4 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Phones

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Trump Mobile admits it suffered a data breach.

YouTuber Coffeezilla first reported the leak of customer details, now apparently fixed. Trump Mobile CEO Pat O’Brien has now confirmed to The Verge there was a breach, which he blames on “a third-party platform provider.”

“The impacted information appears to be limited to certain customer details, including names, email addresses, mailing addresses, order identifiers and mobile phone numbers.

Out of an abundance of caution, our third-party platform provider has implemented additional safeguards and enhanced monitoring measures while the matter continues to be investigated.”

Update: Added comment from Trump Mobile’s CEO.

The Trump phone is not hereThe Trump phone is not here
Dominic Preston
TC Sottek
TC Sottek
NBC just got the Trump phone.

Yes, The Verge has been talking about the Trump phone every week, but we’re not surprised that we’re off the Mar-a-Lago VIP list. There’s still a lot more to find out when we finally get our hands on the thing — but for now, here’s basically what NBC has to report from its experience:

NBC News tested its basic features, such as calling, texting, browsing the internet and taking photos, all of which functioned normally with an activated SIM card.

Cool. It is indeed a phone. More to come.

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
I can’t find anyone whose Trump phone has shipped.

The T1 Phone was supposed to start shipping last week. But our review units haven’t budged, and I’ve so far failed to find anyone online claiming their phone has shipped either. Maybe they’ve had to delay the launch to fix the flag.

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Xiaomi’s 17T phones get a launch date.

The cheaper, performance-focused follow-ups to the Xiaomi 17 series launches on May 28th. We don’t know exactly where yet, but expect an international launch. The T phones usually drop a couple camera specs in exchange for bigger batteries and cheaper prices than the main flagship line.

Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
I don’t know, I think this ‘mobile internet’ thing might take off…

Back in 2000, people were legitimately wondering if anyone would want to use the internet on their phone. At a time when i-mode phones connected to primitive mobile-specific pages were cutting-edge, and the concept of a smartphone wasn’t really in the public consciousness, the skepticism is understandable.

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Intel may already be making iPhone chips.

It was reported last week that Intel and Apple struck a deal for unknown chips. Now supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reports Intel is manufacturing “low-end/legacy” chips for iPhones, iPads, and Macs, the majority for the phones. The scale is small though, with TSMC set to retain 90 percent of Apple’s chip supply.

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
The Robot Phone is coming soon.

Honor says it’ll launch in Q3, meaning July-September, though we’re still expecting it to be a China exclusive. The news was announced at the Cannes Film Festival, where Honor celebrated its partnership with professional cinema camera manufacturer Arri. The Robot Phone will be the first to include “core elements of Arri image science.”

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Xiaomi 17, but make it bigger.

That’s the pitch for the 17 Max, a new phone Xiaomi is teasing on Weibo. It looks exactly like the regular Xiaomi 17, but has a 6.9-inch display — the same size as the 17 Pro Max and Ultra. That’s all we know so far, but it launches in China this month.

Blue Xiaomi 17 Max in front of a white background
White Xiaomi 17 Max in front of a white background
White Xiaomi 17 Max from the side in front of a white background
Black carbon fiber Xiaomi 17 Max in front of a white background
Blue Xiaomi 17 Max in a man’s hand
1/5Image: Xiaomi
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Here’s every Android phone getting AirDrop support ‘soon.’

In case you missed it, yesterday’s Android Show stream included a brief list of every phone with current and confirmed plans for AirDrop support in Quick Share. Google also told The Verge that Xiaomi is planning support this year, though we don’t yet know to which phones.

Screenshot showing list of current and future Android devices with AirDrop support
Screenshot: Google
Robert Hart
Robert Hart
Nothing IS brat. 

Charli xcx just invested in Nothing and was announced as the company’s first global brand ambassador. For their first promotion together the startup claims it had the singer wear the Nothing Headphone A for five days straight to test their 135-hour battery life.

