Best Google Pixel 5 Deals: Where to buy Google’s 2020 flagship

Google’s future is now! The Google Pixel 5 has been out for a while now, and it’s an impressive piece of tech for the price. In our Google Pixel 5 review, Adam Conway mentions that “if you’re looking for a fantastic software experience with good performance, the Google Pixel 5 is definitely worth looking at”. The mid-range chipset may scare off those wanting the bleeding edge, but this flagship runs better than expected and comes at a more affordable price.

Offering a 6-inch, OLED screen with a 90Hz refresh rate and 8GB RAM, you’ll be able to watch anything you like and it’ll be smooth and stutter-free. You’ll even be able to play games without any issue. Couple that with impressive front and rear cameras, you have a device that can stand with the best, while only costing $699.

Of course, retailers are always offering some great Google Pixel 5 deals, as they’re vying for you to purchase this flagship device from them. We’ve rounded up the best deals, so you can skip the research and pick up your new phone!

Where to Buy the Google Pixel 5

If you want to get your hands on the Google Pixel 5, you’ll need to decide if you want an unlocked version or something under a carrier plan. Amazon, Best Buy, and the Google Store have unlocked phones, while Verizon is the current carrier with the Pixel 5 available to buy.

Best Unlocked Google Pixel 5 Deals

For unlocked Google Pixel 5 deals, you can pick Amazon, Best Buy, or the Google Store.

Amazon

Amazon has both colors of the Pixel 5 in stock, and you know if you go with Amazon, you’ll have the easiest time getting an unlocked phone. With Amazon Prime, you’ll have two day shipping available to you. Finally, if you have an Amazon Prime Rewards card, you can pay $38.83 a month for 18 months, interest-free.

Google Pixel 5

Ease, convenience, and two day shipping. What more could you want from Amazon for your Pixel 5 purchase? Prime Rewards cardholders can also pay for the device over 18 months, interest-free.

Buy from Amazon

Best Buy

If you want an unlocked Pixel 5 but want to activate it with a carrier today, you can grab one from Best Buy and save! If you activate with Sprint, you’ll save $100, and if you decide on Verizon, you’ll save $50. You can’t argue with flat savings like that, and you won’t need to fuss around getting your phone activated with your carrier once it arrives either!

Google Pixel 5

Buy the Google Pixel 5 from Best Buy and activate today, and you can save up to $100 on your purchase, depending on your carrier!

Starting at $599 at Best Buy

Google Store

You can’t go wrong grabbing the Pixel 5 from Google themselves. You can order the Google Pixel 5 right now at the Google Store–no waitlist needed! If you qualify for Google Financing, you can also pay off the phone over 24 months at 0% APR.

Google Pixel 5

Get the Pixel 5 straight from Google! If you qualify, you can split the $699 into 24 monthly payments with 0% APR.

$699 at Google Store

Best Carrier Google Pixel 5 Deals

Looking to grab a Pixel 5 on a carrier plan? Right now, you can go with Verizon or AT&T.

Verizon

Are you on Verizon, or looking to switch? Then you’re in luck, as the Pixel 5 is available at this carrier. If you trade in an eligible phone, you can save up to $550, which really takes a chunk out of the $699 asking price.

Google Pixel 5

The Google Pixel 5 is available at Verizon! You can grab either the black or green version, and you can save up to $550 off if you trade in an eligible phone.

Get Up to $550 in Trade-Ins at Verizon

AT&T

The Google Pixel 5 is now available at AT&T! New and old customers alike can get the Google flagship for just $15 a month by trading in an old device and signing up for an unlimited plan. You’ll also get a free Chromecast with Google TV with your purchase!

Google Pixel 5

At AT&T, you can get this phone for as low as $10 a mont for 30 months! You just need to have an eligible trade-in and be on an unlimited plan. You'll also get a free Chromecast with Google TV with your purchase.

$15/month at AT&T

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In a year full of $1000-$2000 flagships, the Google Pixel 5 does not attempt to become a flagship, but it still ends up becoming one simply because it is at the helm of the ship for Google in 2020. But that goes on to show that not everyone needs to have a flagship processor. Most average users should be just fine with the modest package of the Pixel 5. And the camera is just the icing on the top that makes it one of the phones that a lot of reviewers can heartily recommend this year.

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Amazfit GTS 2 with AMOLED display, blood-oxygen monitoring goes on pre-order in India for ₹12,999

In October, Amazfit refreshed its smartwatch series with two new addition in the form of the Amazfit GTS 2 and GTR 2. The company launched the Amazfit GTR 2 in India just yesterday. And now, it’s gearing up to launch the Amazfit GTS 2, with an online launch event confirmed for December 21.

But ahead of the official launch, the company has now opened up pre-orders for the Amazfit GTS 2. You can pick up the square-shaped smartwatch for ₹12,999 ($176). Unlike the GTR 2 which had a Classic and a Sports version, the GTS 2 has a single version only. Interested users can place their pre-order from Amazfit India’s website starting today, and Amazon.in at launch. You can only pre-order it in Midnight Black color — however, there should be more color options when the watch goes on sale.

