RSA CEO Rohit Ghai advises security services to verify users' identities and device integrity.
Ghai sees the intersection of 5G and AI as the most exciting area for innovation.
This article is part of "5G and Connectivity Playbook," a series exploring some of our time's most important tech innovations.
Emergent 5G technology is faster and more secure than ever. It has also created a new world when it comes to cybersecurity.
"Most actors try to attack new technology because they have new things that haven't been patched," Rohit Ghai, the CEO of security company RSA, told Business Insider. "Over the last two years, there has been a pretty dramatic focus on cybersecurity in critical networks."
To limit vulnerabilities and protect users accessing 5G networks on unmanaged devices, for instance, Ghai says security services should verify that the people using devices are who they claim to be and ensure that the devices are not compromised.
"There's a huge amount of intellectual property and corporate data that sits on mobile devices," Ghai said. "Making sure that data is not compromised — there's a huge area of vulnerability from a 5G-network perspective."
Everyone can take basic steps to protect their accounts and devices. Ghai points to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's four recommendations of recognizing and reporting phishing, using strong passwords, using multifactor authentication, and updating software.
BI spoke with Ghai ahead of the annual RSA conference focused on cybersecurity. It's taking place from Monday to Thursday in San Francisco.
The following has been edited for clarity and length.
How have 5G and connectivity transformed your business?
At the highest level, the change we're focused on is protecting corporate IT networks since the advent of 5G. Two things have happened: There is a lot more focus on end devices. Protecting and securing business workflows that are happening on the end user mobile devices is a huge, new area because of 5G.
Secondly, the threat actors are now targeting 5G. In the last two to three years, critical infrastructure and industrial companies have become targets. They are now more invested in cybersecurity, more concerned about cybersecurity, and want to protect against threat actors.
What are your tips and advice for adding 5G and connectivity to your business?
We have to realize technology is a double-edged sword. With new capabilities, the bad guys can exploit the new technologies.
Whenever you deploy new technology, you have to keep up with patching and updates and make sure security updates are applied quickly.
The other component is identity. The perimeter has dissolved in the new 5G era of networking. Where there is no inside or outside, you need to apply a zero-trust strategy for cybersecurity.
What are the most exciting innovations and advancements in 5G today?
The most exciting area is the intersection of 5G and AI. An example is an autonomous car. A car has intelligence and the ability to consult back and seek services that were not possible in the past.
It comes with a lot of risk, as I said. You have to make sure any of the 5G mobile devices that are unmanaged are protected and not jailbroken or under control. Any edge device, be it a phone or a car, can be compromised. A threat actor can take control and use that for malicious activity. They can use mobile phones to get access to corporate networks and steal data.
Asking if those end-point devices have been compromised and being able to answer that question in a very robust way ensures we can take advantage of 5G services.
What are the biggest trends in 5G cybersecurity?
Applying AI — that's a big trend. 5G networks are very, very dynamic. It's changing all the time. Current approaches to security must be able to keep up with the dynamic nature of the network.
The other change is using identity and access governance to make sure privileged access to IT and OT [operational technology] networks is managed. Most cybersecurity attacks on critical infrastructure happen because of compromised credentials.
What are the cybersecurity risks of 5G?
What 5G does is create a large edge network. In that regard, it expands the attack surface. Thinking about the human network, if there are 100 employees, each employee is part of the attack surface. If you have a network and edge devices, the more devices, the larger the attack surface. 5G exponentially increases the attack surface.
How are 5G attacks carried out?
Most attacks start with an identity compromise. It's not a very new pattern. Somehow, they get in. Then, they move laterally in the network to other computing devices. They stay inside. They don't attack right away. They actually hide, moving laterally from one computer to another and another. Then they go after the data or the ransomware or whatever it is they're targeting.
That same pattern follows in 5G networks. It's just that they're exploiting different types of vulnerabilities and moving quickly because of speed.
What does the future of 5G cybersecurity look like?
You have more and more cybersecurity intelligence that lives on the edge and determines whether edge devices are safe, vulnerable, or attacked in any way. Shifting that intelligence from a central nervous system to a more distributed architecture is where the future of cybersecurity is heading.
Passwords are a very old kind of capability that's been used in human networks for centuries. In the 5G network, we have the opportunity to not start with a password-based solution where an edge device is using a password to authenticate into the network. Since 5G is a new technology, we should start with a passwordless approach. Passwords cause security problems and are complicated to manage.
We're introducing and working with an industry standard called FIDO [fast identity online]. I think that has a lot of promise to enable passwordless.
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Lauren Spencer is a top-performing OnlyFans content creator.
The 50-year-old said that her earnings totaled around $150K last year.
She gave Business Insider a behind-the-scenes look into how she runs her enterprise.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Lauren Spencer. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I established my OnlyFans page in 2020. My monthly account statements show I'm among the platform's top earners. After OnlyFans takes its 20% cut, I take home an average of $150K a year.
Before the pandemic, my husband and I ran a house-cleaning business in our native UK, making around $85K a year.
But, when COVID struck, we couldn't visit people's homes. We needed a change of direction.
I'd done a little work for a sex chatline to supplement our income when my kids were young. It made sense to try going back into the adult industry. After discovering foot fetishes were especially in demand, I decided to try to cater to people in that audience.
Financially, I'm in a better spot now that I'm on OnlyFans. I also don't have to pay staff like we did in our previous business.
Content creators are in charge of their own promotion
My husband and I only have to rely on each other. He does much of the camera work, so we're together all day. It's helped strengthen our marriage.
