Google TV Freeplay now offers more than 10,000 on-demand movies and TV shows at no subscription cost.
The service has grown beyond 300 channels covering news, sports, reality TV, true crime, and entertainment.
The catalog includes titles from A24 and Lionsgate, including Lady Bird, Seventeen Again, and Hell’s Kitchen.
If you want free movies without paying for another subscription, Google TV Freeplay just got a huge upgrade. Google’s built-in streaming service has expanded beyond live channels to include more than 10,000 on-demand movies and TV shows for free.
The update pushes Google's free live-TV lineup past the 300-channel mark. The lineup includes news, sports, reality TV, true crime, entertainment, and more, with new additions including Bloomberg TV+, Yahoo! Sports Network, World of Love Island, and The Martha Stewart Channel.
The number of channels is also moving fast. Freeplay crossed the 250-channel mark in December 2025, meaning Google has added roughly 50 more channels in only a few months.
Google says the library includes titles from studios such as A24 and Lionsgate, with examples including Lady Bird, Seventeen Again, and Hell’s Kitchen. The catalog will also be refreshed throughout the year, so the selection won’t be static.
That makes the update especially useful for Google TV owners. Supported Google TV devices come with Freeplay baked in, so you don’t have to install another streaming app to browse the new catalog. Open the Freeplay app from the Home screen and begin watching.
The update is delivered directly to Google TV Streamer boxes and smart TVs from brands including Sony, TCL, and Hisense, with no additional downloads required.
There’s one catch, though. The content is ad-supported, so “free” doesn’t mean commercial-free. The expanded Freeplay offering is currently limited to the U.S. and requires a Google account and a high-speed internet connection.
Yet, adding more than 10,000 on-demand titles makes a huge difference to Freeplay’s identity. Google is breaking away from scheduled free TV and giving viewers a true pick-what-you-want option without another monthly bill. With subscription fatigue at an all-time high, Google’s move puts serious pressure on paid rivals like Netflix while giving Tubi and Pluto TV a run for their money.
A 24GB Snapdragon 8 Elite Nubia Z70 Ultra was rebuilt inside a custom acrylic case and sandwiched between two full-size CPU coolers.
The oversized setup helps prevent thermal throttling, delivering 99% stability across 20 3DMark Wild Life Extreme loops.
Termux with GPU acceleration lets the phone power an XFCE Linux desktop with an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
The phone reportedly manages around 20–30fps, with the GPU reaching roughly 99% utilization.
Most smartphones hit a thermal ceiling the second you push them beyond casual mobile gaming. But someone took that limitation as a personal challenge and stripped down a Nubia Z70 Ultra, literally sandwiching it between two full-size PC CPU coolers inside a custom acrylic housing. The outcome is a franken-rig smartphone that doubles as a surprisingly viable desktop replacement.
The project, shared by Reddit user ntsow, takes a 24GB Nubia Z70 Ultra with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite and places the phone’s main hardware between two desktop processor coolers inside a custom acrylic case. The original display of the phone has been moved to the front of the case, but the coolers are in direct contact with the shielding over the Snapdragon chip.
Why go that far? Reliable performance. Smartphones can throttle their processors when temperatures climb, but this overbuilt cooling setup means the Snapdragon 8 Elite can keep up a much more consistent performance. In a 3DMark Wild Life Extreme stress test, the modified phone scored 6,980 on its best loop and 6,910 on its lowest with 99% stability over 20 loops.
Outside of benchmarks, the Z70 Ultra runs a full XFCE Linux desktop via Termux with GPU acceleration, enabling it to work with an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Tools such as Wine, Box64, and GameNative can also make the setup run Windows software and games.
The experiment doesn’t really prove a phone can replace a PC, but it does show that sustained cooling might be just as important as raw silicon when you push modern smartphone chips into PC-class workloads.
ntsow / Redditntsow / Redditntsow / Reddit
And yes, it can run Witcher 3. The game apparently runs at around 20-30 frames per second at 1920 x 1080 with the Ultra preset, with the GPU hitting about 99% utilization. In some scenes, it can even push a little over 30fps.
However, there is a drawback to the performance. The phone is still working very hard, and a screenshot showed temperatures nearing 100 degrees Celsius. That was recorded in Nubia’s Diablo Mode, which pushes the hardware to its maximum power and allows overclocking, the builder says.
But it’s not a practical substitute for a gaming PC, and that’s almost beside the point. The experiment shows just how powerful modern phone hardware is when thermal limits are aggressively removed. The creator is still working on the software and intends to push the setup further, possibly turning one Android phone into an all-in-one machine for Android, Linux, and Windows workloads.