Aamzfit GTS 2: Specifications

Specification	Amazfit GTS 2
Build	Aluminum alloy + plastic Silicone strap
Dimensions & Weight	42.8 x 35.6 x 9.7mm 24.7g (without strap)
Display	1.65-inch AMOLED 348 x 442 pixels 341ppi 450 nits ODLC coating for scratch resistance
Sensors	Huami BioTracker 2 PPG sensor Air pressure sensor Accelerometer 3-axis gyroscope Geomagnetic sensor Ambient light sensor
Storage	3GB
Battery	246mAh 7 days back up 2.5 hours charging time
Connectivity	Bluetooth 5.0 WLAN 2.4GHz GPS GLONASS
Water Resistance	Yes, 5 ATM
Compatibility	Android 5.0 or iOS 10.0 and above

As a refresher, the Amazfit GTS 2 is a direct successor to the last year’s Amazfit GTS. Unlike the Amazfit GTR 2, the GTS 2 features a square dial similar to the Apple Watch series. It sports a 1.65-inch AMOLED display with a screen resolution of 348 x 442 and a peak brightness of 450nits. The company claims the new watch is thinner and lighter than its predecessor. One of the major highlights of the smartwatch includes real-time blood oxygen monitoring, 24-hour heart rate monitoring, water resistance, calling support, built-in GPS, and sleep tracking. It also packs 3GB of flash storage and a 246 mAh battery, which the company claims lasts up to 7 days.

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YouTube Music is testing a grid layout for singles and albums from artists

After killing off Google Play Music earlier this year, Google has been making constant efforts to bring YouTube Music up to par with the outgoing app. The company has rolled out several new features to the app over the last few months, and it has also enabled a few features for free accounts that were previously only available to users who had a premium subscription. Along with that, Google has also tested a couple of UI changes for the app, like introducing a new activity bar that gives users quick access to four personalized playlists. Now, Google is testing another new UI change with a couple of users that will change the Singles and Album layouts on artist pages.

The new Singles and Albums layout in YouTube Music was recently spotted by Reddit user u/Iordbrack, who shared the following screenshots. As you can see, the updated layout displays all the singles and albums from an artist in a grid format instead of the current list layout.

The new grid layout brings the album art to the forefront and shows the song name and release year underneath. As of now, it isn’t clear if the app will provide users with an option to switch between these layouts, but I sure hope it does. I personally prefer the existing list format as it shows a larger number of songs/albums at once. The grid layout, on the other hand, barely shows 6 songs/albums. While I’m not a fan of the grid layout, I do appreciate the new cast button in the top right corner, which will make it much easier to cast to other devices from YouTube Music.

Which layout do you prefer? Do you think Google should add a toggle to let users pick the Singles/Albums page layout? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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Spotify is now available on the Epic Games Store

The Epic Games Store is a digital distribution platform, like Steam, where users can purchase digital copies of a wide variety of games. However, unlike Steam, the platform currently only hosts games, and users have to rely on other services to purchase miscellaneous software. But that may change soon as the Epic Games Store is now expanding its portfolio, starting with Spotify.

Spotify is now available on the Epic Games Store!

Discover new music and podcasts while you game. Listen to the songs you love and enjoy music from all over the world.@SpotifyNews https://t.co/93l6jP1HXA pic.twitter.com/d8CFHnXIDw

— Epic Games Store (@EpicGames) December 17, 2020

As per a recent tweet from the official Epic Games Store handle, users can now download Spotify on the platform. If you’re a fan of the popular music streaming service, you can follow this link to install Spotify on your Windows or macOS device. The Spotify app on the Epic Games Store is free to download, but you’ll have to pay for a premium subscription if you wish to get full functionality and remove all ads. In case you have an ongoing subscription, you’ll have to log in with the same credentials to enjoy the premium benefits.

Epic Games’ move to offer the Spotify app on its store comes just months after the company joined hands with other big-name developers to form the Coalition for App Fairness (CAF). Spotify is among the founding members of this non-profit organization, which seeks to push for “enforcement and reforms, including legal and regulatory changes, to preserve consumer choice and a level playing field for app and game developers that rely on app stores and the most popular gatekeeper platforms.” The coalition was formed back in September this year, a few weeks after Epic Games sued Apple and Google for removing Fortnite from their respective app stores for bypassing the app store fees with direct payments.

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Google is finally preparing to release a Tiles API for Wear OS

In 2019, Google released “Tiles”, a new feature that lets you show small, informative app widget cards on Wear OS smartwatches. Google added Tiles for a handful of things, including Goals, Next event, Forecast, Heart rate, Headlines, and timer, allowing users to easily access important info by swiping left on the watch face. At launch, you could only add 5 Tiles, but with the Wear OS app v2.40, Google raised the limit, letting users add up to 10 Tiles on their smartwatch. Since Tiles was released, smartwatch OEMs like Mobvoi have also built their own Tiles.