But the hours are very long. I work on and off from 6:30 a.m. until 9 p.m., seven days a week, usually averaging about nine hours a day.
In the early morning, I'll typically spend two hours replying to client emails and posting pictures, videos, and voicemails on social media platforms like Instagram and X.
On OnlyFans, content creators are responsible for promoting themselves. It's vital to be seen online as much as possible. The more famous you get, the more money you make.
I'll work out between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. before resuming work. My busiest time is between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. when I create more content. This mostly involves doing live streams and custom videos.
Spencer usually works nine-hour days, every day of the week.
Courtesy of Lauren Spencer
Next, I'll take a couple of hours of break before returning to answering emails, social media promotion, and scheduling posts. Sometimes, I'll mentor other creators — mostly new girls — through OnlyFans' referral program. I give them advice. In return, my OnlyFans account is credited with 5% of their first year of earnings.
There's no need to hire a studio or professional photographer
The cost to the OnlyFans users varies. Group livestreams are included in the $10 monthly subscription. You can also pay $50 for a 10-minute private livestream in my room. I also offer 10-minute custom movies for $100.
My expenses are low. We film on my iPhone 12 Pro-Max and never use a studio or professional photographer.
But I pay for the premium service on X and an online takedown service to guard against stolen content. There are also accountancy fees.
I'll occasionally buy lingerie, shoes, and clothing. But I often recoup the cost of my stockings and socks. I can charge foot fetishists up to $60 for a pair of my socks, which I mail worldwide.
My fans say that I look like a real woman they can relate to
I'm 50 now, and it's surprising to me that I'm so popular. But my fans say I'm more real than other OnlyFans creators. I've never had anything done.
As for family and friends, they're happy that I'm happy and doing well. They know I couldn't earn this kind of money elsewhere.
I work from home, with a flexible schedule, doing something fun with high-profit margins and minimal outgoings.
I never pay for pedicures at a nail salon
My husband and I have already been able to buy a four-bedroom house. We paid all cash.
I'm aware that I have to look after myself — especially my feet. You won't ever find me walking barefoot on a rough surface.
Every night, I soak my feet in warm, soapy water. Then, I use a buffer to soften the skin on my heels and toes. I put moisturizing cream on my feet with Vaseline to lock it in.
People ask me if I ever get professional pedicures. It wouldn't be worth my while. Many fans like to watch me remove my nail polish and paint my nails again. They often choose the color. Hot pink is the most popular shade.
Do you have a powerful story to share with Business Insider? Please send details to jridley@businessinsider.com.
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway should buy Tesla stock, according to Elon Musk.
"He should take a position in Tesla. It's an obvious move," Musk tweeted about Buffett on Sunday.
Detailed below is why Warren Buffett probably won't invest in Tesla, despite the encouragement.
Warren Buffett should buy Tesla stock, according to Elon Musk.
"He should take a position in Tesla. It's an obvious move," Musk tweeted about Buffett on Sunday, in response to a tweet that suggested Berkshire Hathaway should sell its entire $135 billion stake in Apple and instead purchase Tesla.
To be fair, Buffett and Munger are no strangers to investing in electric vehicle makers, as Berkshire Hathaway did acquire a 10% stake in BYD back in 2008, so anything could happen.
But despite their successful BYD investment, Buffett and Munger said at Berkshire Hathaway's 2023 annual shareholder meeting that investing in the automotive industry is just too hard.
"Charlie and I for long have felt that the auto industry is just too tough. It's just a business where you've got a lot of worldwide competitors they're not going to go away. And it looks like there are winners at any given time, but it doesn't get you a permanent place," Buffett said at the time.
"I think I know where Apple's going to be in five or ten years… I don't know what the car companies are going to be in five or ten years," Buffett added.
Those sentiments were backed up by Munger, who said that while electric vehicles are experiencing wild growth, they also come with huge capital costs and risks.
"It's imposing huge capital costs and huge risks, and I don't like huge capital costs and huge risks," Munger said.
"Being kicked off committees is nothing new for me," the Georgia Republican wrote in a post on X. "Badge of honor. Don't threaten me with a good time."
Speaker Mike Johnson is talking about kicking Republican members off of committees if we vote against his rules/bills.
This comes after he’s serving Chuck Schumer and Biden’s every single wish and passing major bills with Democrats and not the majority of Republicans!
It’s not…
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) May 6, 2024
Her Monday morning missive may have come in response to reporting from Punchbowl News indicating that Johnson is open to kicking Republicans off of their committees if they vote against certain procedural votes that usually pass on party lines — something that hard-right members of the conference have increasingly done in the last 16 months in order to protest party leadership.
A person familiar with Johnson's remarks told Business Insider that they were hypothetical and referred to changes that House Republicans may make under the next Congress, rather than in the immediate future.
Additionally, Johnson can't remove Greene or any other member — or change the rules of the House — unilaterally and would need to hold a House-wide vote on the matter.
But the Georgia congressman's comments illustrate the degree to which she's returned to her roots as an outside agitator, rather than a sober-minded legislator.
Greene was barred from serving on committees by House Democrats at the beginning of her first term, owing to her past espousal of violent rhetoric and conspiracy theories, only for Republicans to place her on committees when they took over.
Greene is poised to force a vote on ousting Johnson this week — though it's almost certain to fail, given House Democratic leaders' vow to protect him from Greene's effort.
Just two other Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Paul Gosar of Arizona — have signed onto Greene's motion to vacate. Most other Republicans have argued that whatever their concerns are with Johnson's leadership, now is not the time to plunge the House back into chaos.
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The best Android phone has the features you want for a worthwhile price.
Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
Choosing the best Android phone depends on the features you prioritize and your target price range. There are many Android phone brands, each with distinct approaches to hardware and software, and price tags vary widely.
To help you sort through the Android landscape, we've tested more than a dozen current phones to land on a definitive list of the top Android phones you can buy now. For transparency, we don't aim to point out which Android phones have the most features or the highest benchmark scores; you can look at a publicly available specs sheet for that. Rather, based on our testing, we favor those with the best balance of high-quality features, performance, and value.
Our top pick among the best Android phones is the Samsung Galaxy S24, a stellar overall phone that would suit the vast majority of Android users. If you're looking for something with a more modest price tag, we recommend the Google Pixel 7a as our top budget option.
With its three cameras, unmatched performance, interesting AI features, and sleek minimalist design, the Samsung Galaxy S24 outclasses the Android competition in its price range. There is simply no finer Android phone you can buy in the current 2024 season. And if you prefer larger displays, the Galaxy S24 Plus is basically a larger version of the Galaxy S24 with a couple of extra benefits, like more RAM and faster charging.
Specifically, the Galaxy S24's versatile triple-camera system and sheer performance set it apart from its main competitor, the Google Pixel 8. The Galaxy S24 runs on the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor as the $1,300 Galaxy S24 Ultra, and it's among the few phones in the $800 range with three cameras. The Galaxy S24's MSRP is $100 more than the Pixel 8's, but it's worth the added cost if you're looking for a premium Android phone and are willing to pay for one to begin with.
Samsung's Galaxy S24 has the fewest compromises for the best value.
Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
Indeed, we feel you wouldn't regret paying a little more for the Galaxy S24's performance today, and a few years from now — it imparts more confidence than other Android phones that it'll stay snappy and smooth for a considerable amount of time.
The Galaxy S24 takes great photos, but it should be said its camera quality is the weakest in the premium phone market. Even though Samsung successfully addressed the near-neon oversaturated colors, the lighting in Galaxy S24 photos can be inconsistent. It results in occasionally bland, depthless photos or overexposure in brighter details, and it happens more often than we'd like.
Still, the Galaxy S24's cameras are good enough, and the 3x zoom lens offers versatility that most other Android phones in this price range don't match. If you often use your current phone's zoom lens or wish you had one to take better photos of far-away subjects, the Galaxy S24 is an excellent choice in the $800 range.
Google's Pixel 7a is essentially a premium device with high-end performance, features, and camera quality that's dressed in more modest materials. In return for the slightly diminished aesthetic of thick display borders and plastic back, the Pixel 7a costs $499. That said, it can often be found with a discount, and its starting price could drop significantly with the expected imminent release of a new Pixel A-series phone around Google I/O this month.
The Pixel 7a's MSRP is on the high side for a budget pick, but it comes with several worthwhile premium features, like a more recent flagship processor (Google's Tensor G2), wireless charging, a smoother high refresh-rate display, and the option of fast mmWave 5G connectivity, all of which combine to make the Pixel 7a our top pick among the best budget Android phones.
The Pixel 7a is the top Android phone you can buy in the budget range.
Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
In our intensive battery test, the 6.1-inch Pixel 7a's 60% result is astonishingly good for a phone of this size; it matches some premium phones with bigger screens, like the 6.7-inch Galaxy S24 Plus (60%).
The Pixel 7a's 64MP main camera and 13MP ultrawide camera produce excellent photos and video. In fact, we found little difference in camera quality between the Pixel 7a and some high-end devices, many of which cost twice as much.
The Android phone with the best camera system is Google's Pixel 8 Pro because, quite simply, it takes the best photos out of all the Android phones we've tested so far. We also get the most confidence that photos will look good after every snap than with other Android phones.
The Pixel 8 Pro's cameras capture memories in beautifully natural colors while maintaining the best balance of brightness and contrast. As the best Google Pixel phone for video and photography, it produces results less prone to overexposure than competitors and offers gorgeous depth thanks to superior dynamic range.
The Pixel 8 Pro might not have four cameras like the Galaxy S24 Ultra, but its photo quality is consistently better.
Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
We also found that the Pixel 8 Pro isn't as dependent on optimal lighting conditions as Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra to capture sharp photos of moving subjects, like kids and pets. Indeed, images taken in less ideal lighting conditions with the Galaxy S24 Ultra can appear somewhat blurry and grainy.
The Pixel 8 Pro's three cameras include a 50MP main camera, a 48MP 5x zoom camera, and a 48MP ultrawide camera, and they offer plenty of versatility.
The Pixel 8 Pro uses a highly effective digital zoom between its main and 5x lenses. It combines the main and ultrawide cameras to produce a photo nearly as sharp as a dedicated optical lens at 3x zoom.
Still, Google's solution for digital zoom isn't quite as high quality as a dedicated zoom lens, like the Galaxy S24 Ultra's 3x zoom lens. And Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra takes slightly better photos at 10x zoom, too. With that said, we stand by our pick for the Pixel 8 Pro, as overall photo quality is still better and more balanced on the Pixel 8 Pro.
The Pixel 8 Pro also takes high-quality videos with equally excellent color, brightness, and contrast as its photos.
Phones with bigger displays almost always have the best battery life, and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra with a 6.8-inch display and 5,000mAh battery obtained the best result in our battery stress test among flat Android phones, ending the test with a whopping 66% remaining.
That's a phenomenal result. The traditional Android phone with the next best score is the Google Pixel 8 Pro with 62%. Indeed, most phones with large displays score between 60% and 62%.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra holds the highest score in our battery test for a traditional phone (non-foldable).
Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
The battery stress test simulates a blend of lighter and heavier workloads. It includes five runs of the intensive Geekbench 6 app, two runs of the intensive 20-minute 3DMark Wild Life Stress Test, two hours of video streaming, and one hour of music streaming while connected to a Bluetooth speaker.
While you're unlikely to change your charging habits too much, the Galaxy S24 Ultra has the most potential out of any Android phone we've tested to last a couple of days of light use. The Galaxy S24 Ultra's battery life also offers more confidence that it'll last through your typical day.
Not only is the Samsung Galaxy S24 the best Android phone overall, it's among the most compact and lightest Android phones available in the US. It has a 6.2-inch display, but the black borders are the display are so narrow that it keeps the phone incredibly compact. It's also incredibly lightweight at only 5.9 ounces.
The Galaxy S24 is slightly more compact and lighter than the Pixel 8.
Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
The Galaxy S24 surprised us with its battery life. It ended our battery test with 59%, which is a good score for a small or large phone. The Galaxy S24 Plus, for example, scored 60% in the same test.
When it comes to foldable phones, we prefer the book-style design over clamshell flip-style designs. Book-style foldables are significantly more expensive, but they offer vastly greater functionality with their tablet displays, and you don't have to worry as much about battery life or performance as you do with clamshell foldables.
The first foldable phone we'd recommend to anyone who asks is the OnePlus Open, thanks to its premium, solid design and build quality, large-than-average cover and tablet displays, and excellent performance. The OnePlus Open's cameras are stellar, too, even if they're a little dependent on ideal lighting conditions, and battery life proved solid in our tests.
The OnePlus Open is the most impressive foldable phone we've tested thanks to its build quality that feels a step above, and its larger cover and tablet displays.
Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
We've tested and considered other book-style phones, including the Google Pixel Fold and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5. However, the OnePlus Open's build quality and large 7.6-inch tablet display sets it apart from the others with 7.6-inch tablet displays. To be sure, the other foldables we mentioned have great build quality, but the OnePlus Open is simply a step above.
We also love the OnePlus Open's large 6.3-inch cover display, as it's wider than the Galaxy Z Fold 5's awkwardly narrow cover display and larger than the Google Pixel Fold with its stout 5.8-inch cover display. The Open offers a comfortable experience familiar to a regular phone's display, which is important, as you don't want to feel like you constantly need to unfold the phone for basic tasks, like replying to a message or quickly searching the web.
The best Android phone we recommend to most people is the Samsung Galaxy S24. For its $800 starting price, it offers an ideal balance of performance, camera quality, camera options, and features.
We put every phone through the same tests and extended personal use.
Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
We test Android phones as if they were our daily drivers for at least several days, often much longer. That way, we can get the best anecdotal feel for their performance, battery life, cameras, and new features. Our extensive experience covering, reviewing, and comparing phone models from various companies at different price points means we know what to expect, and any failings become apparent quickly.
We also conduct standard tests on all the phones we review and include in our guides.
For performance, we put the phones through a gamut of benchmarking apps to check for performance discrepancies between phones, at least on paper. These benchmark tests also help us evaluate how many years a phone could maintain its performance compared to other phones. We've used Geekbench 6 for general performance and the 3DMark Wild Life Stress Test to get a sense of extended heavy gaming performance.
For camera testing, we photograph a set gamut of scenes with every phone; you may have seen our barn photos repeatedly. We take photos and videos with each lens on each phone and compare them to their direct competitors. We even compare premium phone cameras to budget options to evaluate the difference.
For battery life, we run each phone through a stress test that simulates a mixture of typical daily workloads, like streaming a video and music, and high-intensity workloads, like playing demanding games. The battery stress test includes five runs of the Geekbench 6 app, two runs of the 3DMark Wildlife Stress Test, two hours of video streaming at a set average brightness, and one hour of music streaming with a Bluetooth speaker connected. At the end of the test, we note the remaining battery percentage on the phone.
Other Android phones we tested
Aside from the Android phones listed or mentioned above, we've tested all the latest flagship phones from Samsung and Google for our guides to the best Samsung phones and best Google Pixel phones, along with most of the current mid-range and budget phones from both companies.
From Motorola, we've tested the latest Motorola Razr foldable phones, and we're now fully testing the 2024 Moto G and Moto G Power.
We've also tested the latest OnePlus 12 phones. We were convinced they'd feature in this guide, but we faced issues when using the Geekbench 6 benchmarking app, which we use to test battery life.
For some reason, both the OnePlus 12 and OnePlus 12R obtained significantly lower scores in Geekbench 6 than we'd expect from their processors, which put our battery test results for the phones in doubt. The odd benchmark results also questioned whether we were experiencing the intended performance and full potential of both OnePlus devices.
We've been communicating with OnePlus to figure out the issue and retesting the OnePlus 12 and OnePlus 12R with every new Android update and Geekbench 6 app update. In the dozens of tests we've run with Geekbench 6 on both OnePlus 12 phones, we've only seen one instance that produced expected results.
FAQs
Who owns Android?
In simple terms, Google owns the Android operating system.
Google bought the company that developed the software, Android Inc., in 2005, and other companies like Samsung and OnePlus can run Android on their phones because Google makes it freely available as an open-source operating system for anyone to use on their phones. Even you, the reader, could build your own phone that legally runs the Android operating system.
The Android operating system looks and works differently on phones from different companies because phone makers modify it by adding their own software layers on top of Android for users to interact with.
For example, while Samsung phones run the core Android operating system that gives them access to the Google Play Store apps, they also run Samsung's user interface (UI) layer called One UI, which adds a distinctive look and feel to the company's phones.
