and as we make our way through 2021, we expect more of the same. You’re seeing features like multiple cameras, faster processors, and 5G hit price points that would have been unheard of just a couple of years ago. Even though it pushes the limits of what a “budget” device is, we recommend the Google Pixel 4a as the best cheap Android phone because it hits the right balance of performance, camera quality, and battery life, with a clean build of Android that you’re sure to love. Indeed, the Pixel 4a’s camera is nearly identica…

The best wireless chargers give you an easy way to top up a phone’s battery, and the Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy Note 10+ support every standard you can think of, including Qi, PMA, and Samsung’s own Fast Wireless Charging 2.0. The Note 10 and 10+ support extra-fast speeds of 12W and 15W, respectively, but only with a select few chargers. Let’s round up the best Note 10 wireless chargers for your new phone!

Best wireless chargers

Samsung 15W Fast Charge 2.0 Wireless Charger Stand

Staff Pick

If you want the absolute best wireless charging speeds for your new Note 10, Samsung’s own 15W wireless charging stand is your best bet. It’s not cheap, but that’s because there’s a lot of tech inside. Charge your phone vertically or horizontally, cool down your phone with a fan, and change the fan speed and LED strength.

$51 at Amazon $60 at Best Buy $78 at B&H Photo

Two for one

Yootech (2 Pack) Wireless Charger,Qi-Certified 10W Max Wireless Charging Stand

Best Value

If you l…

Right now, the best smartwatch for Android users is the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2. It’s optimized for Samsung phones but runs well on all the best Android phones and has all the smartwatch and fitness features you’d expect. It’s compact and lightweight but still offers good battery life. But if you’re not into that one, the good news is that there are so many other amazing options from Fossil to Garmin to Fitbit and more.

What are the best Android smartwatches?

Best Android Smartwatches 2021

1. Galaxy Watch Active 2 — from $200
2. Fossil Gen 5E — from $204
3. Galaxy Watch 3 — from $330
4. Garmin Forerunner 245 Music — from $292
5. TicWatch Pro 3 — from $300
6. Fitbit Versa 3 — from $200
7. Garmin Venu Sq — from $150
8. Skagen Falster 3 — from $222
9. Galaxy Watch Active — from $149
10. Suunto 7 — from $305
11. Fossil Hybrid HR — from $139
12 Amazfit GTS 2 Mini — from $85

If you’re currently in the market for the best Android smartwatch, your choi…

The first time I worked out in VR, it happened by accident. I emerged from my first session of Beat Saber, wide-blinking and dripping with sweat, having just unboxed an Oculus Quest 2 an hour earlier, my only previous VR experience a few years earlier with the now-forgotten Google Daydream.

As editor of this website, I read a lot about VR — we cover the best Oculus Quest 2 games and accessories extensively — but I didn’t expect to fall as hard, and as quickly, for it as I did. Perhaps it’s the sheer novelty of tricking your brain into thinking you’re not in the same house, the same room, you’ve been living and working in for the past 18 months. Perhaps it’s the propulsive nature of the input itself — games don’t merely respond to the trigger movements in my thumbs and fingers but my whole hand, my arms, my head. It’s the fulsomeness of the experience that enamored me.

Unlike most workout notifications, I don’t resent the ones I get about Supernatural. Yet.

So, after that…

The newest version of Android is finally here, and you can install it right now.

After three long months, the Android 12 beta is here, which means that the build is now more stable — though it’s still not advisable to install it on a daily driver.

Along with a major change to the look called Material You, Android 12 ships with a bunch of new privacy features that may or may not be useful.

As of May 18, the public Android 12 beta is available for Pixel phones along with some other devices from companies like Xiaomi, TCL, OnePlus, and more (full list below). Here’s how to get it installed on your Pixel, and we’ll have device-specific instructions as they become available.

Jump to:

Android Beta program
Android Flash Tool
Android Factory Images

Which phones can download the Android 12 Beta?

There are nine phones from Google that support the Android 12 beta:

Pixel 3
Pixel 3 XL
Pixel 3a
Pixel 3a XL
Pixel 4
Pixel 4 XL
Pixel 4a
Pixel 4a 5G
Pixel 5

There are also 15 other d…

Being stuck in the middle works for Google.

Since 2016, when the original Pixel debuted, it has felt like Google just needed one more year, and then another, to make the brand a household name. To be broadly considered a success.

And judging by the Pixel’s outsized influence in the Android smartphone market relative to its reported sales numbers, I’d say Google can celebrate that success. Its phones are synonymous with great cameras, with innovative and useful software features, and with playful if divisive approaches to smartphone design.

But influence doesn’t sell phones, and Google’s Sisyphean journey to bring its own Android experience to more people just hasn’t really worked. At the high-end, Pixel phones could never compete with Samsung, LG, Huawei and OnePlus (among others) on sheer brute-force specs; and on the value side, Pixels cost too much to attract the value-conscious buyers of Motorola and Nokia products. As the classic Stealers Wheel song goes, they were stuck …

If there’s one thing you can confidently say about Google’s Pixel phones over their five-year existence it’s that they do more with less. Even as the company added new features to its year-over-year upgrades, Google assiduously avoided the trappings of specs, culminating in the divisive but ultimately successful lineup of the Pixel 4a, Pixel 4a 5G, and Pixel 5 we saw in 2020.

Now the expectation turns to the company’s 2021 products and how the hardware team can build on the objective success of those phones while continuing to differentiate itself from the competition so it can actually, you know, sell the damn things. Google can buy as many Super Bowl ads as it wants, but it won’t sell more devices until it can unseat those at the top, Samsung and Apple, in meaningful ways (and even then, it may be too difficult).

With ‘Whitechapel,’ Google’s first SoC for consumer devices that is expected to debut in the Pixel 6 later this year, the company gets to assert even more control in the…

As high-end phones get more expensive, awesome budget Android phones are getting better. We’ve researched and ranked all of the best cheap Android phones you can buy, and with our buyer’s guide, you’ll find the perfect phone for you.

What are the best cheap Android phones?

Last year was tremendous for Android phones in the budget space, and as we make our way through 2021, we expect more of the same. You’re seeing features like multiple cameras, faster processors, and 5G hit price points that would have been unheard of just a couple of years ago. We recommend the Moto G Power (2020) as the best cheap Android phone because it hits the right balance of performance, camera quality, and battery life, with a clean build of Android that you’re sure to love.

If you’re willing to spend a bit more than the above pick, the Google Pixel 4a is a near-perfect balance of premium features at a value price, especially if you use the camera on your phone a lot. Indeed, the Pixel 4a’s camera is nearl…

As high-end phones get more expensive, awesome budget Android phones are getting better. We’ve researched and ranked all of the best cheap Android phones you can buy, and with our buyer’s guide, you’ll find the perfect phone for you.

What are the best cheap Android phones?

Last year was tremendous for Android phones in the budget space, and as we make our way through 2021, we expect more of the same. You’re seeing features like multiple cameras, faster processors, and 5G hit price points that would have been unheard of just a couple of years ago. We recommend the Moto G Power (2020) as the best cheap Android phone because it hits the right balance of performance, camera quality, and battery life, with a clean build of Android that you’re sure to love.

If you’re willing to spend a bit more than the above pick, the Google Pixel 4a is a near-perfect balance of premium features at a value price, especially if you use the camera on your phone a lot. Indeed, the Pixel 4a’s camera is nearl…