Technologies

Boring Phone Designs, Begone. I’m Seeing a New Wave of Fresh Looks for 2026

Commentary: With some phone-makers willing to push boundaries, the days of dull-looking devices may soon be behind us.

As I tilted the phone back and forth, admiring the iridescent artwork — a vivid electric blue with a billow of gold inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night — I was thrilled by the audacity of the design. I wasn’t looking at the screen but at the phone’s rear panel. And no, it wasn’t a case.

You’ve probably never heard of the Nubia Z80 Ultra. This high-spec Android phone is among several devices from the Chinese company ZTE sporting a unique look, unlike anything else on the market.

I got my hands on it this month at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. It was just one of many phones that made me, for the first time in a long time, feel excited about this new wave of design.

To find these phones, you have to look beyond Apple and Samsung, the two brands that dominate the market. For a long time, smaller companies tried to compete with these behemoths by emulating their phones at a more affordable price. And they followed the same bland formula. Each was a uniformly slim slab of plastic or metal in black, silver or white. Dull, dull, dull. Dull to look at and even duller to review.

Sure, phone-makers sometimes took a playful approach to color — blues, greens, pinks — though these tame experiments still played it safe. And sadly, modular concept phones such as Google’s Project Ara and Motorola’s Moto Z died out before ever really taking off.

To my delight, as someone who has had many of these boring phones pass through my hands over the years, it looks like those days might be over.

For one, the foldable revolution has introduced book-style folding phones and a modern reinterpretation of flip phones. It feels like the first time companies have questioned what a phone can do, be or look like — beyond the template Apple set with the first iPhone.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen a glut of new phones announced from brands big and small, making it an ideal moment to pause and take stock of the current design landscape.

Phone design: the current state of play

First up, the big dogs. Apple launched the iPhone 17E in the first week of March. Available in black, white, and one color (the palest of pinks), it follows the slab template the company has relied on for around two decades.

At the end of February, Samsung refreshed its flagship lineup with the Galaxy S26 series, which is largely indistinguishable from last year’s. Then, just this week, the company announced it will no longer be selling the Galaxy Z TriFold, its most ambitious design in over a decade, with three panels folding out into a tablet-like screen. (The Galaxy Z Flip and Fold are still available.)

At MWC, where the smaller brands came to play, the story was completely different. The modular design of Tecno’s phones and ZTE’s vast array of Nubia phones, which varied from the Starry Night Z80 Ultra to the Neo 5 gaming phone, all left a lasting impression.

I was enamored with the craftsmanship and the soft, strokable vegan leather used on the crimson Honor Magic V6. My colleague Patrick Holland noted that the luxurious, silky feel of the Motorola Razr Fold could be its biggest selling point. Motorola has, in retrospect, been something of a pioneer in interesting phone design, experimenting with materials such as fabric and even wood over the years.

The biggest crowds I saw all week at MWC assembled at Honor’s booth to admire its new Robot Phone in action. Not surprising. The Robot Phone, with its pop-up, self-aware, gimbal-mounted camera, is a collision of robotics (an emerging technology) with mobile (an established product category). It is, essentially, a reinvention of the phone as we know it.

«For decades, the form factor of the smartphone remained the same,» Honor’s Robot Phone expert Thomas Bai told me. «As the technology evolves, we need a new species of device.»

Honor hasn’t yet put the phone on sale, and it’s unclear just how popular it might be when it does. But at the very least, it signals the company’s willingness to imagine and execute a daring and unique phone design.

Be glad for bold swings from small players

It’s clear that larger, more mainstream companies are less likely to take design risks, while the smaller companies, fighting to differentiate themselves in a sea of sameness, are taking some bold swings. It feels like a reverse of the heyday of experimental phone design, when market leaders Nokia and Sony were launching all kinds of outlandish phones: sliding, swiveling, bulbous contraptions with bizarre keyboard setups.

