The Google Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL are two very full-featured smartphones. If you're a new Pixel user, you're going to spend days sifting through all the available options and features to find your favorites, but before you begin that long (but fun!) journey, you should focus on securing the freebies that come with every Pixel 11 phone.
I'm specifically talking about the 6-month Gemini Pro subscription that comes for free with your Pixel 11. In the past, I was always prompted to activate this trial during the first-time setup when I got a new Pixel, but this year was different. I had to hunt for the offer to make sure it still existed and, thankfully, it does!
With the Pixel 9 and 10 series, Google offered a full year of Gemini Advanced (now known as Google AI Pro), but the Pixel 11 series lowered that to 6 months. Still, it's hard to argue with 6 free months of Google's AI Pro service, which is roughly a $120 value you get just for owning a Pixel 11.
What is Google AI Pro?
(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)
Google renamed Gemini Advanced to Google AI Pro in 2025, and with it came a slew of new tools and benefits compared to the free Gemini model and the Google AI Plus subscription. Here's everything Google AI Pro gets you in 2026:
4x higher usage limits in the Gemini app
1,000 Google Flow credits (Google's creative studio)
Gemini 3 Pro in Google Search
Access to the Jules coding agent with higher limits
Google Antigravity (Google's agentic development platform)
5x higher limits on Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM)
Gemini in Gmail, Docs, and more
Google Home Premium (30 days of event history for your Nest devices)
Gemini in Chrome
YouTube Premium Lite
5TB of cloud storage
There's a lot included with Google AI Pro, but I find only a few things particularly useful. Google Home Premium and YouTube Premium Lite are easily my favorite two features. Subscribing to those features by themselves would normally run you $18 a month, so you can already see how good of a value the Google AI Pro subscription is at the normal $19.99 a month rate.
I don't use the vast majority of the advanced Gemini features here, like Jules, Flow, Antigravity, or Notebook, but those would all be incredible values for anyone who might want to take advantage of everything Gemini offers.
How to activate your free Google AI Pro subscription
Now that you understand why Google AI Pro is worthwhile (and why a free 6-month trial is such a great deal), here's what you need to do to activate the trial:
1. Open the Gemini app. You can find it in your app drawer.
2. Click the menu button in the top-left corner, then tap the settings gear at the bottom next to your account name.
3. Tap the Start trial button underneath the "Manage subscription" button.
4. Make sure the screen says "With your Pixel 11, you get 6 months for $0," then tap the blue Start trial button.
(Image credit: Android Central)
Beginning a Google AI Pro trial starts a subscription through Google Play, so the next screen will ask you to select a payment method for when the trial ends. Don't worry, you're not going to pay anything right now; Google just wants to set up the subscription so that it cycles through the credits you get with your Pixel 11.
Remember, you can always cancel the subscription before the trial ends if you don't want to pay anything by the listed payment start date.
1. Verify that "6-month free trial" is listed under the "Starting today" section on the subscription screen.
2. Note the starting date for payments. I recommend asking Gemini to set a reminder for this date so you can cancel the subscription if you'd like.
3. Select the payment method you want to use when the trial ends, then hit Subscribe.
4. Congrats! Now you have Google AI Pro for the next 6 months for free!
(Image credit: Android Central)
Now, when you open the Gemini app, you can select from more advanced Gemini models (plus, use Gemini a lot more before you hit the daily limit), use new Gemini tools in Google apps like Gmail and Google Drive, watch YouTube videos ad-free, see 30 days of smart home history (and make advanced queries in the Google Home app), and lots more. Have fun!
CMF launched the Buds 2, 2 Plus, and 2a last year, and when I tested these earbuds, I said they're among the best budget buds around. Now, the Nothing sub-brand has an even more affordable option, the CMF Buds Neo.
The Buds Neo are now available in India, and they should make their way to other markets soon. They retail for just ₹1,999 ($20), and once again, CMF nailed the pricing. It's clear that the brand understands how the Indian market works, and by selling these at an aggressive price point, CMF will undoubtedly find plenty of takers.
As all other CMF products, the Buds Neo have a striking design, and they're sold in three colors: white, black, and dark blue. While the black is the most traditional model, the white and dark blue models have two-tone designs that look great; the white has orange accents, and the dark blue gets a teal highlight that contrasts the color really well. Having used all three colors, there's no question that the white model is the most distinctive.
The square case is on the smaller side, and it has a rotating dial, which I like to see in Nothing and CMF products. Build quality is great, and at no point did I get the feeling that I was using a pair of budget buds. More than anything else, it's this trait that makes the Buds Neo stand out; they don't look like budget earbuds at all.
