Taking a look back at this week’s news and headlines across the Android world, including a flagship camera showdown, Galaxy Z Flip8 advantages, OneUI 9 rolls out, new Boox ePaper hardware, Retroid Pocket Duo arrives, MediaTek’s uprated chipset, and Chrome’s Android market share.

Android Circuit is here to remind you of a few of the many discussions around Android in the last seven days. You can also read my weekly digest of Apple news here on Forbes .

Three Camera Phones, Three Advantages To Choose From

While smartphone discussions will focus on new approaches to AI in both Android and Apple’s iOS, what about the camera? With Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro now available, it can join the Pixel 11 Pro and Galaxy S26 Ultra flagships in comparisons. Abby Ferguson takes on the head-to-head-to-head of imaging for DPReview:

“Apple’s main camera has its own edge, though, as it’s the only one here with a variable-aperture lens… Samsung has the broadest rear-camera system, adding a dedicated 3x camera between its main and 5x cameras. Its long telephoto reaches 111mm equiv., narrowly exceeding the Pixel’s 106mm and iPhone’s 100mm equiv. lenses, and the 67mm equiv. provides a nice bit of flexibility that the others don’t. However, the Pixel’s telephoto sensor remains the largest in that class of the group.”

Samsung’s Flip Phone Under The Microscope

While many manufactuers have pushed the zeitgeist toward book-style foldables, Samsung continues to champion the flip style… at least for now. The recently released Galaxy Z Flip8 is picking up acclaim from many writers. Daniel Schmidt takes a forensic look :

“Anyone looking for a new flip phone will find the best option on the market in this new Samsung model. However, the differences between the Galaxy Z Flip8 and its predecessor are very minor, and its “dominant position” is largely due to a lack of competition.”

Samsung Rolls Out OneUI 9

With Android 17 now out in the wild, manufactuers will be updating their own flavors of the mobile OS to update their existing handhelds and add in new features for upcoming handsets. Samsung’s One UI 9 is now out of beta and heading to the current flagships. GSM Arena reports :

“Following a months-long beta testing period, today Samsung is finally releasing the stable version of One UI 9 based on Android 17 for the Galaxy S26, S26+, and S26 Ultra. The update will start rolling out in various markets, and it seems like Samsung’s home country of South Korea got it first as a 650ish MB over-the-air download.”

Samsung is highlighting various AI areas in its press release:

“The new Generative and Editable Cards on Now Brief3 help users choose what appears in their daily summaries. Users can create cards across health, weather, and video so their daily brief reflects the information most relevant to them.”

Boox Debuts All-New Note Mini C, Note Air6 C, and Palma 3

Boox has announced its next three ePaper-based Android devices, covering three key form factors: the phone-sized Palma 3, the small-tablet Note Mini C, and the regular Note Air 6 C. Crucially for long-term support, Boox will ship these with a later version of Android than previous models. 9to5Google reports: :

“All three will run Android 16 out of the box, which is notable because the latest public version of Android is only one generation ahead of that. It wouldn’t have been a surprise if these devices were still a generation or two behind that. Two could be considered tablets, while the Palma is a generational upgrade to the company’s beloved compact e-reader that looks like an Android phone, at first glance.”

Retroid Pocket Duo’s Twin Screen Emulation Deck

Also coming out this week is another “non-standard” Android device in the form of the Retroid Pocket Duo, a dual-screened clamshell gaming device reminiscent of the Nintendo 3DS. IGN’s Bo Moore looks over the specs :

“The Pocket Duo offers a 5.5-inch 1080p AMOLED primary screen, while the second screen is 4.5 inches at 960p. It’s powered by a Qualcomm Dragonwing Q-7790 processor and runs Android 16, which offers a plethora of games via the Play Store, as well as multiple options for DS, 3DS and other retro system emulation. If going this route, games should be obtained legally, such as by dumping your own game cartridges – IGN does not condone piracy under any circumstances.”

The New Dimensity Flagship Chip

Chipset manufacturer MediaTek has announced an uprated Dimensity chipset for flagship performance. The Dimensity 9600M is built around a 2nm process for more efficiency and greater performance. GSM Arena has the new specs :

“From a hardware perspective, the 9600M is essentially a repackaged Dimensity 9500, fabbed on TSMC’s 3nm N3P process with identical components. It gets the same all-large-core CPU with a max frequency of 4.21GHz on the C1-Ultra core. The same applies to the Arm Mali-G1 Ultra MC12 GPU and the APU 990 NPU, which are unchanged.”

The Google Play Store offers multiple choices for mobile browsers, but with Chrome pre-installed on the handset, it gets the first bite of the cherry to claim the mobile market share. Just how popular is it? More from Android Authority’s Andy Walker surveyed the readership to find that Chrome gathered the highest support, with just under a third of respondents using it:

“This result isn’t too surprising. Chrome is easy to use, readily available, and plugs into almost every other service you’ll find on Android. However, it’s one of the more anemic products available when you look solely at its feature set. No extension support is an issue for me and likely for many others.”

Android Circuit rounds up the news from the Android world every weekend here on Forbes. Don’t forget to follow me so you don’t miss any coverage in the future, and of course, read the sister column in Apple Loop ! Last week’s Android Circuit can be found here , and if you have any news and links you’d like to see featured in Android Circuit, get in touch !