Relative to the Pixel 8 phones, Google offers a smaller support window for two of the earlier phones we've included above, the Pixel 7a and Pixel Fold, both of which will get three years of Android updates and five years of security updates from their respective release dates.
Best overall
Samsung's Galaxy S23 Plus is our top pick because we don't have to spend time talking about compromises like we do on most other Android phones — if you have a necessity in an Android phone, it's more than likely that the Galaxy S23 Plus has it, and it has it in high quality. The only trade-off for such a complete experience is its $1,000 starting price.
The Galaxy S23 Plus' performance goes beyond expectations for high-end Android phones in 2023 by running on a specially optimized processor that's exclusive to the Galaxy S23 series — the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Optimized for Galaxy. The gains aren't massive over other Android phones running the standard Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, like the OnePlus 11, but the Galaxy S23 Plus does occasionally open apps a little faster in side-by-side testing.
The rear triple-lens camera on the Galaxy S23 Plus delivers photos anyone would be happy with, and Samsung has also improved the selfie camera year-over-year, with surprisingly good HDR, portrait mode, colors, contrast, and brightness. Battery life on the Galaxy S23 Plus is excellent; among comparably sized Android phones, its 59% result in our intensive battery test was bested only by the Google Pixel 8 Pro, which scored 62%, and the OnePlus 11, which scored 61%.
The Galaxy S23 Plus has a fairly large screen at 6.6 inches, which may be too large for some people, but its light weight at 6.91 ounces makes it incredibly comfortable in the hand. And, as expected for a high-end Android phone, the Galaxy S23 Plus' display runs at a silky smooth 120Hz, which pairs beautifully with the phone's powerful processor — every swipe and animation on the screen glides effortlessly.
The Google Pixel 7a is essentially a premium device with high-end performance, features, and camera quality that's dressed in somewhat less-premium materials. In return for the slightly diminished aesthetic of thick display borders and a plastic back, the Pixel 7a costs $499.
The Pixel 7a's MSRP is on the high side for a budget pick, especially compared to the $349 Pixel 6a. But unlike the Pixel 6a, the Pixel 7a comes with several premium features, like a recent flagship processor (Google's Tensor G2), wireless charging, a smoother high refresh-rate display, and the option of fast mmWave 5G connectivity — all of which combine to justify the price gap between the Pixel 7a and the Pixel 6a and make the newer model the top pick in our best budget Android phone guide.
In our intensive battery test, the 6.1-inch Pixel 7a's 60% result is astonishingly good for a phone of this size — it matches and outperforms some premium phones with bigger screens, like the 6.6-inch Galaxy S23 Plus (59%) and 6.8-inch Galaxy S23 Ultra (54%).
While the Pixel 7a's 64MP main camera and 13MP ultrawide camera are ostensibly a significant upgrade from the Pixel 6a's 12MP cameras, in our testing, we found little discernible difference between the excellent photos the two budget phones produce. There's also little difference in camera quality between the Pixel 7a and some high-end devices, many of which cost twice as much.
Samsung's Galaxy S23 Ultra is the ultimate camera phone with its four lenses, including a 200-megapixel (MP) main camera, a 12MP ultrawide, a 10MP 3x zoom, and a 10MP 10x zoom.
Despite the very high-resolution main camera, you might not notice much of a difference in photo quality compared to other premium phones with around 50MP cameras — most high-end devices achieve a similarly good balance of color, brightness, contrast, and sharpness.
What sets the Galaxy S23 Ultra apart from the other best Samsung phones, and from any other phone for that matter, is its fourth 10x optical zoom lens. It takes crisp, clear photos and videos in full detail significantly further than any other phone, making it the most versatile camera phone you can buy in the US.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra comes with a built-in stylus, the S Pen, which comes in handy for editing photos on the phone's giant 6.8-inch screen — it offers precision and functionality that simply can't be achieved with a fingertip.
Phones with bigger displays almost always have the best battery life, and the Google Pixel 8 Pro with a 6.7-inch display obtained the best result in our battery stress test among Android phones, ending the test with 62% remaining.
The battery stress test is designed to simulate a blend of lighter and heavier workloads. It includes five runs of the Geekbench 6 app, two runs of the intensive 20-minute 3DMark Wild Life Stress Test, two hours of video streaming, and one hour of music streaming while connected to a Bluetooth speaker.
The Pixel 8 Pro's 62% is a great result, but it's not far ahead of other Android phones with similar screen sizes. The Galaxy S23 Plus (6.6 inches) ended the test with 59% remaining, and the OnePlus 11 (6.7 inches) with 61%. Surprisingly, the Galaxy S23 Ultra with a 6.8-inch display did remarkably poorly with 54% remaining at the end of our test.
At the end of the day, the Pixel 8 Pro's result doesn't mean it'll last significantly longer than the Galaxy S23 Plus or the OnePlus 11 — you'll still need to charge the Pixel 8 Pro whenever you usually charge your phones. That's to say, if you're not a Google Pixel fan, you can pick either the Galaxy S23 Plus or OnePlus 11 and be just as happy with battery life. Choice is one of the best things about the Android ecosystem.
Best small phone
The Android phone market is flooded with large screens, and you'd think fans of smaller phones are underserved, but not when the 6.1-inch Samsung Galaxy S23 is around.
One of the best Samsung phones you can buy, the Galaxy S23 is essentially a smaller version of our pick for the best overall Android phone, the 6.6-inch Galaxy S23 Plus — it offers the same high-end performance, the same cameras, and the same design.