What's particularly interesting is that these earbuds retain Active Noise Cancellation. They even get an adaptive option that changes the isolation based on your surroundings. In regular use, I found the Buds Neo to do a decent enough job tuning out the ambient sounds, including the sounds of my mechanical keyboard (MelGeek Centauri 80) and the hum of the air con. The buds did a decent job on a recent short-haul flight as well, but I'd suggest Buds Pro 2 if your main use case is traveling.
The Buds Neo have good ingress protection too; the buds have an IP54 rating, and the case itself is IPX2. They connect via Bluetooth 6.0, have Google Fast Pair, and I didn't see any issues with connectivity when using the buds with my Find X9 Ultra, Vivo X300 Ultra, and Pixel 11 Pro XL. You don't get any AptX codecs, with the buds limited to SBC and AAC — but that's understandable in this category.
There are no issues with battery life either. I got just over seven hours from a full charge, and the case holds enough power (465mAh) to charge the buds four times over, so you'll only realistically need to charge the case once a week even with heavy use. Oh, and fast charge gives you 5.5 hours of music playback with just a 10-minute charge, and this is definitely handy.
Let's talk about the sound. The Buds Neo have a 12.4mm dynamic driver, and the tonal signature is in line with the Buds 2. You get a warm sound with good detail and clean extension, with a rumbling low-end and natural vocals presentation. There's a mode to boost the bass if you're so inclined, and Nothing X has six EQ presets to tweak the sound profile.
Now, for a brand that says it doesn't like to do things the traditional way, CMF has three earbuds on sale at under ₹3,000 ($31). Why have three distinct products when one will do the job? I don't know, but it's clear that CMF wants to continually churn out budget earbuds.
Not that there's anything wrong with it — the Buds Neo are easily one of the best entry-level earbuds you can get at the moment. They have a stylish design, great sound, and build quality that's better than most products in this category. If you need budget earbuds that don't look or sound like they're built to cost, you should get the Buds Neo.
I knew Samsung hadn't changed the design with the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, but it was still surprising to see just how similar it is to last year's model — I had to double-check the box to confirm I wasn't sent the Z Fold 7 again.
That sums up the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra in a nutshell; at the surface-level, it is indistinguishable from the Z Fold 7. It is just as thin and light, weighs the same, and has the same in-hand feel. I was holding out on Samsung moving to a design with rounded edges — similar to what Google does with the Pixel 11 Pro Fold — but that isn't the case.
Thankfully, there are a few upgrades. Samsung finally moved to silicon-carbon battery tech, and was able to slot in a bigger 5,000mAh battery in a chassis that's the same size as last year. There's also 45W charging, a crease that isn't quite as noticeable as last year, a new rear camera, and Android 17 with One UI 9 out of the box. But is that enough to warrant a price hike to an eye-watering $2,099? Let's take a look.
Samsung didn't make any outward changes to the design, but the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra has a new hinge that feels better to use, and it allows the foldable to be fully flat. It's another thing that it took Samsung eight years to get to this point while Chinese brands have managed it in less than half that time, but at least there's some progress in this area.
The other side effect of the new hinge is the crease, which is barely noticeable now. It's still evident in daily use, and it isn't quite as creaseless as the Find N6, but there is a difference from the Z Fold 7. Samsung didn't change the panel sizes this year, so you get a 6.5-inch outer and 8.0-inch inner screen, and they're a little brighter this year.
Apoorva Bhardwaj / Android CentralThe crease isn't as noticeable as the Pixel 11 Pro XL (left), but the Find N6 (right) still wins out. Apoorva Bhardwaj / Android CentralApoorva Bhardwaj / Android CentralApoorva Bhardwaj / Android CentralApoorva Bhardwaj / Android CentralApoorva Bhardwaj / Android Central
What I like is that the inner panel has an anti-reflective coating, and it makes a difference when using it outdoors. It also gets a higher resolution (2504 x 2256), and as I prefer reading to watching media on my phone, I like these changes — that's one of the reasons I'm using the Z Fold 8 Ultra instead of the Z Fold 8.
There isn't anything missing when it comes to the internals as well. You get the latest Qualcomm silicon, 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. I think a foldable that costs over $2,000 needs to have at least 512GB of storage, but with the RAM shortages, I'm glad Samsung didn't move the base model to 128GB and call the 256GB edition an upgrade.
While it has the same silicon as the S26 Ultra, the inherent foldable nature means the Z Fold 8 Ultra is thermally constrained, so it throttles sooner, and tends to get hot in extended gaming sessions. This is the case with all foldables and isn't something unique to Samsung. I didn't see any issues with connectivity (thankfully), but the only change in this area is that the foldable has a single SIM slot, with the secondary slot requiring an eSIM.
