Pixel 11 series, Honor Robot Phone, Redmi 17 official, Week 33 in review

Tech news started picking up a bit, especially in the past week. Google unveiled its Pixel 11 series alongside the Pixel Watch 5.

The Pixel 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro XL, and 11 Pro Fold all pack the new Tensor G6 SoC, which turned out to use a 3nm process after all, not the heavily rumored 2nm. The specs of the Pixel phones are mostly the same as their predecessors - the small Pro has a 6.3-inch display, the Pro XL a 6.8-inch one, but brighter. Camera-wise, the 11 Pro and 11 Pro XL essentially use the same system - 50MP 1/1.3-inch wide angle, 48MP ultrawide (1/2.51-inch vs 1/2.55-inch), 48MP 5x zoom (slightly larger 1/1.95-inch vs 1/2.55-inch), and a 42MP selfie.

The vanilla Pixel 11 got a larger-sensor main camera - 1/1.56-inch vs 1/2.0-inch. The rest of the package is essentially the same. The Pixel 11 Pro Fold also got a larger main camera sensor, but interestingly, a slightly smaller battery - 4,806mAh vs 5,015mAh.

The Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL start at €1,199 and €1,399 in Europe, respectively, with pre-orders already open and general sales beginning August 20. Both start with 256GB of storage. The Pixel 11 Pro Fold starts at $1,899 in the US, though its European availability is more limited.

The Pixel 11 Pro Fold will go on sale on August 20, starting at $1,899 in the US. The Pixel 11 is also on sale from August 20, price is $899.

Honor officially launched its Robot Phone in China. Its claim to fame? A motorized 4-DoF titanium gimbal that deploys from the back and carries a 200MP 1/1.28" f/1.6 main camera. The gimbal can automatically pan and tilt for stabilization and AI subject tracking, while the remaining cameras include a 200MP 2.7x periscope telephoto and 50MP ultrawide. Honor also partnered with ARRI, bringing 10-bit ARRI LogC3 recording, ARRI Wide Gamut 3 and ARRI Looks. The phone otherwise packs a 6.31-inch 1-120Hz LTPO OLED, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, and a 7,060mAh battery.

The Honor Robot Phone starts at CNY 9,999 for the 12GB/512GB version, while the 16GB/1TB model costs CNY 12,999. Sales in China begin August 18, and Honor hasn't announced international availability.

The Redmi 17 5G and Redmi 17 4G are now official, quite a bit earlier than usual. Both offer a large display and battery at the affordable end of Xiaomi’s lineup. The Redmi 17 5G is powered by the Snapdragon 6s Gen 4, while the 4G model uses the Helio G200 Ultra. Both feature 6.9-inch 144Hz LCDs, a 50MP main camera, side-mounted fingerprint readers, and IP64 protection. The 5G model packs a 7,000mAh battery with 33W charging, while the 4G version gets an even larger 7,000mAh cell with the same charging speed. Both ship with HyperOS 3 based on Android 16. The Redmi 17 5G starts at €249, while the Redmi 17 4G starts at €199, with availability rolling out across European markets.

Despite its premium pricing, Sony says the Xperia 1 VIII is selling strongly, with particular demand for the higher-storage versions in the new gold color. Sony credits the phone's cameras and calls the microSD card slot and 3.5mm headphone jack "integral" to the Xperia identity.

Xiaomi unveiled its HyperOS 4, based on Android 17. No surprises here; the UI is heavy on translucent glass-like elements. The redesigned UI will offer more customization options for the lock screen, letting you arrange the clock and notifications as you see fit. It will also let you resize folders and group widgets. Additionally, the UI will switch seamlessly between portrait and landscape apps and will even rotate any floating apps to match. There's some clever AI utilization, naturally. For example, AI will predict what resources will be needed next and preload them into RAM so that they are ready to go on the user’s command.

HyperOS 4 is expected to begin its rollout on Xiaomi's newest devices first. Previous reports confirmed a Summer of 2026 release, so any moment now.

Xiaomi announced the Redmi K100 Pro and K100 Pro Max in China, both bringing flagship hardware led by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 platform and 185Hz OLED displays. The K100 Pro has a 6.59-inch screen, an 8,580mAh battery, and 100W wired/50W wireless charging, while the Pro Max steps up to a 6.9-inch display and an enormous 9,070mAh battery with the same charging speeds. Both feature a 200MP OIS main camera, but the Max gets the much stronger secondary cameras with a 50MP 5x periscope and 50MP ultrawide, versus a 50MP telephoto and 8MP ultrawide on the Pro. Both also offer up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB storage, IP66/IP68/IP69 protection, and HyperOS.

The Redmi K100 Pro starts at CNY 3,699, while the K100 Pro Max starts at CNY 4,499 for their 12GB/256GB versions. They're currently China-only; reports suggest they could eventually reach international markets under the Poco F9 Pro and F9 Ultra names.