After a wild season of product releases, did OnePlus save the best for last? Its new foldable phone, the OnePlus One, sets new benchmarks for thinness, screen quality, and camera capabilities; and our reviewer Phil Berne was certainly impressed, although I do wonder about the lack of wireless charging. Talking of phone cameras, our obsession with smartphone photography might make some of us forget how we all got here, but not me – I appreciated our coverage of the history of full-frame Sony cameras, and, going more retro, our review of the physical-film Polaroid I2.
Apple may have disappointed some by not releasing a new tablet this week (there’s still time, but just don’t make it too big, Apple), but we did get a new Apple Pencil. I know, not that exciting – maybe Apple will surprise us with a November M2 iMac. The world of wearables proved a busier space, with Fitbit cleaning up its own app-related mess, Garmin working behind the scenes on a slew of new products, and the latest Meta/Ray-Ban smart glasses collaboration proving to be more style than substance.
Want to know where the real buzz is this week? The build-up to the Black Friday deals bonanza. Turns out that most retailers can’t wait until next month to slash their prices, and have been doing just that since shortly after Amazon wound up its second Prime Day of the year.
Put simply, if you thought the world of technology would be slowing down for the holidays, you were wrong.
Let’s get to it…
Lance Ulanoff, US Editor-in-Chief
The week in phones
The OnePlus One might be the best foldable phone yet (Future)
OnePlus has finally thrown its hat into the foldable phone ring with the OnePlus Open, and our US Mobiles Editor Phil Berne thinks it's the best foldable experience yet – read his in-depth review to find out why he's so taken with the phone.
Rumors suggest that Apple may be toying with the idea of making a massive, by tablet standards, 14-inch iPad Pro, among other iPad innovations, and Lance Ulanoff has some thoughts on why an iPad with a laptop-sized screen isn't a great idea.
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The week in wearables
Meta's smart glasses are available in a wide range of frame and lens combinations (Meta)
We've been putting Meta and Ray-Ban's new smart glasses through their paces, and while they're fun to use at times and undoubtably stylish, we think they're lacking in key areas – notably the camera experience, but also the audio and their AI features.
It's been a decade since Sony transformed the digital camera market with the introduction of the Sony A7 and A7R mirrorless models, and we've been looking back on the launch that, it now appears, spelled the beginning of the end for the DSLR.
It's been confirmed that Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer will be available to stream in the US and UK towards the end of November, but TechRadar's Matt Bolton explains why, for him, 4K Blu-ray is the only way to go for viewing the movie at home.