The one thing Samsung should have changed with the design is the placement of the rear camera module. The Z Fold 8 Ultra has an oblong camera housing that sits to the left, and because the modules protrude quite a bit from the body, you get a constant wobble when using the foldable on a table.
It doesn't matter if you're using the phone folded or unfolded, the wobble is ever-present and a routine source of frustration. This is why all other brands have switched to center-mounted cameras; I didn't see this problem with my Find N6, Vivo X Fold 5, Moto Razr Fold, or the Pixel 11 Pro Fold.
I just don't understand why Samsung continues to be obstinate about this; clearly, this is a major design flaw, yet the brand chooses to ignore it. On that note, the foldable once again misses out on IP68 dust and water resistance. You get IP48 instead, and while it's decent, it doesn't prevent dust ingress.
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra uses the same 200MP main camera as last year, and it has a 10MP telephoto and a new 50MP wide-angle lens. Okay, great, but just one question: who uses the wide-angle camera? I take plenty of photos, and I predominantly use the 2x or 3x lenses while framing, and I think Samsung should've upgraded the ageing 10MP lens instead — this is the same module that's being used from the Galaxy S21 days.
Also, the tele lens is particularly useful as a portrait shooter, and I use it all the time because of this. To have a distinctly average tele lens on a foldable dubbed an Ultra is egregious to say the least, and the Z Fold 8 Ultra doesn't measure up to the Find N6 or the Vivo X Fold 5 in this regard. Shots at 3x don't have much in the way of definition, and anything shot at 10x and beyond is just a blotchy mess without any detail.
Thankfully, the other cameras are quite good, and you get decent shots with Samsung's traditional oversaturated look. It does a good enough job in low-light situations as well, and while the cameras aren't on the same level as regular phones — or current-gen Chinese foldables — they are pretty good for the most part.
Samsung finally started using silicon-carbon batteries, and the Z Fold 8 Ultra gets a 5,000mAh unit. The foldable manages to last a day as a result, and while I still had to plug in before the end of the day at times, it wasn't anywhere as frequently as previous years.
What I like even more is the 45W charging. It may not seem like a big deal, but the move means the battery gets to a full charge in just an hour, which is 30 minutes less than its predecessor. A 30-minute charge gives you a 40% charge, and it's just refreshing to be able to get decent charging speeds on a Samsung foldable. However, Samsung once again missed out on adding Qi 2 magnets, so if you want to use a Qi 2 or Qi 2.2 power bank or charger, you'll need to buy a case.
Just like the physical design, Samsung isn't changing things too much with One UI 9, its Android 17-based interface. The UI should be immediately familiar if you've used a Samsung phone, and while there are a few tweaks, the design as a whole is unchanged.
Galaxy AI (once again) is the key focus, with Samsung shoehorning on-device AI into just about every corner — and there's Gemini Intelligence as well if you wanted even more AI. The agentic model is designed to take actions on your behalf, but it isn't quite useful just yet.
You get good fluidity and an exhaustive feature-set, including intuitive multi-tasking modes to maximize the real estate. Just like previous years, the foldable will get seven years of software updates, similar to what Google offers on the Pixel 11 Pro Fold.
It irks me that Samsung calls this foldable an Ultra — the only thing fitting of that moniker on the Z Fold 8 Ultra is the pricing. At $2,099, this is the costliest phone around (at least until the iPhone Fold shows up), and I'm not sure you're getting anywhere close to a good value.
Of course, this is a moot point in the U.S.; generous trade-in deals and carrier subsidies make getting the foldable a lot easier. That isn't the case in other regions, and I think the Find N6, X Fold 5, and the Moto Razr Fold are a better all-round deal if you're ready to move to a foldable. There's no denying that Samsung has a strong foldable in the Z Fold 8 Ultra, but the pricing makes it hard to recommend, and I'd suggest looking at other choices before making a decision — you'll be surprised to see just how good the competition is these days.
Samsung
Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra continues to lead the way in the U.S., and while it doesn't have any outward changes, there are a few upgrades you'll like.
Google just posted the official factory and OTA images for the Pixel Watch 5, introducing a unified build strategy.
The Pixel Watch 5 now uses a single software build (CD5A.260611.00) for both Wi-Fi and LTE models.
Flashing factory images still requires Google’s invite-only debug adapter.
Google has released factory and OTA images for the Pixel Watch 5, and it seems the new smartwatch uses a single software build for both Bluetooth/Wi-Fi and LTE models, which could make future updates easier.