Google launched its brand-new Pixel 11 series and Pixel Watch 5 yesterday at 10 am, and then, eight hours later, re-announced the entire series in an awkward, 1.5-hour-long online presentation hosted by comedic sensation Trevor Noah.
The show was broadcast on YouTube, and at one point only 57,000 people were watching, but I think it did go up to 80,000. Comments were also turned off, and I’m not surprised why.
There were only two really amazing parts of the show: the first was when Joël Yawili, a Senior Product Manager for the Gemini app, appeared on the show, and the second was when the company announced a new accessibility feature called Sign-to-Text, which I’ll get to later.
I want to first focus on the show. There were some compelling moments when I thought it could have worked, but overall, I think what Google was trying to do wasn’t executed the way the company wanted.
Trevor Noah vs. Google
(Image credit: Google)
The whole point of a lifestyle show catered to consumers was to communicate how amazing Pixels are. And they are! In my hands-on with the Pixel 11 series, I wrote that the company has actually upped the game for AI on smartphones.
And asking Trevor Noah to host could have been a smart move.
But the whole show was a cringe fest. And I think it’s because you’re watching someone like Noah, who is super casual, a comedian who knows how to host a show, next to someone from Google who was clearly PR trained and was given a very specific script to follow.
Noah seemed bored, and at times seemed very uninterested in wanting to be there. He even tried to make a very obvious dick joke that clearly wasn’t well received by the Google product expert who was talking with him. The audience did laugh, though (and so did I).
What was Google trying to do with this event?
(Image credit: Google)
I think this show was a very obvious move by Google. It was a way to connect with consumers and help them understand their phones and what the new devices can do.
Traditionally, launch shows are hosted mostly to present to developers, tech enthusiasts, bloggers, influencers, and the media. And the message is then disseminated to the rest of the world through articles, photos, interviews, etc.
We’ve seen these shows evolve to something more spectacular, with special guests, celebrities, and even athletes to show off how they use these phones — all an effort to better connect with consumers. Because at the end of the day, that’s the biggest challenge for any tech company: How do you connect people with your product so they will buy it?
Last year was the first time that Google went completely out of the box, and to be fair, the company put on a pretty cool show. Jimmy Fallon hosted, and everything was pretty exciting… and it made sense because it was 10 years of the Pixel. So doing something spectacular was logical.
(Image credit: Google)
And I would have been completely fine if Google wanted to do the same thing again this year. What really threw me for a loop was the decision to host the show… eight hours after the phones were announced and made public.
At that point you’ve completely lost the audience. Consumers already know about the phones; they are reading our articles, they’re looking at what influencers are posting, and they have no real reason to go to a show, even one hosted by Trevor Noah.
While it makes sense to stream the event on YouTube, since Google controls the platform, a better move would have been to partner with a streaming service such as Netflix or Paramount Plus. An example of a showcase like this is Grand Theft Auto 6: An Extended Look, premiering on Netflix later this month, showing that this is clearly an avenue other companies are exploring to showcase new and upcoming launches.
It could even have been something short-lived, like WWE’s annual WrestleMania, which is now streamed on Netflix. And it could have been titled “Trevor Noah presents … the Google Pixel 11.”
The best parts of the show
(Image credit: Google)
For me, when Joël Yawili, a Senior Product Manager at Google, came on the show, there was a visible positive shift in the conversation. At first, Noah once again came across as uninterested and even said, “another demo,” almost as if he were really bored.
But when Yawili began to speak, he didn’t start with a script. He decided to shift the focus to a genuine connection he seemed to have with Noah: They grew up in the same town, it turns out. It also helped that Yawili seemed to genuinely care about the product he’s worked on. The entire interaction and demo truly made me smile.
I also loved how, in Yawili’s demonstration, he brought in a text conversation he was having with his mother, and the way he did it was so casual that it made me want to keep watching.
(Image credit: Google)
The second time the show hit for me was when Google showed off its new Sign-to-Text feature. Watching how it was demonstrated was fascinating, and the two individuals on stage really seemed interested in what they were doing and how this should have a huge impact on many people in the hard-of-hearing and -speaking community.
(Image credit: Google)
I’ll end this by saying I don’t think Google did a bad job; I just think it wasn’t thoroughly thought out. I think the show could have been executed a bit differently, and I think it shouldn’t have been done eight hours after the products were announced.
Google was doing the right thing by wanting to connect with consumers, and I think it can — just with a few tweaks. Are there patches for a live event?
The Google Pixel Watch 5 has finally been revealed with an August 20th release date, and there are already several preorder deals that could make the flagship wearable dirt cheap if you play your cards right.