No phone-maker understands using design as a differentiator quite like the British startup Nothing, which leans heavily into the nostalgic Y2K aesthetic and away from the prevailing minimalism, exposing the architecture of its products through transparent casings, playful lighting and pixelated interfaces.

Nothing’s Chief Brand Officer Charlie Smith, who was formerly at fashion brand Loewe, describes a culture of fun and «rebellious creativity» as the essence of the company’s design philosophy. That’s allowed Nothing to make a splash as a late entrant to a mature and established market.

It’s both future-looking and nostalgic, harking back to the era preceding the boring phone days. «All of that personality kind of got sucked out,» said Smith, speaking to me ahead of the launch of the Nothing Phone 4A.

The company has started embracing color, too. «If we want to make technology fun,» Smith said. «We can’t do that by things just being gray, black and white.»

Nothing’s devices feel like the antithesis of the quiet luxury that seems to crystallize most prevalently in Apple’s approach to design — whether that’s through the company’s elegant, slim-edged devices, or the Apple Stores themselves, with their inset, perfectly curved marble bannisters that seem to disappear into the walls.

Even when Apple brings color to the iPhone (think its orange effort last fall), it doesn’t hit as hard as when bold color choices combine with unique design experiments. For years, the tech giant has been unwavering in its phone design and, to be fair, it’s been a profitable (and predictable) strategy that keeps iPhone owners around the world satisfied. If Apple does, as expected, introduce a foldable iPhone at some point in the next year or so, it shouldn’t be lauded for its bravery.

Primarily, it’s the Chinese smartphone makers — Honor, Oppo and Huawei — we have to thank for pushing the boundaries of what a phone can take. Everything they, along with Samsung and Motorola, have achieved over the past five years in the foldable space will have laid the groundwork for Apple to take what will be a heavily calculated risk.

If it’s a risk that pays off, it will serve as validation for the phone-makers we already see making bold moves. And, hopefully, that will continue to usher in this new era of phone design, which is a whole lot less dull, and a whole bunch more fun.

Technologies

Can’t File Your Income Taxes by Today? You Need to File a Free Extension Now

The best tax software will let you file a federal income tax extension to give yourself six more months to finish your taxes.

Time’s up, US taxpayers. The deadline for filing your income taxes is today. You have until midnight tonight to submit your 2025 tax return electronically or have it postmarked.

If you’re not able to finish your 2025 tax return today, or if you’re still missing important tax documents, don’t fret. You can file a free tax extension with the IRS, which will give you another six months to complete and submit your tax return.

There’s no cost or penalty for filing a tax extension, and most tax software will help you complete the process in a few minutes. However, there are some critical details to be aware of before you make the decision to postpone your taxes for another six months.

Read on to find all of the details for filing a tax extension in 2026 and how it will affect your tax refund or the money that you owe.

What’s the deadline to file an income tax extension?

Along with the tax return submission deadline, there’s a deadline to file for a tax extension. You’ll need to submit it by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, April 15, in your time zone. That’s also the tax filing deadline.

How to file an income tax extension in 2026

If you’re planning to file a tax extension this year, you’ll need to submit Form 4868 (PDF) to the IRS either by paper or electronically using e-file before the April 15 deadline. As long as your electronic extension is transmitted by midnight on April 15, or your letter is postmarked by that date, your extension should be good.

However, if you think that you owe taxes, you’ll need to pay your estimated income tax due using Direct Pay, the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System or using a debit or credit card. If you don’t pay your estimated taxes with your extension and owe money, you’ll have to pay interest on that money and a potential penalty when you file.

Some taxpayers are automatically granted more time to file. This includes military personnel serving in combat zones or people in federally declared disaster areas. US citizens who live outside the country have until June 17 to file.

Does an extension give you more time to pay your tax bill?

No. Extending your filing deadline doesn’t delay when you have to pay taxes that you may owe. According to the IRS, you need to estimate and pay at least 90% of your tax liability by the deadline to avoid late fees. Otherwise, you will have accrued interest on what you owe, which you’ll eventually have to pay — plus possible penalties — on top of your income taxes.

