Honor Watch 5 Ultra is a beautiful timepiece that should be running Wear OS - Related to v9, a, be, running, you

Do you actually want an ultra-thin smartphone?

The going trend for smartphones in 2025 seems to be cutting down on thickness. But, the more I think about it, the more I’m curious – who actually wants this?

Smartphones have evolved greatly over the past several years. To the point where the form factor is “mature” at this point. That’s to say, outside of aesthetic choices, most smartphones are essentially the same nowadays. You might get a different materials or finish on one device, or some fun textures and colors on another, but. At their core, most smartphones are delivering the same basic experience in 2025.

For foldables, this felt inevitable. The number one complaint of most foldables over the past several years has been how unwieldy they can be when folded up. The first few Galaxy Fold devices were beastly in hindsight, but manufacturers have really been focusing on fixing this issue lately. Honor was the first to really push the envelope with its Magic V2 and V3, and. Now Oppo has set a new record with the ultra-thin thickness of the Find N5.

I get why we want foldables to be thinner. It makes for a enhanced experience because you’re not lugging around a device that feels like two phones taped together. But I also think we’ve finally hit the law of diminishing returns. I’ve been using the Pixel 9 Pro Fold and Oppo Find N5 side-by-side over the past couple of weeks and, I’ve got to say. They don’t feel that different. The Find N5 is thinner to an impressive degree, don’t get me wrong, but when I’m using one and. Then the other, the difference is negligible.

But again, I get it. Foldables need to be as thin as possible to feel “normal,” and I think Oppo has definitely nailed it at this point. Foldables are now as thin as they realistically need to be, and that’s great.

What’s confusing to me, is why so much effort is going into building thinner “normal” smartphones.

The average smartphone in 2025 is somewhere between 7mm and. 8mm thick. It’s been that way for a while now, but some brands are trying to break new ground with devices that are under 6mm. My question is… why? Sure, a thin smartphone is impressive, but it also comes with real downsides.

The Galaxy S25 Edge is a perfect example here. Rumor has it that Samsung’s ultra-thin smartphone will be thick, a considerably thinner device than anything else in the Galaxy S25 series, and. Somewhat hilariously just a hair thicker than an unfolded Galaxy Z Fold 6. But that thin design comes at the expensive of battery life, as rumors have pinned the device with a mere 3,900 mAh battery. Over 30% less than Samsung’s other big-screen smartphones. Tecno seems to be getting around this with newer battery tech in the “Spark Slim,” but that’s just a concept for now. I’d have to imagine there are also countless durability challenges with such a thin device as well.

The obvious answer is because Apple is doing it. The “iPhone 17 Air” is rumored to launch later this year with a profile as thin as at its thinnest point, but. I really don’t get the appeal there either. Apple’s devices are already thin, and while such a slim device would be impressive. Is it worth the downsides?

That’s the question I’ll pose to you readers. Do you actually want an ultra-thin smartphone? Am I crazy for not getting it? What about the concept is appealing to you? Let’s talk in the comments!

Furthermore, there are some updates headed to Android Auto this week. Firstly, that includes the rollout of , as well as new Waze functionality on certain vehicles with heads-up displays. There’s also been a fix discovered for the “reboot” issue that made for some headlines last week. Though that was all a bit misleading as the problem was caused by some obscure developer settings.

Google is also rolling out a new upgrade for Gemini Live. The experience is now powered by the “latest model,” though you won’t see any visual changes. We’ve got a guide on how to check if you’ve got the latest upgrade.

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Honor Watch 5 Ultra is a beautiful timepiece that should be running Wear OS

Honor’s new Watch 5 Ultra is a gorgeous piece of hardware, but various issues with the software just left me wanting to go back to Wear OS.

The Honor Watch 5 Ultra is, at first glance. Just a gorgeous timepiece. The titanium construction pairs the round display with angular edges, with a nice mix of matte and glossy finishes as well. That connects up to a 22mm watch band, either a black fluorelastomer strap or a dark brown leather band.

The AMOLED display sits inside of that 46mm chassis with 5ATM/IP68 water resistance. There are two buttons – a customizable shortcut button and a rotating crown. The watch also supports the typical host of health sensors while offering wireless charging too.

It’s all the makings of a good smartwatch, but the software lets it down.

