Pixel 10 Fold in smokes, Camera app glow-up, Samsung steals a Chrome trick, & Mint drops massive deals

It’s only midweek, and somehow Google’s Pixel universe already feels like a full season of Black Mirror. Between a phone literally going up in smoke, a camera app redesign that’s half a gig shy of a movie download, Samsung tablets flexing with Chrome tricks that Pixels don’t have, and a carrier deal that’ll make you double-check your math, it’s been a week. Let’s unpack it all.

Pixel 10 Pro Fold, the one that (literally) caught fire

Every week, YouTuber JerryRigEverything finds out what happens when you treat a $1,800 device like a stress ball. This time, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold didn’t just break. It blew up.

During his usual bend test, Zack Nelson cracked open Google’s latest foldable, and the battery decided to throw a smoke show, setting off a nearby fire alarm. For context, this wasn’t your average “oops, I sat on it” kind of bend. He folded the device backward until the screen snapped and the battery got punctured. Even then, Nelson admits he’s never seen a smartphone combust like this in ten years of torture tests.

“Surprisingly, in the decade that I’ve been durability-testing phones, I have never had a smartphone explode before,” he said.

To be fair, this isn’t your daily-use scenario (unless you’re living life with extreme curiosity and a vice grip). Still, the optics aren’t great for a company that’s had a few battery issues this year. iFixit’s Elizabeth Chamberlain says this isn’t necessarily a design flaw. Just a reminder that lithium-ion batteries don’t take kindly to brute force.

But Google calling the Fold its “most durable yet” might feel ironic now, especially when the “dust test” in that same video produced some grim crunching sounds that could haunt hinge engineers for months.

Here’s the full video on YouTube:

Pixel Camera 10.1 brings Pixel 10 features to older models

While one Pixel went up in smoke, another is getting a glow-up. Pixel Camera version 10.1 is rolling out, bringing Google’s Material You Expressive design language to more devices, ranging from the Pixel 6 through Pixel 10. Though curiously, the Pixel 7 crowd seems left out (for now).

The changelog reads like a UI designer’s mood board: rounded squares instead of circles, fonts tweaked for clarity, controls re-grouped for one-handed use, and a cute photo preview animation that looks straight out of a vintage photo booth. There’s even a new “Optimize FPS” toggle in video settings, letting your Pixel automatically adjust between 60fps and 30fps to save battery and heat, something your Fold could probably use right now.

The only catch? The APK weighs in at 1.47GB. For comparison, that’s roughly the size of an average Netflix movie. At least your camera app will look cinematic while it’s updating.

Samsung’s Galaxy Tabs now have a Chrome trick Pixels don’t

In an alternate reality (read: Samsung’s), Chrome is better integrated with Android than on Google’s own Pixel devices. Yes, you read that right.

Turns out, the Galaxy Tab S10 and S11 series can now show your recent Chrome tabs right inside the One UI Finder app, something Pixels can’t do. According to Mishaal Rahman, this is thanks to a behind-the-scenes Chrome feature called “Auxiliary Search,” which shares open tab titles and URLs with the OS.

Basically, when you search on your Samsung tablet’s launcher, you’ll see web pages you visited on Chrome pop up in the results—a small but genuinely useful trick.

So, while Pixels pride themselves on being the “pure” Google experience, Samsung quietly gets a better Chrome-Android handshake. It’s like the teacher’s pet borrowing the teacher’s pen and writing better notes with it.

Mint Mobile’s deal makes the Pixel 10 series actually affordable

Finally, something that won’t blow up your wallet, unless you’re allergic to bundles. Mint Mobile is offering up to $600 off the Pixel 10 lineup when you grab a year of service upfront.

Here’s how it breaks down:

• Pixel 10 Pro XL — $600 off (starts at $599)
• Pixel 10 Pro — $500 off (starts at $499)
• Pixel 10 — $250 off (starts at $549)

The fine print? You’ll need to buy a full year of Mint service ($180 total) and port over your number. But for $15/month in data and a flagship phone at half the price, this is easily one of the best Pixel deals in recent memory.

From smoke-filled labs to refreshed camera UIs, from Samsung’s sneaky Chrome advantage to deals that might finally tempt you away from your carrier, the past 24 hours perfectly sum up what it means to live in the Pixel world: unpredictable, occasionally chaotic, but always interesting.