Its battery life isn't quite as good as the Galaxy S23 Plus (47% vs. 59%), but that's understandable and expected in smaller phones. The only baffling compromise is its 25W charging speed compared to the Galaxy S23 Plus' 45W charging speed, and it also has a lower base storage option at 128GB.
At its starting price of $800, the Galaxy S23 is still on the expensive side, so we alternately recommend the Google Pixel 7a, which also has a 6.1-inch screen and currently starts at $499.
The Google Pixel Fold, Google's first entry into the foldable phone market, immediately stood out on its release as the premier offering in the realm of Android foldable devices for one key reason: Its folded, exterior display offered a closer approximation to a traditional phone experience than any previous foldable phone.
We find the exterior screens on Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold series awkwardly narrow to the point of providing a sub-par experience as a phone, while the Pixel Fold's 5.8-inch exterior display is wider and more functional when using apps. (The latest entry in the foldable realm, the OnePlus Open, has an exterior display that improves on both the Z Fold phones and the Pixel Fold by striking a middle ground between the narrowness of the former and the width of the latter, but we're still in the process of testing it fully.)
The Pixel Fold's exterior and interior screens operate at a smooth 120Hz, and the phone runs on Google's proficient Tensor G2 processor, which we've found to be essentially on par in everyday use with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor that runs Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 5, despite the latter processor's superior benchmark performance.
If you're looking for a new phone that can double as a tablet, the Pixel Fold is more than worth your while if its $1,799 starting price tag is within your budget.
Every phone is put through the same tests, including several days of personal use.
Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
We test Android phones as if they were our daily drivers for at least several days, and often much longer. That way, we can get the best anecdotal feel for their performance, battery life, cameras, and new features.
We also conduct standard tests on all the phones we review and include in our guides.
For performance, we put the phones through a gamut of benchmarking apps to check for performance discrepancies between phones, at least on paper. These benchmark tests also help us evaluate how many years a phone could maintain its performance compared to other phones. We've used Geekbench 6 for general performance, and the 3DMark Wild Life Stress Test to get a sense of extended heavy gaming performance.
For camera testing, we photograph a set gamut of scenes with every phone; you may have seen our barn photos over and over again. We take photos with each lens on each phone and compare them to their direct competitors. We even compare premium phone cameras to budget options to evaluate the difference.
For battery life, we run each phone through a stress test that simulates a mixture of typical daily workloads, like streaming a video and music, as well as high-intensity workloads, like playing demanding games. The battery stress test includes five runs of the Geekbench 6 app, two runs of the 3DMark Wildlife Stress Test, two hours of video streaming at a set average brightness, and one hour of music streaming with Bluetooth headphones connected. At the end of the test, we note the remaining battery percentage on the phone.
Best Android phone FAQs
Who owns Android?
In simple terms, Google owns the Android operating system. Other companies like Samsung and OnePlus can run Android on their phones because Google makes it freely available as an open-source operating system for anyone to use on their phones. Even you, the reader, could build your own phone that legally runs the Android operating system.
The Android operating system looks and works differently on phones from different companies because phone makers modify the operating system by adding their own layers of software on top of Android for users to interact with.
For example, while Samsung phones run the core Android operating system that gives them access to the Google Play Store apps, they also run Samsung's user interface (UI) layer called One UI, which adds a distinctive look and feel to the company's phones.
Which Android phone gets the most updates?
The best support window for Android phones currently is the seven years of Android operating system and security updates offered by the new Google Pixel 8 phones.
Samsung's current flagship phones offer a shorter support window; the company has said that its Galaxy S23 series phones will get four years of Android software updates and five years of security updates following their February 2023 release.
Relative to the Pixel 8 phones, Google offers a smaller support window for two of the earlier phones we've included here, the Pixel 7a and Pixel Fold, both of which will get three years of Android updates and five years of security updates from their respective release dates.
Palestinians watch smoke rise in Rafah. Israel has warned civilians to evacuate the eastern part of the city.
Reuters
Israel seems to be pressing ahead with an attack on Rafah in Gaza.
Leaflets were dropped in the eastern part of the city urging citizens to evacuate.
The US has pressured Israel not to move forward with the assault — or at least reduce civilian casualties.
US leadership has said an Israeli invasion of Rafah — a southern city in Gaza where refugees have fled — could be a "disaster."
But it looks like Israel is going ahead with the planned assault anyway.
On Monday, the Israeli military warned civilians in the eastern part of the Gazan city to evacuate ahead of what it called "extreme force" it'll use against "terrorist organizations" in the area.
Leaflets began to fall on the eastern part of the city around 9 a.m. local time, according to media reports. Images from Reuters and Getty Images show Palestinian civilians leaving the area.
More than 1 million Palestinians are estimated to have fled to the city since Israel began its assault on Gaza following the Hamas terror attacks on October 7, 2023.
The militant group killed over 1,100 people in the attacks, and hundredswere captured by Hamas fighters. The Israeli government has responded with crushing force, launching airstrikes into Gaza that have killed more than 35,000 people, according to Hamas-run Gaza health authorities.
International pressure has been building on Israel and Hamas to reach a cease-fire in the conflict, but talks appear to have broken down. Hamas rejected the latest peace offer after it didn't include a definitive end to the war, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, Israel is facing mounting pressure over its handling of the war — including from its ally, the United States.
Biden has previously urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reduce civilian casualties. Previous Israeli assaults and strikeshave killed aid workers, including seven people with the World Central Kitchen whose convoy was hit by a drone strike.
In March, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said a military operation in the small city could become a "disaster."
President Joe Biden was pressed last month in an MSNBC interview to declare a "red line" for Israel's leadership; he agreed that a Rafah invasion was one.
