Sometimes, I’ll sit down to review a phone, not knowing that it will be the last of its kind. I didn’t know that the Galaxy S23 Ultra would be the last time I’d use a Samsung phone with a curved display, nor did I know that Google would ditch its rear-mounted fingerprint sensor following the launch of the Pixel 5a. If I did, I might have shown those features a bit more love as a way of saying farewell.
Then, there are times when you realize that a phone will undergo significant changes much faster. Google’s Pixel 8a, for example, is only six months old, but I can already tell that we won’t see another phone like it for a long time. It’s not just the updated design that suggests things are changing, either — I think Google has changed what it means to be a Pixel device, making its most affordable model feel like a throwback to another age.