Grab the watch from T-Mobile with Mobile Plan Plus 2.0 and you'll score $300 off your purchase. That knocks the price of your preorder down to just $5.55 per month for 36 months! One of the best Android smartwatches of 2026 for the price of a large latte every month? Sign me up.
Preorder the Google Pixel Watch 5 for just over $5/month at T-Mobile
Ready to experience Google's latest and greatest wearable creation? Preorder the Pixel Watch 5 with the Watch Plan Plus 2.0 plan and T-Mobile will give you $300 off your purchase. That knocks the price of the preorder down to $5.55 per month!
Starting at $15 per month, Watch Plan Plus 2.0 gives you unlimited talk, text, and high-speed data for your smartwatch, plus unlimited texting and 5GB of data in over 215 countries worldwide (15GB of data in Mexico and Canada). View Deal
Compared to its predecessor, the Google Pixel Watch 5 is more of a refinement than a dramatic transformation, and in many ways, that's a good thing. You still get the eye-catching water droplet-inspired design with the AMOLED display, plus Wear OS 7, a Snapdragon chipset, and dual-band GPS.
The Pixel Watch 5 also comes packed with the latest AI-boosted software features, including Generative Watch Faces, Blood Pressure Trends, and the Smart Wake Alarm. You also get twice the onboard storage compared to the Pixel Watch 4 (now it's 64GB) and a slight boost in battery life that doesn't affect the size or weight.
So what's the catch? Well, aside from those small upgrades, the Google Pixel Watch 5 is largely unchanged from the previous generation. If you're passionate about fancy smartwatch features and/or you've never owned a Pixel watch, then I'd absolutely recommend jumping on this preorder deal.
On the other hand, if you're already the owner of a Google Pixel Watch 4, it'd be understandable if you wanted to skip this one. It's also worth mentioning that T-Mobile has extended this $300 discount to all of the Pixel smartwatches on its site, which means you could get the Google Pixel Watch 4 for free and enjoy nearly identical performance to the 2026 model without paying a dime. The choice is yours.
Fortuitously, the best Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold cases are a diverse bunch. Compared to the initial Pixel Fold, the variety and number of phone cases available for the Pixel 11 Pro Fold are greatly improved. This is great news, for this means there's healthy competition in the market. You get to choose from a wide range of prices and all manner of functions and qualities. Here are the best Pixel 11 Pro Fold available to you right now.
The assortment of Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold cases is wider and better than ever before
Google Pixelsnap Case for Pixel 11 Pro Fold
Best overall
Google's first-party accessories are a hit, with the Google Pixelsnap Case for the Pixel 11 Pro Fold available in a duo of colors that match the foldable's colorways. Adding protection from daily scratches and drops, this case has a soft lining inside as well.
Thinborne Pixel 11 Pro Fold Case
Best thin
The Thinborne Pixel 11 Pro Fold Case might cost an arm and a leg, but its premium quality makes it worth the buy no matter what. Made of aerospace-grade 600D Aramid Fiber, this impossibly thin magnetic case is insanely lightweight as well.
Bellroy Leather Folio with Pixelsnap for Pixel 11 Pro Fold
Best leather
Bellroy is very selective with the quality of leather, thus its Leather Folio with Pixelsnap for the Pixel 11 Pro Fold is uncompromisingly premium-grade. The leather looks and feels top notch and ages over time, giving it a unique look.
Dbrand Drip Case for Pixel 11 Pro Fold
Best grip
Happily, the Dbrand Drip Case with its scored, textured, anti-slip sides is available for the Pixel 11 Pro Fold. Choose from dozens of the coolest, most unique designs, including ones that glow in the dark or have an x-ray of the phone on them.
Mous Super Thin Pixel 11 Pro Fold Case
Best Google dupe
Save a neat $25 on the official Google Pixelsnap Case with the significantly cheaper Mous Super Thin Pixel 11 Pro Fold Case. This is an official Pixelsnap-certified case that is light, thin, and comes in Black, Olivine, and Aramid Fiber colors.
Poetic Guardian for Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold
Best rugged
The Poetic Guardian is a fantastic choice for your latest Pixel foldable. Featuring military-grade drop protection, this magnetic case has a see-through back, raised edges, reinforced spine, a kickstand, and a built-in screen guard.
Pitaka Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold Edge Case
Best design
The Pitaka Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold Edge Case might be missing the handy Aaron button that the brand offers for other phone models, but it's still a gorgeous case made of woven Aramid Fiber. It has magnetic support, too.
