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Published on: Tuesday, Tue, 17 Jul 2018 ● 9 Min Read
The world’s leading phone manufacturers are all at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, to showcase their newest wares and innovations. Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s show, including and all the best MWC phones from the likes of Samsung, Sony, LG, Moto and more.
Mobile World Congress – otherwise known as MWC – is an annual trade show run by the GSMA, where manufacturers come together to showcase their latest phones, smartwatches, tablets, and more. It’s easily the biggest mobile phone show on the planet, and started with a bang when Samsung launched the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+.
As well as phones, Mobile World Congress is also home to a number of more specialist innovations, including flexible displays, state-of-the-art mobile chipsets, next-generation artificial intelligence solutions and 5G demonstrations. Plus, there are plenty of apps, software, and mobile accessories on display – there really is something for everyone at the Fira Gran Via.
As expected, Samsung has unveiled two new flagships, the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+. These are two of the most eagerly anticipated phones of the year, coming with improved camera technology, better internals and Android Oreo.
That was the first – and arguably most important – MWC 2018 phone reveal, but there are legitimate Galaxy S9 rivals in Sony’s Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact, the former of which packs the new Snapdragon 845 SoC. Our early impressions suggest they’re decent phones, too, so the battle for the ‘Best Phone of MWC 2018’ hasn’t been a whitewash.
Stealing the thunder in a retro stylee for the second year running, Nokia took a leaf out of its dog-eared playbook to launch the Nokia 8110 4G, a modern (sort of) take on the legendary Matrix banana phone. More retro chic came in the form of the Psion Gemini PDA, on which we rolled back the years by playing Street Fighter II.
Of the other smaller players, we’ve seen the British STK X2 budget smartphone, which looks very slick indeed, as well as the ruggedised Land Rover Explorer.
Before we go into finer details, here’s an at-a-glance look at the phones, tablets, laptops and other devices that have been announced so far, and what else we’re expecting to see unveiled at MWC 2018.
Mobile World Congress runs from February 26 through March 1, with most of the big announcements – including Samsung’s expected unveiling of the Galaxy S9 – having taken place at invite-only events on February 25.
Let’s take a closer look at what the key mobile players have unveiled in this year’s MWC, or what we’re still expecting, in alphabetical order. So read on or scroll down for what we’ve seen from the likes of Samsung, Sony and others, plus what may still be revealed.
TCL has confirmed that it will launch at least two new BlackBerry phones in 2018. That’s the good news. Now here’s the bad news: the expected follow-up to last year’s surprisingly decent BlackBerry KEYOne still hasn’t broken cover. No new BlackBerry at MWC, sadly.
Doro has busted out two new handsets aimed at the elderly, the Doro 7060 and 8035. The 7060 offers an old-school clamshell design but with 4G connectivity, some social-media smarts, and a boost function to make call volume louder.
The Doro 8035, meanwhile, is more a stepping stone to a full smartphone experience, with the option to use either a simplified interface or a near-stock Android OS complete with full Play Store access. There’s also a remote-access app, so younger, more able relatives can see what’s happening on the phone to help fix any problems or explain how to use it. Very neat indeed.
Big G typically throws lavish events at independent venues when it’s announcing new hardware, so we didn’t expect too much from Google at MWC.
What we did get was a first wave of phones powered by Android Go, a stripped-back version of Google’s latest Android Oreo operating system that’s been made available on seriously affordable handsets. Among these were the Nokia 1 and ZTE Tempo Go.
It’s been a subdued outing for HTC at MWC this year, with nothing new announced. The HTC U12 is likely to launch at a standalone event later in the year.
Bruce Lee, Huawei’s VP of Smartphones, revealed last year that Huawei will “probably” launch all future flagships at Mobile World Congress – and recent leaks would’ve led you to believe that it’d be taking the wraps off the Huawei P20 at the gathering.
But that hasn’t been the case, and the firm already sent out invitations to a standalone event it’s holding in Paris on March 27. That’s where it’s expected to announce not only the flagship Huawei P20, but also the Huawei P20 Lite and Huawei P20 Plus.
That’s not to mean Huawei’s presence at MWC 2018 hasn’t been notable, however. The firm has announced the high-end MateBook X Pro ultrabook and a range of Mediapad M5 Android tablets.
We’d thought that we’d be seeing LG unveil its next flagship, the LG G7, at this year’s Mobile World Congress, but recent reports poured cold water on that idea. Apparently, LG is rebuilding the G7 from scratch and the handset might not see light of day until April.
Instead we got an upgraded LG V30 successor, the LG V30S ThinQ. From what we’ve seen, none of the original’s issues are fixed; the specs are merely upgraded a little. Oh, and it has a name straight from the mid-noughties.
In addition to that, the company already confirmed new mid-range 2018 LG phones prior to the event.
We thought Lenovo-owned Motorola might throw the kitchen sink at MWC this year, unveiling new Moto E, Moto G and Moto X handsets – but not even the company’s mid-range Moto G range got the catwalk treatment in Barca.
Recently leaked information pointed towards the unveiling of the Moto G6, G6 Plus and G6 Play, each of which should offer some solid specs at an affordable price. No sign yet, though.
What we did get was easily the most interesting Moto Mod so far, the Lenovo Vital. This bolt-on accessory for the Moto Z series can track loads of aspects of your health, and promises a sharing feature that means you could send readings directly to your doctor.
Image: Droid-Life
Nokia has announced a trio of handsets at MWC 2018, including one interesting surprise. First up is the Nokia 8 Sirocco, a flagship designed to compete at the highest level, as well as the mid-range Nokia 7+, which looks very impressive. What might set pulses racing, however, is the Nokia 8110 4G – a reimagining of the iconic Matrix phone. Unlike last year’s gimmicky Nokia 3310, this one actually has some practical value as a second phone.
Qualcomm had a particularly busy CES this year, and while you might think that leaves little left for MWC just a month later, the American semiconductor giant had a trick or two up its sleeve for Barcelona.
For starters, the Snapdragon 845 SoC appeared on the Galaxy S9 and Xperia XZ2. Then Qualcomm announced its all-new 700-series SoC range, which promises to bring 800-series features to more affordable devices. Expect Quick Charge 4+ tech and Bluetooth 5 to hit budget phones before long.
Elsewhere, the first generation of Snapdragon laptops featured, with release dates and regional pricing revealed for these ultra-efficient new Windows 10 machines.
It came as no surprise. Samsung has unveiled the much-anticipated Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ at MWC 2018, and we’ve already had a play with them. The design may only look evolutionary, but the dual-aperture camera tech could yet prove to be revolutionary.
Japanese manufacturer Sony has already launched three of its six smartphones set to hit the shelves in 2018, leaving two for MWC 2018: the high-end 5.8-inch Xperia XZ2 with a Snapdragon 845 SoC, and the 4.6-inch Xperia XZ2 Compact. They look very promising, with an all-new design language for Sony. It’s about time, too.
British company STK has taken aim at OnePlus and Moto with a new entrant to the budget market that looks lovely and seems to pack a powerful punch. The STK X2 has a glass and aluminium body that feels more premium than you might expect for £259, and has a software optimisation tool that claims to prevent slowdown over extended use.
Barcelona, Spain
