MWC 2022 is live in Barcelona, Spain this week. As the event continues over the next few days, most of the participating companies have already given their keynotes to announce a list of special offers coming to market this year. MWC was a big event for mobile phones. However, this year’s conference featured not only mobile phones, but also other technological developments that have been presented around the world. This includes new Windows laptops from companies like Samsung and Lenovo, Android tablets and wearables. The handsets unveiled at MWC 2022 also featured new form factors, including foldable and gaming phones.
Here’s a list of the 10 most exciting phones and technologies revealed at MWC 2022.
1. TCL foldables
Among the most interesting announcements at MWC 2022 were the latest foldables from Chinese manufacturer TCL. These are namely TCL Ultra Flex and TCL Fold ‘n Roll. The TCL Ultra Flex features a 360 degree hinge mechanism that allows users to fold the phone both inwards and outwards. When unfolded, it offers a tablet-like experience on its 8-inch PLP AMOLED display.
Unlike the Ultra Flex, the TCL is fold ‘n roll has a unique display on one side that can be expanded to increase screen real estate up to 10 inches. The phone can also be used as a regular foldable phone, where users can have a tablet-like 8.85-inch display when unfolded and a regular 6.87-inch screen when folded.
The TCL Fold ‘n Roll was first introduced in April last year.
Both TCL Ultra Flex and Fold ‘n Roll are currently in the prototype stage. It is therefore unclear whether these new designs will be made available to end users by the company in the near future.
2. Realme and Oppo 150W charging
As phones become more and more important in our daily lives, manufacturers try to reduce their charging time. BBK Electronics’ subsidiaries Realme and Oppo took part in the competition this time, bringing their 150W charging solutions with them. Realme announced that the Realme GT Neo 3 will debut with its in-house 150W UltraDart charging technology. Oppo, on the other hand, mentioned that its 150W SuperVOOC charging will first be available for OnePlus phones in Q2 2022.
The Realme GT Neo 3 will be one of the first phones to come with 150W charging power
Photo credit: Realme
Realme and Oppo (or OnePlus) are planning an uphill battle against Xiaomi, which earlier this year unveiled its phones, including the Xiaomi 11i HyperCharge 5G, with 120W fast charging.
3. Lenovo’s new gaming phone
The Lenovo Legion Y90 debuted at MWC 2022 as the company’s latest gaming phone. The smartphone features a 6.9-inch Samsung E4 AMOLED display with a 144Hz refresh rate. The Legion Y90 is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, along with up to 18GB of RAM and vapor chamber cooling . The top-end variant of the phone also packs a RAID 0 storage strip, offering 128GB of SSD storage.
The Legion Y90 supports Dolby Atmos. The phone also features a dual X-axis linear motor and a 5,600mAh dual-cell battery with 68W fast charging.
Lenovo is initially bringing the Legion Y90 to China at a starting price of CNY 3,999 (roughly Rs. 47,900) for the base 12GB RAM + 256GB storage variant. On the other hand, the top-of-the-range 18GB + 512GB is priced at 4,999 CNY (about Rs. 59,900).
4th Honorary Flagship
Honor Magic 4 Pro was unveiled at this year’s MWC as the brand’s latest flagship. It has top-of-the-line specs, including a 6.81-inch Flex OLED quad-curved display with a 120Hz dynamic refresh rate, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, and a triple rear camera setup that packs a 50-megapixel primary sensor and a 64-megapixel secondary sensor with a periscope-shaped telephoto lens. The Honor Magic 4 Pro also packs 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage and a 4,600mAh battery with 100W SuperCharge wired and wireless fast charging support.
The price for the Honor Magic 4 Pro is 1,099 euros (approx. 93,000 rupees). It will be available in different color options as well as a special version in orange (vegan leather).
5. Lenovo ThinkPad laptop based on ARM architecture
At this year’s MWC, Lenovo introduced the ThinkPad X13s as its latest ThinkPad laptop based on the ARM architecture. The Lenovo ThinkPad X13s is powered by Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 SoC along with Adreno GPU and up to 32GB LPDDR4x RAM as well as up to 1TB PCIe SSD. The laptop also features a 13.3-inch WUXGA display and offers connectivity options such as 5G, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth v5.2, two USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports and a SIM card slot. It weighs 1.06 kg and has a thickness of 13.4 mm.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X13s is priced at 1,399 euros (about 1,18,400 rupees). The laptop will initially be available in Europe starting in May and will go on sale in the US later in 2022 via AT&T and Verizon carriers.
