Smartwatches, not phones, are where the action is at this year

Apple's Watch Ultra next to Google's Pixel Watch

Phones have become boring. Each year brings an incremental, iterative update, but the general idea of what a phone is hasn't changed in ages. Even folding phones, which were heralded as bringing excitement back to the scene, are settling into the same year-over-year processor and camera upgrade cadence that standard smartphones have been in for years.

That's perhaps never been more true than this year, where each of the major phone releases this fall has been less than exciting. Samsung's latest Galaxy Fold 4 and Flip 4 are effectively the same devices as last year's versions but with newer processors and cameras. Google's Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro are nearly the same as the Pixel 6 models, just with, again, new processors and cameras....

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