From the Editor's Desk: Phones come and go, but the rumor mill is forever

Rumors, leaks, and renders give us glimpses of hope, even if the reality of upcoming phones is less rosy.

There's a lot of ways to describe me — nitpicking, over-opinionated, procrastinating — but one that I always wear with pride is dreamer. I'm always happy to get lost in the clouds of a good dream, which is why instead of writing this last night when I was supposed to, I instead fell head-first into fluffy stories of superheroes and found families. It's a nice dream to escape to, especially after a week of headaches, chaos, and disappointment in the real world and in the tech world.

This week's Android news was dominated by the rumor mills, churning away at the Galaxy Note 20 and whatever the hell Pixel phones Google will be unveiling not even god knows when. I'll admit, the rumor mill has never been my kind of thing — I prefer to focus more on things that are actually here and real, like Google giving Google Docs a dark theme — but these are the weeks that both make me want to throw my hands up in surrender and remind me why so many Android enthusiasts flock to every scrap of news they can get about upcoming flagships.

We already know what the Note 20 and the Pixel 4a/5G/Whatever look like and what specs they have. Heck, we've known what the Pixel 4a has looked like and had under the hood since February. And yet we cling to all the setbacks, the rumored hardware changes — never mind that the 4a was manufactured six months ago for a May release — and the naming nonsense for one reason: maybe, just maybe, Google will surprise us and give us a better phone than we think we're getting.

Keep dreaming, guys.

I was excited for the Pixel 4a in the spring, arguing that it and the OnePlus Z/Nord/Lite/Whosit that is launching next week were the only phones worth caring about in 2020. My whole family uses the Pixel 3a XL and the Pixel 4a would've been a great competitor for the iPhone SE — and just an all-around great choice for smartphone buyers — six months ago. Now, I can't wait for the damn thing to get out the door so we can just end the drama.

I could say the same for the Note 20 — which looks far too expensive for an uncertain 2020 market even if the latest pricing rumors are true — but at least the Note 20 will be the best display we've ever seen on a smartphone (for a few months, anyway) and hopefully that big honking module pushes the camera envelope a little more. We know most of the specs and we know what it looks like — by the way, am I the only one that looked at that bronze color and just shuddered? — but we can still dream of its performance and camera prowess.

And make no mistake, that's what this is, folks. The way I've been dreaming for the last four months about how Walt Disney World would look when it reopened this weekend is exactly how my co-workers have been dreaming about the Note 20. The phone when it arrives is never quite as sweet as the rumors and the hype make it out to be, but the dream has to become reality at some point. The phones launch, the specs are official and the software is seen, and then the only questions left are "Do I upgrade" and "What color case do I get?" (Anything but black, I beg you!)

Then it'll be time to start dreaming of the Galaxy S21 and the OnePlus 9, and the cycle starts again.

Before we wake up and face another week of reality, there's a few more things to cover:

• Summer is here and so's a wave of the Chromebooks announced earlier. I've had the Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook for a while now and I'm absolutely in love with it, but the new Acer Chromebook Spin 713 has been making waves since it showed up on my doorstep a week ago. Expect reviews of both soon, and a shakeup to our Best Chromebooks rankings.
• Speaking of Chromebooks, I'm still using the Lenovo Chromebook Duet, and it is the absolute best Android tablet for comics and reading. Because unlike tablets that actually run Android, the Duet will get regular updates for years to come.
• Google giving Google Docs/Sheets/Slides dark mode on Android was a long time coming, but they still need to add it to the Google Drive suite websites! If Google Keep can have a dark mode on web, then so can Docs!!
• I've been falling down the rabbit hole of anime and fanfiction the last two weeks, and I'm sure I'm not alone in needing an escape from (gesticulates wildly at the world) all this. What have you been watching or reading recently? I need recommendations!

Now, have a cool snack — it's too hot outside — WEAR A MASK PLEASE, and keep dreaming, everyone!

— Ara

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