The Pixel Watch 5 is listed with the codename “goteria” and build CD5A.260611.00. Interestingly, it’s not split between Bluetooth/Wi-Fi and LTE models like previous generations (via 9to5Google).
That sounds like a small developer-facing change, but it could simplify Google’s internal software process by consolidating the builds and may reduce the complexity of future updates. The Pixel Watch 5 runs on Wear OS 7, which is based on Android 17.
There’s one more catch for anyone who thinks about tinkering with the software. As with the Pixel Watch 4, flashing the factory image still requires a debug adapter that Google only ships by invite. Google also notes that unlocking the bootloader will make the watch less secure and that installing a factory image will wipe it.
The Pixel Watch 5 is already receiving new software features like Gemini Intelligence and At a Glance along with hardware upgrades such as 3GB of RAM and 64GB of storage.
With the software foundation now in place, the September update should give us a better idea of how quickly Google can extend that experience to older Pixel Watches.
Choosing the best Google Pixel Watch 5 screen protectors isn't an easy job. It's easy enough to match your Pixel Watch 5 size variant to 41mm or 45mm screen protectors, but narrowing it down to one choice can be tough. There are so many decent options out there, after all. This is exactly why I have rounded up the best picks in terms of quality, price, performance, and durability, and gathered them here in one place. Enjoy your shopping, and don't forget to grab a sweet Pixel Watch 5 band or two afterward.
Have your pick of the best Pixel Watch 5 screen protectors
The ZAGG Ultra Eco Smart Watch Screen Protector for the Pixel Watch 5 is a plant-based, self-healing, scratch-proof protector with a lifetime replacement warranty. Choose the 41mm or 45mm option based on the size of your Pixel Watch 5.
EGV 6 Pack Google Pixel Watch 5 45mm Screen Protector TPU Film
Best oleophobic (45mm)
The EGV 6 Pack Google Pixel Watch 5 45mm Screen Protector TPU Film consists of six malleable TPU films designed to fit the 45mm Pixel Watch 5 perfectly. It is scratch resistant, can self-repair, and has a water and dust-repellent oleophobic coating.
EGV 6 Pack Google Pixel Watch 5 41mm Screen Protector TPU Film
Best oleophobic (41mm)
The EGV 6 Pack Google Pixel Watch 5 41mm Screen Protector TPU Film is designed for all 41mm Google Pixel Watches, including the first iteration. This 41mm six-pack of oleophobic films can be shared by multiple Pixel Watch owners across generations.
The Ringke Dual Easy lineup of screen protectors spans across many devices, smartphones and wearables alike. The Google Pixel Watch 5 variant comes with two of the Korean brand's self-repairing EPU films and a very handy installation frame.
ArmorSuit 6 Pack for Google Pixel Watch 5 45mm Screen Protector MilitaryShield HD Clear TPU Film
Best U.S.-made (45mm)
ArmorSuit's MilitaryShield HD Clear TPU films are all made in the U.S.A, so if you're looking to support local products, this is an excellent pick. This is the 45mm Google Pixel Watch 5 variant, with six pieces of self-healing, scratch-proof protectors included.
ArmorSuit 6 Pack for Google Pixel Watch 5 41mm Screen Protector MilitaryShield HD Clear TPU Film
Best U.S.-made (41mm)
Don't worry if you chose the 41mm size option of the Google Pixel Watch 5, because the American-made ArmorSuit MilitaryShield HD Clear TPU Film 6 Pack is also available in the smaller size.
Pick the right set of Pixel Watch 5 screen protectors
The best overall Google Pixel Watch 5 screen protector is the plant-based creation from ZAGG. The ZAGG Ultra Eco Smart Watch Screen Protector for the Google Pixel Watch 5 might be a bit pricey at $24.99, but it comes with a no-questions-asked lifetime replacement warranty. This will basically pay for itself over the years! Plus, you get a very high quality edge-to-edge impact and scratch-proof screen guard with ZAGG's own Self-Healing Nano-Memory Technology. You get an installation tray and cleaning kit in the box as well.
Bargain hunters will find that virtually every other pick that I have listed here is very affordable. If you want to split the difference between a budget buy and a branded pick, Ringke has a great two-pack for below $20. This includes two high-grade EPU films with self-repairing properties and an installation and alignment tool that simplifies the installation process.
For bottom-of-the-barrel deals, both EGV and AmorSuit have $10 kits with six units of TPU screen protectors for the Pixel Watch 5, available in both 41mm and 45mm variants. You can't go wrong with either, as both are very well-reputed names in the biz.