The late-payment penalty is usually 0.5% per month of the outstanding tax not paid by the filing deadline, maxing out at 25%. The IRS can also issue a late-filing penalty of 5% of the amount due for every month or partial month your tax return is late. If your return is filed more than 60 days after the due date, the minimum late-filing penalty is either $450 or 100% of the unpaid tax (whichever is less).

For individual taxpayers, penalties and interest will stop accruing only when your balance is paid in full. For more on penalties or to work out a payment plan with the IRS, check out its web page.

How is child tax credit money related to tax returns?

The child tax credit provides benefits for parents of children, allowing them to lower the amount they owe in taxes each year based on how many dependents they claim. If you had a new baby or gained a dependent, you can both decrease the amount of taxes you owe and increase the amount you may get back in a tax refund.

The Child Tax Credit allows families to receive up to $2,200 per eligible child under the age of 17, as long as certain income requirements are met. By not filing your taxes by the deadline, you could be missing out on up to $2,200 per child.

Will you receive your tax refund later if you file an extension?

Yes. The timeline for getting your income tax refund depends on when you file. But even though you have until Oct. 15 to submit your return if you file an extension, it doesn’t mean you have to wait that long to file.

Some tax refunds, especially for more complicated returns or those that need corrections, could take months to arrive. The IRS encourages taxpayers to file electronically and carefully review their details before submitting to avoid any errors that could potentially delay refunds. The agency also asks that you sign up for direct deposit to get your money even faster.

All of the ways you can file your 2025 tax return

The IRS says that taxpayers can file and schedule their federal tax payments online, by phone or with the mobile IRS2Go app.

If you need to find a tax software service to use, and you made $89,000 or less in 2025, you can find an IRS-approved free filing service easily. You’ll need to gather the following information: income statements (W2s or 1099s), any adjustments to your income, your filing status (single, married, filing jointly), and dependent information. If you made more than $89,000 last year, you still can use the IRS’ Free File Fillable Forms.

If you haven’t already made a tax payment, the IRS prefers that payments be made electronically and offers a variety of ways to do so, including IRS Direct Pay, which is directly linked to a checking or savings account. Another option is by credit card using the mobile IRS2Go app, or through the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System.

How to review your IRS tax account online

An easy way to review all your tax-related details, including your address and payment plan details, is to access your IRS account online. Taxpayers can use information from their accounts if they need to access their adjusted gross income, find their stimulus payment and child tax credit amounts, or review their estimated tax payments or credits. Accessing your tax transcript will give you all the records necessary if you have a tax problem or a missing payment.

If you have additional questions, you can visit the IRS Interactive Tax Assistant to get help.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for April 16, #1040

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for April 16, No. 1,040.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is tricky. I did love the blue category, which references a favorite Batman character. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Make fun of.

Green group hint: Brr, so cold in here!

Blue group hint: Batman’s rival.

Purple group hint: Connected with learning.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Tease.

Green group: Thermostat settings.

Blue group: Features of a Catwoman costume.

Purple group: Training ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is tease. The four answers are needle, rib, ride and roast.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is thermostat settings. The four answers are auto, cool, fan and heat.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is features of a Catwoman costume. The four answers are bodysuit, claws, mask and whip.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is training ____. The four answers are bra, camp, day and wheels.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for April 16 #774

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for April 16, No. 774.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle could be tough. I understood the theme right away, but some of the answers are really difficult to unscramble. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: This is not working.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Leisure time.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

STEM, STEMS, STEAM, STEAMS, MAPS, TEES, RIFF, FEAR, FEAT, RATIO, REST

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

HOBBY, PASTIME, INTEREST, SIDELINE, RECREATION

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is JUSTFORFUN. To find it, start with the J that is the farthest-left letter on the top row, and wind down and then back up.