However, to this day, Google has never released an official API for Tiles, which would let third-party Wear OS app developers offer their own Tiles. Fed up with the delay, some developers reverse-engineered the internal Tiles API that Google uses in the Wear OS app to create an UnofficialTileAPI. While this has led to several third-party app devs successfully creating Tiles, it’s not recommended to rely on undocumented APIs since they can change at any time, causing breakage. But it appears developers will not have to resort to unofficial ways to build Tiles in a not so distant future.

Finally, nearly a year and a half after the debut of Tiles, it looks like Google is preparing to introduce an official Tiles API. An AOSP commit titled “initial commit of Wear Tiles API” adds the Tiles API to the AndroidX support library.

Initial commit of Wear Tiles API.

This checks in the app-side of the Wear Tiles API. Tests (and testing libs) have not yet been added, but will come in a future CL. This version exists really to start kicking off API reviews.

Once this commit is merged, developers will be able to call this API after updating to the latest AndroidX version.

With the release of the official Tiles API, we should see more developers jumping on board and bringing exciting new Tiles for Wear OS-powered smartwatches. We don’t know when Google plans to release the API publicly. But we’ll be keeping a close eye on the development and sure to let you know if we learn anything new.

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OnePlus confirms upcoming smartwatch will run Wear OS

Back in November, a report claimed that the OnePlus smartwatch would not run Wear OS, which came as a shock considering OnePlus’ solid relationship with Google. Well, OnePlus has finally set the record straight, confirming its smartwatch will indeed run Google’s wearable platform.

In an interview with Input, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau said the reason why the company’s smartwatch has been on-again, off-again is due to Wear OS, which has floundered in recent years. But that’s where Lau sees an opportunity. OnePlus is working alongside Google to make Wear OS better for the company’s upcoming smartwatch.

“Wear OS definitely has room to improve,” Lau told Input. “What we’re trying to do is work with Google to try to improve the connectivity between the Wear OS ecosystem, Android TV, and Android smartphones to create this ability for better device interoperability across the ecosystems. This has been something looked at very positively from Google’s side as well, so this is the direction that we’re trying to develop, but we don’t have more than we can share on that right now.”

Even with Lau’s comments, it’s still unclear what will separate the OnePlus smartwatch from other Wear OS devices on the market. But the seamless interoperability across device ecosystems is a start. OnePlus offers a strong lineup of devices that includes smartphones, TVs, headphones, and more, and a wearable seems like the next logical step.

With Google recently gaining EU approval for its acquisition of Fitbit, the best days of Wear OS may be ahead. The search giant has already indicated it has plans to release exciting new wearable devices, and with Fitbit’s focus on fitness, there’s cause for optimism.

It’s nice to hear OnePlus is working with Google to provide consumers with a better product. OnePlus has been surgical with the new features it brings in major smartphone updates. Hopefully, we’ll see that level of precision when the OnePlus smartwatch is released, probably in 2021.

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Google’s Fitbit acquisition is cleared by EU with some conditions applied

Google and Fitbit are one step closer to final completion of their merger after the European Commission gave final approval following a four-month probe. Google bought the wearables pioneer back in November 2019 for a not-insubstantial $2.1bn but has been awaiting clearance from global regulators including in the European Union, with questions raised over whether the move would stifle competition, leading the Commission to launch a full investigation. However, following Google’s agreement to abide by a number of pledges, their concerns have been addressed and the merger approved.

In order to get past the regulator, Google has agreed not to use health, fitness or location data from Fitbit devices for advertising purposes, inside the European Economic Area. This will be safeguarded by insisting that Google keep Fitbit data ‘siloed’ from other data. Users will have to explicitly consent to let Google apps ‘see’ the data collected by Fitbit. It has also pledged to maintain API access to the Fitbit platform for third parties, and simultaneously ensure there are no functionality limitations in the API for third-party smartwatches and fitness trackers when paired with an Android phone.

Announcing the decision, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Margrethe Vestager, said: “We can approve the proposed acquisition of Fitbit by Google because the commitments will ensure that the market for wearables and the nascent digital health space will remain open and competitive.”

Under the terms of the approval, Google will have to abide by the ruling for ten years, after which time it will be reviewed, with the Commission noting that it may well extend the rules regarding Fitbit data use in Google advertising for a further period. A trustee will be appointed to monitor if Google is sticking to its agreements, and will require Google to give that person or body access to relevant records, and if required, to personnel, facilities and technical data. The ruling will make it nigh-on impossible for Google to simply absorb Fitbit once the deal closes, assuring it will remain a separate brand in its own right. The entire deal was supposed to close by the end of 2020, but the US Department of Justice has yet to make its own ruling on the acquisition.

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