⚡ Welcome back to The Weekly Authority, the Android Authority newsletter that casts an eye back across the top Android and tech news from the week.

👋 Tristan Rayner on deck here, and glad I wasn't on deck here.

• OnePlus: Each day comes with fresh OnePlus news! Starting with the OnePlus 9 series, we heard about a trick mirror finish option called Morning Mist, a unique adaptive refresh rate, 65W Warp Charge plus seriously fast 50W wireless charging, and the more affordable OnePlus 9R 5G was made official but as an India-only product. Elsewhere, we had confirmation that the OnePlus Watch will launch alongside the OnePlus 9 series on March 23. It may support Warp Charge, but it definitely won’t run Wear OS. We even got an actual product image of the wearable, confirming the round approach. Phew. We know a lot about these products, so I’ll be interested to see how the launch goes.
• Galaxy A series: Samsung launched the Galaxy A52 (in two models: 5G and LTE) and the Galaxy A72, strictly without 5G. On paper, they look like better mid-rangers than ever, with a specs bump, camera stabilization, and IP rating, but there will be more to discover when we get our hands on them for review.
• No Note in 2021: No Note this year, and maybe a shortage of chips, warns Samsung Electronics.
• Android 12: The second Android 12 Developer Preview is now available, a month after the first. New additions to the build include lots for developers on trust and safety, as well as the appearance of a one-handed mode.
• LG: LG’s Rollable was spotted being officially Bluetooth certified. That’s a pretty good indication LG’s mobile division is still active, despite the reports suggesting a sale or discontinuation of the loss-making enterprise.
• Nest Hub 2: Google’s second-gen Nest Hub is here with bedside sleep tracking via Soli. In fact, Google thinks it can deliver better sleep, but you’ll a) have to pay for the feature b) trust Google with your sleep/bed data.
• Intel 11: Intel’s 11th Gen desktop chips are here, cramming its 10nm core designs into its mature 14nm process (The Verge).
• Intel throwback: Justin Long, the “I’m a Mac” Guy, is now mocking Macs for Intel (Engadget). Reactions ranged from “Intel finally got desperate enough to pay Justin Long,” to “these ads are actually good.” But hey, Apple did bring back the I’m a PC Guy (The Verge) just to roast him back in November. Finally, on Intel, it’s hosting a March 23 event to launch… something.
• PS VR 2: Sony announced its new PS5 VR controllers with adaptive triggers (The Verge).
• iPad Pro 2021: Apple’s next iPad Pro leaked. Reports suggest it’ll have a Thunderbolt port and an M1-like chip (Bloomberg).

First up is our Huawei foldable hands-on, with Exec Editor Kris Carlon having fun with the latest and greatest, and finding it pretty attractive ahead of a full review 

• Huawei Mate X2 hands-on: “At first glance, the Huawei Mate X2 looks like a killer foldable. The hardware, as is always the case with Huawei, looks impeccable. The fate of the Mate X2 will likely rest on the software experience. Both on how well it functions without Google services as well as how polished the foldable experience has become. Stay tuned for the full Huawei Mate X2 review next week.”

And something different this week with six, count’em, six detailed charger reviews as GaN and PD become the norm:

• Samsung 45W Travel Adapter, Belkin 30W GaN Wall Charger, Belkin 63W Boost Charge Dual USB-C, Anker PowerPort III Pod, and the dual-winners to date: the Ravpower PD Pioneer 65W 4-port desktop charger, which packs fast charging into a portable GaN charger, and the Elecjet 45W USB-C Super Fast Charger, which is inexpensive and slightly slower charging but supports USB PD PPS for the Galaxy S21 series. Nice dives into efficiency and overall benefits here.

PS. Don’t miss Eric Zeman’s Oppo Find X3 Pro review second opinion: Space-age looks, earth-bound issues

Features

• Apple bent its rules for Russia—and other countries will take note (Ars Technica).
• Where are those shoes you ordered? Check the ocean floor: more containers have tumbled off ships in the past four months than are normally lost in a year (Wired).
• Wikipedia Enterprise: finally, Big Tech is being asked to pay up (Wired).
• The ancient fabric that no one knows how to make (BBC).

• March 22: Poco F3 and X3 Pro launch
• March 23: OnePlus 9 series and OnePlus Watch (above) launch
• March 23: Black Shark 4 launch
• March 23: Intel media event: “Intel Unleashed: Engineering the Future”
• March 24: Realme Pro 8 launch
• March 25: Vivo V60 launch

Tech Tweets of the Week

A nice glimpse of a possible future here:

Bonus Reddit post of the week: “In Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021), Barry Allen breaks a Window by merely touching it. This is because Windows no longer supports Flash.”

Looking forward to the OnePlus launch next week most of all, I think?

Tristan Rayner, Senior Editor.