Ewan Spence
Ewan Spence is a BAFTA-nominated podcaster and technology writer who focuses on the fast-moving world of consumer mobile devices at Forbes, with a particular emphasis on how smartphones, software, and digital services shape everyday life. His own description of his work as storytelling at the cross-section of technology, media, and human nature explains why his coverage often links hardware launches and platform updates to longer cultural and behavioural shifts. Across regular columns on Apple and Android, deep historical pieces on the iPhone’s evolution, and reviews of niche devices and ethical smartphones, he treats mobile technology as an unfolding narrative rather than a series of disconnected product announcements. This ecosystem-focused, long-view approach distinguishes his reporting from generic device coverage tied only to specification lists or launch events.
Apple Loop and the iPhone story
Spence’s Apple coverage centres on an ongoing column that traces the company’s hardware, software, and silicon decisions through weekly “Apple Loop” round-ups and targeted analysis of key product cycles. Recent pieces follow the iPhone 18 Pro’s camera and design, changes in iOS 27, and M6 MacBook benchmarks, using these headlines as entry points into Apple’s broader platform and ecosystem strategy. He writes historical explainers on the iPhone, including the evolution of its tap-to-pay capabilities, the long delay before basic features such as cut and paste arrived, and the way “There’s an app for that” became a cultural catchphrase.
Articles remembering Steve Jobs and charting the iPhone’s evolution show him combining product history with a narrative about how the device reshaped communication and computing, rather than treating each release as an isolated event. Even stories about early prototype leaks, such as the iPhone left in a bar, extend that storyline by illustrating how secrecy, hype, and user expectations interact around Apple’s flagship phone.
Android Circuit and the wider smartphone market
On the Android side, Spence runs a recurring “Android Circuit” column that surveys weekly developments across major manufacturers, software updates, and market positioning.
Recent instalments cover Galaxy S26 Ultra offers, Oppo A7 Pro launches, Honor Magic9 Pro Max specifications, Moto Signature devices, and the Pixel Tablet’s exit, framing them as parts of an evolving Android landscape rather than isolated press releases. Earlier archives show him using the same format to examine devices such as Sony’s Xperia Z3 Compact, Android Wear watches, and Tesco’s Android tablets, alongside commentary on screen-size trends and competitive dynamics between Android and Apple. He also dissects Google’s strategic moves, including Android One’s role in shaping the open-source versus controlled versions of Android, treating platform fragmentation and corporate strategy as central angles for readers following the ecosystem.
Across these pieces, his Android coverage emphasises the comparative view - how hardware, pricing, and software policies across manufacturers feed back into the health of the wider mobile market.
Reviews, niche hardware, and sustainable devices
Beyond platform round-ups, Spence regularly reviews individual devices, often highlighting products that sit at the intersection of usability, niche needs, and ethical design. His coverage of Onyx’s Boox Go 6 (Gen 2) explains how an ePaper reader paired with a dedicated stylus becomes both an advanced e-reader and a digital notebook, using the device to explore new reading and note-taking habits in a pocketable form factor. In a detailed piece on the Fairphone 6+, he focuses on repairability, modular construction, long-term spare parts availability, and ethical sourcing, making sustainability and the circular economy a primary lens for the smartphone rather than an afterthought. Earlier work includes reviews of Pebble smartwatches, Nokia Lumia selfie phones, and BlackBerry Passport handsets, where he weighs mid-range power, camera capability, and physical design choices against the social media and productivity niches they aim to serve. He also covers mainstream hardware such as upcoming MacBook Pro laptops and flagship smartphones from Apple, Google, Samsung, and Honor, often choosing a single “smartphone of the year” and justifying that choice through a mix of specifications, ecosystem integration, and day-to-day user experience.
Digital payments, AI, and technology’s human context
Spence frequently uses specific technologies to examine shifts in behaviour, finance, and trust in digital systems, adding a human context to his mobile beat. In his work on iPhone tap-to-pay and Apple Pay, he describes how the arrival of the iPhone 6 catalysed a “sea change” in US retail payments, contrasting decades of magnetic stripe use with the rapid adoption of contactless payments driven by Apple’s approach.
Pieces on Siri and Apple’s early position in AI argue that the company once held a lead in virtual assistants before losing momentum, using the iPhone 4S and later developments to discuss how product decisions can squander or sustain technological advantages. His own description of writing at the cross-section of technology, media, and human nature is reflected in articles that treat catchphrases, design omissions, and feature rollouts as clues to user psychology and corporate culture, rather than as mere technical milestones.
Earlier work that touches on television series and broader arts and culture, alongside statements that he also covers music and social media, reinforces the idea that he reads digital products through how people live, watch, listen, and communicate, even when the primary subject remains a phone or platform.
4 more technology journalists.
Adam Conway
Adam Conway stands out for treating consumer tech as systems to experiment with rather than products to set and forget. He is a journalist at XDA who covers phones, networks, and DIY-friendly hardware with a tinkerer’s mindset. His work focuses on hands-on testing, clear explanations, and practical ways to push devices further. He writes in depth about enthusiast hardware such as ESP32-based touchscreens, mesh networking projects, and off-grid communication tools, emphasizing setup, usability, and trade-offs. On the mobile team, he covers Android phones, software updates, and ecosystem changes, digging into network performance, battery behavior, and connectivity features. He also writes detailed how-tos on modding, customization, and configuration, with a focus on risks, prerequisites, and real-world use. His coverage is analytical, enthusiast-focused, and aimed at readers who act on his reporting.
Adnan Farooqui
Adnan Farooqui is a technology journalist at SamMobile whose work centers on Samsung’s hardware, software and strategy, with a focus on what its moves mean for the company’s future. He treats foldable phones as a strategic inflection point, using devices like the Galaxy Z Flip line to examine portfolio strategy, demand, cost and competition, and to track how long Samsung sustains product lines. He also covers the everyday Galaxy ecosystem of phones, tablets, wearables and the software that connects them, following One UI and Android updates, security patches and new features. His reporting ties product news to business decisions, pricing, launch strategy, software support windows and subscription pushes. He blends fast news with analysis, separates confirmed facts from his own reading of events, and uses plain language to frame why Samsung’s choices matter to different buyers.
Alex Heath
Alex Heath covers the AI race and the tech industry’s inside conversation through scoops, internal documents, product roadmaps, and interviews with leaders. He founded Sources in 2025, an independent newsletter and podcast about artificial intelligence, platform strategy, AI talent, compute, search, agent-based interfaces, and experimental hardware. His reporting examines companies including Meta, Google, OpenAI, Apple, Amazon, and X, and explains how their internal decisions affect products, talent, users, and the broader tech ecosystem. He has interviewed Mark Zuckerberg, Demis Hassabis, Sam Altman, and Daniel Ek. Before Sources, he spent more than a decade at Business Insider, The Information, and The Verge. He covered Facebook, Snap, Twitter, apps, and streaming services, then led reporting on major technology companies. His Command Line newsletter developed the inside-conversation approach he now uses at Sources. He also co-hosts ACCESS and uses AI tools to support drafting and editing.
Alexander Haro
Alexander Haro stands out for surf and ocean culture coverage that focuses on how people really use gear and technology in the water. He writes for surf readers who care about feel, not specs, and he often uses specific surfers, sessions, and waves to show how new equipment, design ideas, and board-building trends change the ride. He writes regularly about surf equipment, especially foiling, and he covers surf craft, foils, and the practical effects of new gear on paddling, speed, and wave connection. His work is short, session-driven, and video-led, with measured, conversational reporting that avoids hype while respecting surf history and newer ideas.