6. Huawei e-reader
Huawei MatePad Paper debuted at MWC 2022 as the company’s first e-reader. The device features a 13.3-inch E Ink display with a pixel density of 227 ppi. The display supports touch input and works with an included stylus called the Huawei M-Pencil. Under the hood, the Huawei MatePad Paper has a hexa-core SoC with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage. The device also features Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and USB Type-C connectivity.
The Huawei MatePad Paper has a 13.3-inch E Ink display
Photo credit: Huawei
The Huawei MatePad Paper will debut in Europe for €499 (roughly Rs. 42,200). It would compete against Amazon’s Kindle Oasis.
7. Samsung Windows 11 laptops
At this year’s MWC, Samsung didn’t introduce any new phones to showcase, instead introducing its Galaxy Book 2 Pro, Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360, Galaxy Book 2 360 and the Galaxy Book 2 as its four new laptops, all running on Windows 11. The new laptops are equipped with the latest Intel Core processors and come with up to 32GB of RAM and discrete graphics options. The machines also have up to 1TB of NVMe SSD storage and touchscreen versions to choose from.
On the pricing side, the Samsung Galaxy Book 2 360 starts at $899.99 (roughly Rs. 68,100), while the Galaxy Book 2 Pro starts at $1,049.99 (roughly Rs. 79,500) and the Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360 at 1,249.99 $ (about Rs. 94,600) . Galaxy Book 2 pricing details have yet to be announced. Additionally, all new models will debut in markets like the US from April.
8. Huawei AiO with a UHD display
Huawei MateStation X was unveiled by the Chinese company as part of its lineup at this year’s MWC. The all-in-one PC features a 28.2-inch UHD touchscreen that has an IPS panel under the hood. The machine also packs an AMD Ryzen 5 5600H or AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor with integrated AMD Radeon graphics, paired with 16GB of RAM. It includes two 5W speakers and a 10W subwoofer, as well as a 720p camera for video calls.
In terms of connectivity, the Huawei MateStation X has two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C ports, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports and a 3.5mm audio jack. The AiO PC seems to compete with Apple’s iMac with its slim design. Also, it runs on Windows 10.
The Huawei MateStation X made its debut in Europe for EUR 2,199 (approx. Rs. 1,86,000). Details on availability in other markets, including India, have yet to be announced. However, the device with a 23.8-inch display was launched in China last year.
9. Affordable Nokia C Series
Although this year’s MWC featured some unique phones and Windows laptops, HMD Global, licensee of the Nokia brand, used the conference to showcase its new Nokia C-Series affordable phones. The latest range includes Nokia C2 2nd Edition, Nokia C21 and Nokia C21 Plus. All three phones have basic specs to please users looking to upgrade from a feature phone.
The Nokia C21 is one of the company’s latest affordable phones
Photo credit: HMD Global
The Nokia C2 2nd Edition is the most basic option in the series, while the Nokia C21 and Nokia C21 Plus are the company’s new budget models. The Nokia C2 2nd Edition features a regular 5.7-inch FWVGA display, a single 5-megapixel rear camera and a quad-core SoC. In contrast, the Nokia C21 and Nokia C21 Plus both feature 6.517-inch HD+ displays with waterdrop-style notch design and octa-core Unisoc SC9863A SoCs. The Nokia C21 Plus has a dual rear camera, while the Nokia C21 has a single rear camera.
Price-wise, the Nokia C2 2nd Edition starts at EUR 79 (approx. Rs. 6,700), while the Nokia C21 and Nokia C21 Plus start at EUR 99 (approx. Rs. 8,400) and EUR 119 (approx. Rs. 10,100), respectively.
10. New Poco phone with a 108MP main camera
Making its debut at MWC 2022, the Poco X4 Pro 5G comes with features like a 108MP primary camera sensor, a 120Hz AMOLED display, and a Snapdragon 695 SoC. The Poco X4 Pro 4G also includes up to 8 GB of RAM and a maximum of 256 GB of storage. The smartphone packs a 5,000mAh battery that supports 67W fast charging.
The price of the Poco X4 Pro 5G starts at EUR 299 (approx. Rs. 25,300) for the 6GB + 128GB storage model and goes up to EUR 349 (approx. Rs. 29,500) for the 8GB + 256GB option. It will be available in European markets from March 2nd, although details about its arrival in India and other regions have yet to be announced.