In a speech at a Holocaust memorial event on Sunday, Netanyahu seemingly dismissed criticism of his handling of the war, vowing that Israel would "stand alone" if it was forced to.
"I say to the leaders of the world: No amount of pressure, no decision by any international forum will stop Israel from defending itself," Netanyahu said, according to the Associated Press.
The war in Gaza has become a divisive issue in the United States, where protests have flared on college campuses. Demonstrators have demanded that the schools divest from Israel; hundreds of protesters have been arrested.
Meanwhile, Biden is facing pressure from his left flank over his support for sending munitions and military aid to Israel. A group of pro-Palestinian voters has been racking up votes against him in the Democratic primaries, hinting that his fragile coalition to defeat GOP challenger Donald Trump could be in danger.
A woman who worked at ByteDance said life is freer since leaving 996 culture.
Greg Baker/Getty Images
Chinese tech employees are speaking out against the demand work culture.
A former ByteDance employee told SCMP that she once fainted on the job after weeks of long hours.
The grueling schedule is known as "996" culture in China.
Chinese tech workers are choosing not to put up with the demanding schedule associated with their industry.
Zoe Du, a former ByteDance employee, told the South China Morning Post that she left the TikTok owner in 2020 after 10 years at the company.
She told the outlet during her time there, she was subject to long hours for six days a week and often worked until 11 p.m. Du said she once fainted in the office after weeks on a grueling schedule.
Du told SCMP that her life since leaving the company is "much freer," and she has the ability to determine her own schedule.
A 996 work schedule encourages employees to work 12 hours a day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. for six days a week. Although it's technically illegal in China, it's common for Chinese startups and tech companies to make this schedule the norm for employees.
But Chinese workers have resisted the taxing expectations that they've said have ruined their work-life balance.
Despite its demands, Du credited ByteDance and other past employers for helping her learn more about management and other key parts of the tech industry. She said she now works on her own startup, but still finds time for herself.
"When I'm tired, I'll give myself a holiday for a day or two, go on a trip, get closer to nature, or just do some meditation," Du told SCMP.
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont at the Capitol last month.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Sen. Bernie Sanders is running for reelection in 2024.
The 82-year-old is the last senator to announce his reelection plans this year.
His 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns helped ignite the contemporary progressive movement.
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the longest-serving independent in American history, will seek a 4th term in the US Senate later this year.
The 82-year-old Democratic socialist had been coy about his plans for months. He is the last US senator whose term ends in 2024 to announce whether or not he would seek reelection. He is the second-oldest member of the Senate, behind 90-year-old Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa.
Sanders is immensely popular in Vermont and is all but guaranteed to be reelected in November. Though he is a registered independent, he is likely to have the support of the state Democratic party as well.
His longshot 2016 presidential campaign against Hillary Clinton helped ignite the modern-day progressive movement, paving the way for figures like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the "The Squad" while helping to steer the Democratic Party in a leftward direction.
Sanders ran for president again in 2020, ultimately coming up short to Joe Biden and dropping out of the race weeks into the COVID-19 pandemic.
Long an outside agitator, Sanders has, in recent years, become a kingmaker in progressive politics and an important institutional player in the US Senate.
Since the beginning of Biden's presidency, Sanders has served as the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and later the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
That's allowed him to make his mark on major party-line legislation while pushing for transformative progressive policies, including a 32-hour workweek and a $17 federal minimum wage.
In recent months, Sanders — the Jewish son of a Polish immigrant — has become the Senate's lead critic of Israel's handling of the war in Gaza, where he's pushed to place conditions on US aid to Israel.
Trade with Russia has slumped in the first quarter amid tightening US sanctions, the Financial Times said.
Companies in countries such as China are turning to costly underground channels to keep trading.
The ruble has also risen in popularity, as other currencies are pulled back.
Moscow's key trade partners are getting cold feet, and it's causing export volumes to shrink as a US clampdown triggers reprisal fears among those who do business with the Kremlin.
According to the Financial Times, shipments from Turkey and China have dropped meaningfully in the first quarter. For instance, exports from Ankara have plunged by a third year-to-year, while "high-priority" items sent to the region have fallen 40%. These are consumer goods that are critical to Moscow's war machine.
Behind the shift is the US Treasury Department. After a December executive order bolstered its sanctioning power, the department has amplified warnings against foreign lenders that facilitate trade with Russia.
That's included banks in other countries as well, such as the United Arab Emirates and Austria. To avoid Western repercussions, most have tightened their exposure to Russian counterparties, with the repercussions now felt by on-the-ground traders and investors.
"It's getting harder and harder every month. One month it is dollars, the next month it is euros; within six months you basically won't be able to do anything. The logical endpoint of this is turning Russia into Iran," a senior Russian investor told the outlet, referencing the sanctions laid against Tehran.
In China, underground channels are cropping up, as domestic companies look for alternative ways to access the Russian consumer. With many banks no longer an option, currency brokers and cryptocurrency — an asset banned in China — are gaining popularity.
On the Russian side, the rise of middlemen is cutting into profits. According to FT, metals group oligarch Vladimir Potanin recently blamed these mediator's for his company's falling revenue, citing their 5% to 7% commissions.
But while such go-betweens are adding both complexity and costs to those still trying to trade with Russia, it may end up also adding difficulty to Western efforts to keep track of trade, sources told the outlet.
At the same time, the US' crackdown has proliferated trade in the Russian ruble, as other currencies increasingly fall out of favor.