Spigen Slim Armor Pro Mag Fit for Pixel 11 Pro Fold
Best hinge protection
The classic Spigen Slim Armor Pro has been magnetized and adapted for the Pixel 11 Pro Fold. This tough case is made of premium PC and TPU and has Pixelsnap-support, full hinge coverage, and robust drop protection thanks to Air Cushion Technology.
FNTCASE Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold Clear Case
Best clear
This may not be the most rugged case from FNTCASE, but it still adds reasonable scratch and drop protection, and is magnetic. The FNTCASE Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold Clear Case is also the most affordable case for the foldable, priced at just $22.
Picking a case for the Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold is not easy task
Usually, a foldable like the Pixel 11 Pro Fold has a handful of phone cases to go with it. Things are different this time around as the case selection is wider than ever before. This makes the business of choosing one of the best Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold cases a bit more convoluted, as one might feel confused about which case to buy. Let me make things easier for you.
An average user who doesn't require much impact absorption will be very happy with the official Google Pixelsnap Case for the Pixel 11 Pro Fold. It's light, thin enough, and not too bulky. Since it's made by Google, you are guaranteed a perfect fit and seamless support for Pixelsnap accessories such as wireless chargers and magnetic stands. You can always add on extras like a Pixelsnap kickstand later on, should you desire more functionality from your phone case.
And if price is the only concern with the first-party case, you can get the cheaper Mous dupe while still getting the same features, including color options that match the Pixel 11 Pro Fold's colorways. There are even cheaper options available too, such as the $22 clear case from FNTCASE that has a magnetic ring on the back and offers basic scratch and drop protection.
Your search for the best Google Pixel 11 Pro XL cases begins and ends here. The largest, fastest charging, and most long-lasting of the Pixel 11 series, the Pixel 11 Pro XL offers generous screen real estate with its 6.8-inch Super Actua OLED display. A bigger phone definitely means you have more grounds to cover in terms of scratch and drop resistance. You should also look for added grip, as a bigger, heavier phone is more likely to fall accidentally. All of my top picks have this covered, and more, so take your time and browse through this guide.
Cases fit for the mighty Pixel 11 Pro XL
Google Pixelsnap Case for Pixel 11 Pro XL
Best overall
The official Google Pixelsnap Case for the Pixel 11 Pro XL comes in the four colors of the Pixel. It has a soft lining to preserve the chassis of the phone, and Google promises everyday scratch and drop resistance and a one-year warranty for the case.
TORRAS Q3 Air for Google Pixel 11 Pro XL
Best with stand
TORRAS designed a new lineup of cases for the Pixel 11 series. The Q3 Air for the Pixel 11 Pro XL is a lightweight, smokey black case with a magnetic rotating ring on the back. It uses proprietary AirPro Cushion technology to reinforce shock resistance.
Mous Marine Limitless Phone Case for Pixel 11 Pro XL
Best premium
Mous isn't the cheapest brand, but its sleek cases undergo rigorous drop tests — which you can see on YouTube! The Mous Marine Limitless Phone Case is grippy, Pixelsnap-compatible, and adds rugged impact absorption in a slim profile.
Bellroy Leather Case with Pixelsnap for Pixel 11 Pro XL
Best leather
The Bellroy Leather Case with Pixelsnap for Pixel 11 Pro XL uses top-quality leather and comes in four shades that go with the phone's own colors. They aren't exact matches, but the adapted colors look splendid in the leather grain.
Poetic Guardian for Pixel 11 Pro XL
Best clear
Spigen is usually my got-to clear case brand, but for a larger phone like the Pixel 11 Pro XL, I highly suggest the more robust Poetic Guardian case instead. This clear case has a shock-proof frame, one screen protector, a ring stand, and 20ft drop protection.
SUPCASE UB Grip for Pixel 11 Pro XL
Best heavy-duty
SUPCASE is another favorite of mine, and I've relied on the brand for years just like Poetic and Spigen. Their Unicorn Beetle Grip case is spectacular as expected, delivering rugged drop-proofing, a screen guard, and a magnetic ring stand.
Dbrand Grip Case for Pixel 11 Pro XL
Best designs
The grippiest of sides and the swankiest of designs, these are two merits of the Dbrand Grip Case for the Pixel 11 Pro XL. It adds reasonable scratch and drop resistance too, and has a magnetic ring embedded within. Some colors/patterns cost most, though.
Spigen Nano Pop MagFit for Pixel 11 Pro XL
Best classic
I would be remiss if I didn't mention Spigen, and there's no case more well known that the classic Nano Pop. This Blueberry Navy shade has been a hit for many years. Now that Spigen has added magnetic support, it is a perfect affordable Pixel 11 Pro XL case.
