Weekly Recap: The Essential Note 8 XL 2 V30 is Coming

Just when I thought we’d never get out of the early summer slow period of Android news, a wave crashes into the site and we almost can’t keep up. Not only did we review the Moto Z2 Force this week and hammer out a new DL Show, but we learned almost all there is to know about the Galaxy Note 8, found out about the LG V30’s big ol’ display, and think we might soon be able to buy the Essential Phone. Oh, and the Pixel 2 emerged! This sh*ts getting fun again.

Be sure to catch up through our handy list of stories below because yeah, it’s only going to get more packed.

• WATCH: Droid Life Show Episode 147 | Subscribe
• REVIEW: Moto Z2 Force | First 10 things to do with it
• Q&A: Late answer session to your questions from a couple of weeks back
• Pixel 2 image emerges and it’s got bezel!
• Essential Phone shows up at Best Buy, but you can’t have it yet
• Galaxy Note 8: All the pictures and angles you need
• Galaxy Note 8 could hit stores September 15
• Here are the final Galaxy Note 8 specs
• LG V30 confirmed to get a big ol’ 6-inch POLED FullVision display
• If this is the LG V30, it’ll be quite hot
• Speed Test Battle: Get in on this wireless carrier action!
• T-Mobile swept the OpenSignal Mobile Networks report awards
• Verizon, Qualcomm, and Ericsson almost hit the 1 Gig speed mark
• Samsung is actually doing a good job at updating the unlocked Galaxy S8
• Daydream support arrives on the Galaxy S8 and S8+
• Lenovo is officially ditching their terrible skin for stock Android
• LastPass is doubling its price and tweaking the features you get
• Verizon has a new rewards program you should avoid
• Alexa voice control came to the Fire TV and Stick this week
• Vic Gundotra has a tired and lazy take on Android cameras

Avoid Portland this weekend unless breathing pure death smog smoke is your thing.