This week in Android - Pixel mania, Samsung security flaws, and more! - Android

This week was all about the Made by Google event, where the Mountain View company officially revealed the Pixel 4 and 4 XL. We already knew pretty much everything about the devices, but they do represent a solid bump in specs, with a camera setup that’s likely to be a worthy of the Pixel name. We were impressed during our hands-on time with the device, but stay tuned for a full review!

It wasn’t all good news, however, as the smaller Pixel 4 has a measly 2800mAh battery. To top things off, the Pixel 4 lineup does away with the fingerprint sensor in favor of face-unlock, but it still works if your eyes are closed. Samsung also made the news for a security flaw, with its latest S10 and Note 10 devices unlocking with any fingerprint when a third-party screen protector is applied.

As for reviews this week, we checked out the fantastic value of the Realme X2 Pro, the quad-camera Redmi Note 8 Pro and Motorola One Zoom phones, as well as the gorgeous Vivo Nex 3. We also went hands-on with the newly-announced Pixel Buds 2 and Pixelbook Go.

Here are the top 10 Android stories of the week

• Google Pixel 4 hands-on: Picture perfect in nearly every way — It’s finally here. The search giant revealed the Google Pixel 4 at an event in NYC. It’s (almost) everything we hoped for.
• Realme X2 Pro review: The best value smartphone of 2019 — On paper, the Realme X2 Pro looks like a budget beast, but can it live up to its hype? Let’s find out!
• Redmi Note 8 Pro review: Four cameras where one would do — The Redmi Note 8 Pro attracts attention for its quad-camera setup, but the camera is the least impressive thing about it.
• Vivo Nex 3 review: A solid alternative to the Mate 30 Pro — Forget about the Mate 30 Pro, the Vivo Nex 3 delivers a similar experience without the uncertainty.
• iPhone 11 shows Apple finally takes affordable flagships seriously — The Apple iPhone 11 is Apple’s latest attempt to make an affordable flagship, and it’s the best effort to date.
• It’s been 3 years since Apple killed the headphone jack, and you’re still angry — One would think enough time has passed and we would have moved on. That doesn’t appear to be the case.
• High hopes and low expectations for the Google Pixel Buds 2 — The new Pixel Buds seem great on paper, but we’re tempering our expectations.
• Google Pixel 4: A 2,800mAh battery? — What kind of crazy new smartphone comes with a 2,800mAh battery? The Google Pixel 4, that’s the kind.
• Google’s Pixel cameras aren’t trying to be cameras at all — Google’s cameras on the Pixel 4 aren’t trying to be cameras. They’re trying to solve the problems traditional cameras can’t.
• Without unlimited original quality photo backups, a 64GB Pixel 4 is ridiculous — Google got away with 64GB of internal storage because of the free backups. Without it, 64GB is insulting.

Learn more on the Android Authority Podcast

This week we published two episodes of the podcast. In the first, we ran through all of the announcements at Google’s latest event, from new phones and devices to a Google Stadia release date.

On the second episode, we talked about the rest of the week’s news, including Motorola’s rumored foldable and the Sprint/T-Mobile merger.

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Who wants to win a Google Pixel 4 and MNML Case?

This week, we’re giving away a brand new Google Pixel 4 smartphone and 10 MNML Cases. Enter this week’s Sunday giveaway for your chance to win!

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