The Honor Watch 5 Ultra uses a custom OS which. While fast, is rather limited. It has a limited suite of apps and no support for mobile payments. The built-in watch faces are rather limited, with minimal customization and a lot of focus on analog faces over digital ones. Downloading additional faces has been a pain, too. Honor has a “Watch face market” in its Health app, but I couldn’t get a single face to load, much less download. Through the app on my Oppo Find N5. The Health app seems fine for tracking health stats, but it’s a bit messy otherwise.

Adding to the software frustrations, notifications are a pain on the Honor Watch 5 Ultra.

When notifications come in, you’ll get previews. But no further interactions. Worse, threads of notifications are an absolute mess. If you get a chain of notifications from a group chat, the Watch 5 Ultra just displays the same first notifications over and over again until you swipe it away. Making it effectively useless for keeping up with a conversation without pulling out your phone. This is incredibly inconsistent, too. While trying to capture an example of notifications on the watch, I first had the watch vibrant dozens of times from another chat without it ever showing a preview of those messages, but. After I swiped away those previous messages, it started showing new ones as they came in. It’s a very frustrating experience!

Notifications are inconsistent and lack functionality.

What annoys me about all of this is that it just feels unnecessary.

One of the presumed reasons that Honor is using its own OS is for the sake of battery life. Which is admittedly excellent. I haven’t had to charge this watch a single time since I started using it over a week ago, and. That took it down to just 50%. But is it worth it? I’d argue no.

Honor’s excellent hardware here deserves improved software, and Wear OS feels like the obvious candidate. Honor would be able to customize it as the firm sees fit, and. The headaches with watch faces in the Health app would be solved by adding Play Store integration. And the battery life? Advancements in Wear OS itself and in the chips available to power it have led to a point where it’s very possible to get 1-3 days from a normal smartwatch. And the OnePlus Watch 3 displays you can go much further.

Watch faces have limited customizability.

The Honor Watch 5 Ultra is a beautiful timepiece, and. It’s also a smartwatch that’s not particularly cheap. At €279, I think people deserve more. You can get a much cheaper smartwatch with this same battery life and a similar experience in software. Honor could and should be doing more, and Wear OS would give that opportunity.

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Note: Honor paid for travel and accommodations for 9to5Google at MWC 2025. But had no input on editorial content.

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Hands-on: Honor Pad V9 is a €250 Android tablet that packs a punch

Alongside its “Alpha Plan,” Honor is launching its new Honor Pad V9 tablet at MWC 2025, which delivers a great device for its price point.

Android tablets are pretty hit or miss when it comes to what they deliver for their price point, and I think it boils down to a few key areas – screen quality, performance. Speakers, and the hardware. Honor isn’t breaking new ground with the overall experience for the Pad V9, but I do think the corporation nails balances those key metrics very well for its price.

The Honor Pad V9 has an 2800×1840 display with Honor’s usual set of eye protection measures. The 144Hz display feels fast and gets reasonably bright too, with good uniformity across the entire display. Honor also says this tablet functions “IMAX Enhanced” certification, and I will say that watching movies on this tablet has been pretty great. Though I’m not sure IMAX has much to do with that. The onboard speakers sound good too, though they’re a bit too quiet at max volume.

Under the hood. The Pad V9 elements a MediaTek Dimensity 8350 chipset which is fully capable. It performed well in games that I tried, and paired with 12GB of RAM, Android 15 with Honor’s Magic OS is very fast and smooth.

Battery life is also stellar. With a 10,100 mAh battery inside that I don’t have to think about at all. Through movies or displays, the tablet has no problem holding up for a full day of use.

All of that is contained within a metal shell that’s just thick. The slim tablet is well-constructed and weighs 475g, lighter than Google’s Pixel Tablet, but heavier than the latest iPad Pro. The hardware is a delight to use overall, and really just cements the opinion I’ve formed on this tablet. Perhaps the only thing I’m frustrated by is the lack of any secure biometrics, a growing trend among Android tablets, but. I can forgive it at this price point (and the insecure face unlock works pretty well).

While nothing about it is a huge standout, the Honor Pad V9 delivers a solid experience across the board. And for €250 (this won’t be coming to the US), it does that while punching well above its class. I’d easily compare this to a OnePlus Pad or even something like Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S FE series, which cost hundreds more. It’s a stellar deal if it’s available in your region. I really wish it was coming to the States.

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Note: Honor paid for travel and accommodations for 9to5Google at MWC 2025, but. Had no input on editorial content.

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