Ringke Onyx Magnetic Google Pixel 11 Pro XL Case
Best non-slip
The Ringke Onyx Magnetic Google Pixel 11 Pro XL Case has a sandstone-like texture that is wonderfully grippy, preventing accidental slips. The dark green variant looks particularly striking. You get lanyard holes on the sides of the magnetic case too.
You have options on options on options when buying a Pixel 11 Pro XL case
No matter your style preference or budget range, there's a handsome Google Pixel 11 Pro XL case available out there. Instead of spending hours trying to find the perfect match for yourself, just read through this buying guide that I've put together for you. I test cases for a living, and have gone through everything available to narrow it down to only the very best options here.
Generally speaking, most people will be very happy with the Google Pixelsnap Case for the Pixel 11 Pro XL. It fits like a glove, it has Pixelsnap support, it adds scratch and drop resistance, it has a soft lining inside, and it matches all the colorways of the Pixel 11 Pro XL. If you score a neat pre-order deal, you can save up to $600, so the hefty price tag of the official case won't hurt either.
Now for those on the hunt for more than a basic first-party option, there's no shortage of options. Depending on how much money you'd like to spend, what level of drop protection you want, and whether you want extras like a stand, I have rounded up the best Pixel 11 Pro XL cases in every category. If you can go all out, the Mous Marine Limitless Phone Case for Pixel 11 Pro XL is a robust drop-proof case in a very sleek form factor. Poetic offers an affordable version of this in a clear case too, so if that's more accessible, you should check out the Poetic Guardian case for the Pixel 11 Pro XL.
The Pixel 11 Pro Fold goes official, and it is nearly 10% lighter and about 1mm thinner than its predecessor.
A glass-fiber composite back, ceramic outer cover glass, and new gearless hinge make the Fold three times more durable than the previous model.
HiLight is one of the headline features, designed to use different colors for calls from favorite contacts and provide visual cues when Gemini is being used hands-free.
The Pixel 11 Pro Fold is up for preorder and arrives on August 20.
If you were hoping Google would chase Samsung down the rabbit hole of razor-thin foldables, you're about to be disappointed. The Pixel 11 Pro Fold is here, and while it’s much lighter and thinner than its predecessor, it’s not trying to win a slimming contest with the Galaxy Z Fold 8, which weighs 201g.
Google says the Pixel 11 Pro Fold is nearly 10% lighter and about 1mm thinner than the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, along with a new hinge and stronger materials. That said, it does weigh 239g, so Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 is still a lot more portable. Samsung’s new Fold is also 9.7mm thick when closed versus the Pixel’s 10.1mm.
Google’s answer is durability. The Pixel 11 Pro Fold has a glass-fiber composite back, a ceramic cover glass on the outer display, and a new gearless hinge. The company says the combo makes it three-times more durable than its predecessor, while the bigger bend radius and thicker inner glass of the hinge are meant to improve the crease. The phone still has an IP68 rating, too.
The screens have been upgraded. You get a 6.5-inch 1080 x 2342 outer OLED and an 8-inch 2076 x 2152 inner OLED that both run from 1Hz to 120Hz and peak at 3,600 nits.
(Image credit: Shruti Shekar / Android Central)
Powerful hardware
Inside, Google stuffs the Fold with 16GB of RAM, Tensor G6, and up to 1TB of Zoned UFS storage, a new flash storage technology for mobile devices that segregates data into separate logical “zones” to enhance long-term performance and boost storage longevity.
The battery capacity is 4,750mAh and is rated for over 24 hours, and 30W wired charging will supposedly get you to 50% in around 30 minutes. Pixelsnap also supports up to 25W Qi2.2 wireless charging.
Photography gets a substantial push, too. The Pixel 11 Pro Fold has a 48MP main camera, a 10.5MP ultrawide with autofocus and macro focus, and a 10.8MP 5x telephoto, with up to 30x Super Zoom. That gives Google a clear zoom-focused angle against Samsung’s dual 50MP rear cameras on the Galaxy Z Fold 8, which offers up to 10x digital zoom.
Google is also making the new Fold feel more like a real productivity tool. App bubbles are designed for the big screen, and Split Screen, Drag and Drop, Instant View, and improved Made You Look animations are still here. The new sign-to-text translation leverages the camera, Gboard, and Live Transcribe to convert American Sign Language into text on the outer display.
Then there's HiLight, a new LED system built around the camera flash. It can flicker in a variety of colors for calls from your favorite contacts and provide visual cues during hands-free Gemini interactions, with more notification features coming soon.
The Pixel 11 Pro Fold is available to preorder now in Olive and Obsidian colorways. It starts at $1,899 and will be released on August 20.
