10 Most Exciting Phones and Tech Announcements from MWC 2022
MWC 2022 is live this week in Barcelona, Spain. While the event is still ongoing for the next few days, most of the participating companies have already delivered their keynotes to announce a list of various offerings that will be hitting the market this year. MWC is a major event for mobile phones. However, this year’s conference has not only seen mobile phones but also other technological developments that have debuted globally. These include new Windows laptops from companies such as Samsung and Lenovo, Android tablets, and wearables. The mobile phones that were launched at MWC 2022 also included new form factors including foldable phones and gaming phones.
Below is a list of the 10 most exciting phones and technologies launched at MWC 2022.
1. TCL Foldable
One of the most interesting announcements at MWC 2022 was the latest foldable phones from Chinese manufacturer TCL. Namely, these are the TCL Ultra Flex and TCL Fold ‘n Roll. The TCL Ultra Flex comes with a 360-degree hinge mechanism that allows users to fold the phone both inwards and outwards. When unfolded, it gives a tablet-like experience on its 8-inch PLP AMOLED display.
Unlike the Ultra Flex, the TCL Fold ‘n Roll has a unique display on one side that can be extended to increase the screen real estate up to 10 inches. The phone can also function as a regular foldable phone where users can have a tablet-like 8.85-inch display when unfolded and a regular 6.87-inch display when folded.
The TCL Fold ‘n Roll was first unveiled in April last year.
Both TCL Ultra Flex and Fold ‘n Roll are currently in their prototype phase, so it’s unclear if these new designs will be made available to end users by the company in the near future.
2. 150W charging of Realme and Oppo
With phones becoming more and more essential in our daily lives, manufacturers are doing everything they can to reduce their charging time. BBK Electronics subsidiaries Realme and Oppo joined the competition this time around, bringing their 150W charging solutions with them. Realme announced that the Realme GT Neo 3 will debut with its own 150W UltraDart Charge technology. Oppo, on the other hand, said that its 150W SuperVOOC charging will be available first on OnePlus phones in Q2 2022.
Realme GT Neo 3 will be one of the first phones to come with 150W charging
Photo Credit: Realme
Realme and Oppo (or OnePlus) are planning to give Xiaomi, which earlier this year introduced its phones including the Xiaomi 11i HyperCharge 5G with 120W fast charging, a tough fight.
3. Lenovo’s new gaming phone
At MWC 2022, Lenovo made its debut on the Legion Y90 as the company’s latest gaming phone. The smartphone comes with 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 includes a RAID 0 storage lane with 128GB of SSD storage.
The Legion Y90 supports Dolby Atmos. The phone also has a dual X-axis linear motor and is powered by a dual-cell 5,600mAh battery with 68W fast charging.
Lenovo is initially bringing the Legion Y90 to China for a starting price of CNY 3,999 (roughly Rs. 47,900) for the base variant with 12GB RAM + 256GB storage. The top-end model with 18GB + 512GB, on the other hand, carries a price tag of CNY 4,999 (roughly Rs. 59,900).
4. Honor Flagship
Honor Magic 4 Pro was launched at this year’s MWC as the brand’s latest flagship. It comes with top-tier specs including a 6.81-inch Flex OLED quad-curved display with a 120Hz dynamic refresh rate, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, and a triple rear camera setup that consists of a 50-megapixel primary sensor and a 64-megapixel secondary sensor with a periscope-style telephoto lens. The Honor Magic 4 Pro also packs 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and packs a 4,600mAh battery with 100W wired and wireless SuperCharge fast charging support.
The Honor Magic 4 Pro price has been set at EUR 1,099 (roughly Rs. 93,000). It will be available in multiple colour options and also in a special Orange (Vegan Leather) version.
