For the first time in over five years, I won’t be purchasing one of Google’s fall handset releases. And no, it’s not because it’s not a real flagship: I really appreciate Pixel’s new direction to the mid-market, and I would be happy to use such a device if it met my needs otherwise. But the Pixels that Google will announce next week---the Pixel 4a 5G and the Pixel 5---most definitely do not meet my needs.

This is a weird era of personal tech uncertainty for me. In addition to figuring out my next smartphone---and looking forward to a future in which that device will have a folding display like the Samsung Z Fold2---I’m also struggling to find a new wearable, which could be a fitness tracker or a smartwatch, for my Fitbit.