Week 41 in review: OnePlus 9RT official, Pixel 6 and 6 Pro leaks aplenty

2021-10-18

Another week down and it was mostly dedicated on the build up to the major events of next week. Apple, Google, Samsung and Huawei have all booked announcements in week 42.

The OnePlus 9RT's unveil was the hottest actual event of week 41. The new phone brings a Snapdragon 888 with improved cooling, a 6.62-inch AMOLED of 120Hz refresh rate, up to 600Hz touch sampling rate and a trio of cameras on the rear - a 50MP IMX766 main camera, 16MP ultrawide and a macro. The OnePlus 9RT goes on sale in China on October 19, prices start at CNY 3,300 ($510/€445/?38,500).

The Infinix Note 11 series was also unveiled. The Note 11 Pro retains the 6.95-inch display diagonal, but the panel is now faster at 120Hz. There's a 5,000mAh battery with 33W charging, a Helio G96 chipset and a pair of usable cameras - a regular and a tele.

Looking at next week's events - Apple will showcase something in an event dubbed 'Unleashed' on October 18. Smart money's on upgraded MacBook Pro's, running the new M1X chip. There could also be AirPods at the event.

Then on Tuesday, October 19, Google will bring the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro with the custom-made Tensor chip, a new Pixel Stand and possibly even a Pixel Fold. Huge leaks this week revealed most of what to expect - the Pixel 6 will have a 6.4-inch 90Hz AMOLED and two rear cameras - 50MP wide and 12MP ultrawide. The Pixel 6 Pro will have a 6.7-inch 120Hz AMOLED and three rear cameras - 50MP wide, 12MP ultrawide and a 48MP 4x zoom. Rumored pricing for the Pixel 6 is €649, while the 6 Pro is expected to start at €899.

The day after Google, Samsung will hold its own event. Some reports claim Samsung will introduce new color options for the Galaxy Z Flip3 or announce home appliances under its Bespoke series. It's unlikely we'll see a Galaxy S21 FE, because recent reports suggest that phone will arrive at the end of December or in January.

A day after Samsung comes Huawei, on October 21. The likeliest announcement is the global availability of the Huawei P50 series, but there haven't been as many leaks as with other launches lately so we could be in for a surprise.

Finally, Sony lined up an event for October 26, which is another surprise. It's going to be an Xperia phone, but it appears to be too early for an Xperia 1 IV seeing how the 1 III only just came out. Or are we in for another plot twist?

That's it for this week, see you this time next one!