What to expect from MWC 2022: More than just phoning it in
The mobile landscape went under a pandemic-accelerated overhaul in the past couple of years. Huawei is no longer the foreign juggernaut it used to be, Honor is with new ownership, Oppo and OnePlus are in slow-motion homogenization, and LG is a complete non-factor in 2022. You’d think these developments would suck all the air out ofMobile World Congress, which is being held on-time this year as opposed to in last year’s sweaty Iberian summer. Well, prepare for your breath to be taken away.
Samsung, not content with just new phones this year, plans on putting out new laptops during MWC with multi-device continuity and security hardening acting as key marketing elements. The company will reveal all during alivestreamon Sunday, February 27, starting at 1 p.m. ET.
Lenovo just got done relaunching its Moto Edge X30 for China as theMoto Edge 30 Profor the rest of the world, but, in a similar story to Samsung, it’ll have its own laptops andneat tricksto unveil come Monday, February 28.
Flagship BBK Holdings property Oppo — you’re able to include OnePlus and Realme under that umbrella — has just come out with the impressiveFind X5 seriesfor Europe andNarzo 50for India, but is waiting until Monday to talk more about its new wired fast-charging standardsurpassing 125W.
At the trade show proper, we’ll be able to check out a 5G AR glasses concept the company developed in partnership with Ericsson (certainly not the Air Glass we sawback in December).
Xiaomi sub-brandPocois playing its cards on Monday as well with two device launches: the X4 Pro 5G and M4 Pro. The big selling points detailed so far? 108MP cameras and AMOLED screens.
We mentioned Honor at the top and,Magicpresto, it’ll be filling out the rather busy Monday docket as well! The company is looking to continue a global rebound outside of Huawei with the debut of theMagic4 seriesutilizing Qualcomm silicon and Google Play services.
Keen on the essentials? You can bet on HMD Global, by way ofNokia, to bring a new wave of budget Android phones at this show.
TCL has become a reliable presence at MWC with its burgeoning own-brand series of smartphones and we expectthis year’s 30 seriesto expand over the weekend. We’ll also keep an eye out for theodd concept productthat always seems to bethisclose to market.
Android Police will be on the ground in Barcelona covering the big and small at and around MWC over the next week. You’ll get to learn more about all of the above and maybe even a few surprises from the convention center depths. We’ll see you there.
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