I might be showing my age here; like many Android enthusiasts, I have a particular soft spot for the long-departed Nexus series (and Google Play edition devices, if you remember those?). Yes, it’s been nearly seven years since the Nexus 6P, and the series was plagued with more issues than paying customers should have to shoulder. Still, the series produced a unique blend of hardware and software that, when it worked, was greater than the sum of its parts.
Having spent some very enjoyable time with the ASUS Zenfone 10 and Google’s Pixel 7 series, I can’t help but pine for another supergroup outing that shows off the best of what Android can be. That might sound strange, given that Pixel hardware is by far the best it’s ever been, and ASUS runs virtually stock Android on its handset. But hear me out.