5. Lenovo’s ThinkPad laptop based on ARM architecture
At this year’s MWC, Lenovo launched the ThinkPad X13s as its latest ThinkPad laptop based on the ARM architecture. The Lenovo ThinkPad X13s is powered by the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 SoC, coupled with Adreno GPU and up to 32GB of LPDDR4x RAM and up to 1TB PCIe SSD. The laptop also packs a 13.3-inch WUXGA display and offers connectivity options including 5G, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth v5.2, dual USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports, and a SIM card slot. It weighs 1.06kg, and measures 13.4mm thin.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X13s price has been set at EUR 1,399 (roughly Rs. 1,18,400). The laptop will initially be available in Europe from May and will go on sale in the US later in 2022 via AT&T and Verizon.
6. Huawei e-reader
Huawei MatePad Paper made its debut 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 is powered by a hexa-core SoC, paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The device also includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and USB Type-C connectivity.
Huawei MatePad Paper has a 13.3-inch E-ink display
Photo credit: Huawei
The Huawei MatePad Paper will debut in Europe for EUR 499 (roughly Rs. 42,200) and is said to compete with Amazon’s Kindle Oasis.
7. Windows 11 laptops from Samsung
At MWC this year, Samsung didn’t have any new phones to show off, but it did introduce the Galaxy Book 2 Pro, Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360, Galaxy Book 2 360 and Galaxy Book 2 among four new laptops that all run Windows 11. The new laptops come with the latest Intel Core processors, up to 32GB of RAM and discrete graphics options. The machines also have up to 1TB of NVMe SSD storage and come with touchscreen versions to choose from.
As for the pricing, the Samsung Galaxy Book 2 360 starts at $899.99 (approximately Rs. 68,100), while the Galaxy Book 2 Pro starts at $1,049.99 (approximately Rs. 79,500) and the Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360 starts at $1,249.99 (approximately Rs. 94,600). The pricing details of the Galaxy Book 2 are yet to be revealed. Also, all the new models will debut in markets including the US starting from April.
8. Huawei AiO with a UHD display
Huawei MateStation X was launched by the Chinese company as part of its lineup at this year’s MWC. The all-in-one PC comes with a 28.2-inch UHD touchscreen with 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 dual 5W speakers and a 10W subwoofer, as well as a 720p camera for video calling.
In terms of connectivity, the Huawei MateStation X features 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 looks to take on Apple’s iMac with its sleek design. What’s more, it runs on Windows 10.
The Huawei MateStation X has been launched in Europe for EUR 2,199 (roughly Rs. 1,86,000). Details about its availability in other markets, including India, are yet to be announced. However, the device that features a 23.8-inch display was launched in China last year.
9. Affordable Nokia C-series
While this year’s MWC featured a number of unique phones and Windows laptops, Nokia brand licensee HMD Global used the conference to showcase its new affordable Nokia C-series phones. The latest range consists of the Nokia C2 2nd Edition, Nokia C21 and Nokia C21 Plus. All three phones offer basic specs to please those looking to upgrade from a feature phone.
Nokia C21 is one of the latest affordable phones from the company
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 comes with a regular 5.7-inch FWVGA display, a single 5-megapixel rear camera, and a quad-core SoC. On the other hand, the Nokia C21 and Nokia C21 Plus both feature 6.517-inch HD+ displays with a waterdrop-style notch design and octa-core Unisoc SC9863A SoCs. The Nokia C21 Plus comes with a dual camera setup on the back, whereas the Nokia C21 has a single rear camera.
The Nokia C2 2nd Edition starts at €79 (approximately $6,700), while the Nokia C21 and Nokia C21 Plus start at €99 (approximately $8,400) and €119 (approximately $10,100) respectively.
10. New Poco phone with 108-megapixel primary camera
Making its debut at MWC 2022, the Poco X4 Pro 5G features features like a 108-megapixel primary camera sensor, 120Hz AMOLED display and a Snapdragon 695 SoC. The Poco X4 Pro 4G also packs up to 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage. The smartphone is housed in a 5,000mAh battery that supports 67W fast charging.
The Poco X4 Pro 5G pricing starts at EUR 299 (roughly Rs. 25,300) for the 6GB + 128GB storage model and goes up to EUR 349 (roughly Rs. 29,500) for the 8GB + 256GB variant. It will be available in the European markets starting from March 2, although details about its arrival in India and other regions are yet to be announced.