For instance, rubles are now the mainstay currency for Indian traders buying Moscow crude, after dealers in the UAE cut off payments in dirhams, a Russian banking source said. That's as foreigners are still free to buy rubles on the Moscow Exchange when settling payments with Russian parties.
In fact, the share of Russian exports paid in rubles jumped to 40% in February, having hovered under 15% in pre-war years. Imports also witnessed a rise.
Still, the ruble faces restricted convertibility, making it difficult to reach trade volumes once possible under the dollar.
People between the ages of 14 and 24 are in their "decisive decade," Brookings Institution researchers wrote in a report published in April. This period in life is marked by major milestones such as graduation, relocations, new jobs, and formative relationships.
Yet, the report found that more young people today are struggling with their mental health and feeling financially unstable than prior generations. Fewer are enrolling in school, while more are dropping out after enrolling.That's because Gen Zers' teenage and young adult years have been shaped by the pandemic and widespread income inequality.
Richard Reeves, a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings who co-authored the report, said in a Monday panel the decisive decade, along with socioeconomic circumstances, can determine young Americans' social and economic stability in adulthood.
"Rather than thinking this period is like a conveyor belt that you just get onto at 14 and drop off again at 24, it's more like a series of stepping stones," Reeves said. "The ability to successfully transition across these stepping stones is highly important for what kind of follows in terms of people's life chances."
Some have disenrolled or taken a break from school, while others have graduated but aren't employed. Nearly 4.7 million young people were disconnected in 2021, according toresearch firmMeasure of America.
Several of these Gen Zers told Business Insider that they're actively looking for work but live in lower-opportunity areas where jobs are sparse, adult support is limited, and mental health resources are few and far between.
"There are these stepping stones that are quite difficult, quite slippery, but some people have someone on each side helping them across those stepping stones," Reeves said. "Others are supposed to do it on their own."
Disconnected youth are at risk of long-term stagnation
Most Gen Zers — who are between the ages of 12 and 27 — are in this decisive decade. For young people in this age group, their living circumstances have major implications for their long-term health, happiness, and economic stability, the Brookings report found.
Researchers analyzed education and employment benchmarks for Americans between the ages of 14 and 24 based on data pulled from the 2015-2019 Annual Social and Economic Supplement.
These benchmarks included enrollment in 9th grade with a 2.0 GPA or higher, high school graduation with a 2.0 GPAor higher, college enrollment or full-time employment three years after graduating from high school, and enrollment or work at the age of 24. The researchers chose to stop their analysis in 2019 since the pandemic disrupted enrollment, work, and living arrangement patterns.
The data shows that just 60% of young adults met these four milestone indicators. Brookings researchers saidthis has much to do with their family income level.
For instance, young people living in higher-opportunity areas during their teenage years might have better upward mobility as adults. Researchers said they are also more likely to enroll in higher education and land better-paying jobs.
At 21, Brookings found that 94% of those in the highest socioeconomic group — defined as the top quintile of income-earning households — are enrolled in school or working, compared to 78% for the lowest socioeconomic group, including the lowest quintile households. By the time young adults turn 24, just 31% have a bachelor's degree or higher, while 58% work full time.
This education gap impacts future income: National Center for Education Statistics data shows that 25-to-34-year-olds with a bachelor's degree earned $61,600 a year, compared to $39,700 for those with just a high school diploma.
Researchers also said gender, race, and family circumstances shape young Americans' financial futures.
Only half of Black young adults work full-time, compared to 62% of white young adults — and Black, Hispanic, and Asian students have lower rates of school enrollment and employment than white students. Additionally, the report found that young women are less likely to be employed by age 24 than young men.
Researchers said isolation is another contributor to the disconnected youth phenomenon. More Gen Zers live at home than previous generations, and many are experiencing higher levels of loneliness.
Data from the World Happiness Report suggests that young Americans are overall not satisfied with their lives — young adults in North America reported some of the lowest levels of life satisfaction in years, ranking 62nd out of 143 countries for this age group.
Disconnected youth are at greater risk of disability, homelessness, substance abuse, and involvement with the criminal justice system, per the Brookings report.
How to help disconnected youth
Although many disconnected youth struggle with school and work, researchers cautioned against a "one size fits all" solution. Reeves said there are many paths toward success for young people — not every student will succeed in the same higher education or career path.
"It's quite clear from this that there both is not and should not be one narrow track to success, but we should think in terms of opportunity pluralism," Reeves said.
Jonathan Zaff, a research professor in applied human development at Boston University,said the key to helping young Americans is building adult mentorship networks that provide Gen Zers with opportunities. He also suggested schools invest in lifting students' financial and mental burdens, such as providing free or reduced lunch and bus fares.
Some schools are already taking steps to help students be more social and engaged, including investing in mentorship and peer-support programs.
Ian Rowe, senior fellow at the nonprofit policy research firm American Enterprise Institute, said that at his Bronx-based Vertex Partnership Academies, students have a "pastoral connection" three times a day with a teacherwho connects with students beyond lessons. He said his school also restricts phones and AirPods during the day so students can better connect with each other.
"People avoid talking to strangers even though it makes them happy," said Lara Aknin, an editor at the World Happiness Report. "People gain so much intimacy, warmth, and happiness from having deep conversations with others, but we shy away from doing that."
She suggested using study groups in schools to foster more regular, in-person contact between students.
Zaff added that young adults need scaffolding to stay connected — whether that means having people at school to help them fill out a FAFSA form or being offered apprenticeship opportunities in high school. He said that adults are important in supporting young people as they make decisions about their lives and futures.
"We want to make sure that young people feel empowered to exact the agency that we know they have," Zaff said.