The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is amazing, but not everyone needs the latest and greatest to be happy. The previous-generation Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is also a fantastic phone, even in 2025 — especially if you can get it for just $699.99!
Buy the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra for just $699.99 ($600 off)
The Android community is still coming to terms with the loss of Nova Launcher, one of the best customization tools that’s been around for over a decade. But as Nova’s story comes to an end, another launcher is stepping up to welcome users who are looking for alternatives.
Plex is reporting a security incident and warning users to take action to ensure their accounts remain safe. According to a notice on Plex’s website, the platform suffered a security breach in which an unauthorized third party accessed a limited subset of customer data from its databases.
A beloved Android customization tool is coming to an end. Nova Launcher, long known for being one of the best third-party launchers you can get for your Android phones, is officially shutting down, and users who have relied on it for over a decade are mourning the loss.
IFA 2025 has brought no shortage of exciting announcements, from bold new smartphones to super-bright projectors, smarter appliances, and even drones that rethink what’s possible. As always, we’ve combed through the show floor in Berlin to find the standouts that truly impressed us.
From Lenovo’s OLED gaming handheld to TCL’s eye-friendly phone, Samsung’s latest Fan Edition, and some surprising innovations in audio, charging, and the smart home, here are our picks for the very Best of IFA 2025.
They say competition is good for the consumer, and never has that been felt more by the Android gaming handheld community than in the past few weeks. First, AYANEO and AYN released competing dual-screen clamshells in the same week, with the AYN Thor coming in slightly cheaper. Now, AYANEO has flipped the tables.
In a product sharing session this morning, AYANEO announced pricing on its upcoming KONKR Pocket FIT handheld. The standard model, which has a Snapdragon G3 Gen 3, will start at $239 for the 8+128GB model. The Pocket FIT Elite, which was finally confirmed to have a Snapdragon 8 Elite, will start at $269 for the same configuration.
I’m your average techie millennial who saw the dotcom bubble burst and was around when many of the OG services of the internet era simply vanished. Let’s just say, watching favorites like GeoCities and Launchcast go bust was a big motivation for me to start self-hosting my most-used services as soon as I was able to. Initially, it was mostly curiosity and tinkering. That changed over time. Today, self-hosting for me is equal parts habit, convenience, and once-in-a-while stubbornness to stick with open-source solutions.
But first, what the heck is self-hosting and how is it any different from running an app on your computer? Honestly, it’s not all that different. Broadly speaking, self-hosting is all about replacing software that is traditionally associated with cloud-hosted tools with applications and services that run on your local hardware. It sounds complicated, and at first it is, but over the years you come to appreciate the freedom it gives alongside the occasional headaches it might bring. Take the bitter with the better, eh?
The JBL Charge 6 is our favorite speaker, and it is still on sale for $139.95 on Woot.com. While impressive and super portable, some of you want something even easier to carry around. If you really value portability, then the JBL Flip 7 is your best bet. It is back to its record-low price of $99.95, saving you $50!
The CUKTECH 15 Ultra has become my favorite power bank. It’s an impressive little battery pack with plenty of power, yet very manageable portability. It’s on sale today, so you can take it home (or wherever you want) at a $38 discount.
Buy the CUKTECH 15 Ultra Power Bank for just $71.99 ($38 off)
We reported this deal early last week, but it is so good we’re surprised it’s still around. We thought we would send off a PSA to make sure you don’t miss it! The Samsung Odyssey G95C 49-Inch Curved Gaming Monitor is huge, curved, and comes with great specs. It’s also at a record-low price of just $699.99
Buy the Samsung Odyssey G95C Monitor for just $699.99 ($600 off)
Samsung’s most exciting phones right now include foldables, flip phones, and a super-thin phone. These are cool, but if you want true performance and an overall premium experience, you can’t beat the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. We would argue it is still Samsung’s best phone, and you can often catch better deals on it. It’s currently as cheap as $999.99, which is a $300 discount.
Buy the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra for just $999.99 ($300 off)
Google is now rolling out the September security update to Pixel phones. Over the next few weeks, all supported Pixel devices, i.e., Pixel 6 and above, running Android 16, will get the latest patches. The September update is not to be confused with the latest Pixel Drop, which brings a number of new features to older Pixel phones and other Pixel devices.
Foldable phones are still super cool little engineering feats. I still get pleasant conversations with random strangers when I use mine around town. The thing is, they have been pretty expensive until recently. The Motorola Razr 2025 is honestly the most affordable one that we would still recommend. It’s usually $699.99, but today the price is even better at $599.99, which happens to be the cheapest it has ever been.
Gemini is finally coming home to your Google Home devices, with Google setting October 1 as the launch date. In a post on X, the company has invited users to sign up for updates, which essentially ensures you’ll get notified as soon as Gemini is available for your Google Home devices.
Update: September 2, 2025 (10:56 PM ET): An Amazon spokesperson has contacted Android Authority with an official statement on the matter. Here’s what they had to say:
The Invitee program, which enabled sharing of the Prime shipping benefit only, is being phased out, and Prime members can instead share a broad range of Prime benefits with Amazon Family, including: fast, free delivery; access to exclusive deals and shopping events like Prime Day; movies, series, and live sports with Prime Video; Amazon Music and additional digital entertainment; access to a free Grubhub+ membership; and fuel savings at more than 7,500 bp, Amoco, and participating ampm locations. Amazon Family enables Prime members to share a range of benefits with one adult—whether that is a spouse, family member, or roommate—and Prime Video and additional digital content like Kindle eBooks, audiobooks, and games, with up to four children in their household.
Credit: Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority TL;DR Spotify is getting a new “Prompted Playlist” feature to help users create more […]
TL;DR Four of the best Good Lock modules aren’t working properly on the One UI 8.5 beta. Home Up and […]
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