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
US Galaxy S25 owners can share files over AirDrop now.

It’s part of One UI 8.5, rolling out now in the US after the Korean rollout began last week. Along with AirDrop compatibility, the update brings other features that launched on the Galaxy S26, including an updated Bixby, AI call screening, and easier AI image editing in Creative Studio.

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
It’s more of a subquest, really.

OpenAI may have pledged to cut back on “side quests,” but making its own phone doesn’t count. Right?

aprude:

No more “side quests” lol

Get the day’s best comment and more in my free newsletter, The Verge Daily.

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
iPhone 17 sales are still going strong.

It was the top-selling phone in Q1 according to Counterpoint, with 6 percent of global sales. The 17 Pro and Pro Max weren’t far behind, with Samsung A series phones and the Xiaomi Redmi A5 also at the top. The Galaxy S26 Ultra just missed the cut, after launching in the middle of the quarter.

Bar chart showing the top 10 phone models for global sales in Q1 2026, with the iPhone 17 at the top
This year’s top 10 made up a record 25 percent of total phone sales.
Image: Counterpoint
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
The Clicks Communicator will ship at the end of the year.

Droid Life reports that potential buyers who’d reserved the upcoming BlackBerry-ish Android phone were just told to expect the phone to ship in Q4 this year. First announced at CES, the Communicator is a fully-fledged phone with a physical keyboard, a big step up from Clicks’ current line of keyboard cases.

The US gets the worst phonesThe US gets the worst phones
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
It pays to be fair.

Fairphone reports its smartphone shipments grew by 42 percent in 2025, no mean feat when the rest of the industry has been fairly flat. I thought last year’s Fairphone 6 was a huge step forward in quality, and it’s a good time for its efforts to expand into the US.

Oppo’s new phone has one camera too many

7

Verge Score

The Find X9 Ultra has the best 10x telephoto lens yet, but would be a better phone without it.

Dominic Preston
Our new favorite budget phonesOur new favorite budget phones
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
A new type of AI camera coach.

I’ve not been convinced by the Pixel 10 Camera Coach, which gives basic tips like zooming in to frame your subject. But are Huawei’s new AI-based pose recommendations for the Pura 90 much better? Selfies aside, how is the person being photographed meant to see what’s on the phone anyway?

Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
Bigme’s latest E Ink phone doubles up on screens.

After teasing the “world’s first dual-screen color E Ink + LCD smartphone,” Bigme has announced its new HiBreak Dual. The Android 14 phone features a 6.13-inch color E Ink screen on the front and a 1.85-inch circular LCD on the back. It also supports a pressure-sensitive stylus, while April 16th preorders will start at $359.

1/4Image: Bigme
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Motorola’s next Razr looks sharp in new leaks.

Evan Blass has shared leaked images of the upcoming flip phone in four colors, each with a distinct texture. This is the regular Razr 2026 — a.k.a. the Razr 70 — though Motorola should also launch Pro and Ultra versions of the phone, and maybe soon — last year’s Razrs launched in April.

1/4Image: evleaks
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Oppo’s new flagship is one of the best-looking phones of the year.

The Find X9 Ultra isn’t coming out for another week or so, but Oppo is ready to show off how it looks, and you can see why. Stay tuned for my full review, and let me know in the comments what you’d like me to test out — the 10x lens is a given.

<em>Oppo sent me the “tundra umber” version of the phone, though there’s an inevitable orange version too.</em>
<em>This version has orange accents too, like this shutter button, though in fairness orange is the classic Hasselblad color.</em>
<em>The curved hexagonal edge to the rear camera is the only design flourish I’m not a fan of. </em>
<em>But I love the two-tone vegan leather effect, and the joint landscape logos.</em>
1/4
Oppo sent me the “tundra umber” version of the phone, though there’s an inevitable orange version too.
Photo: Dominic Preston / The Verge