The annual Mobile World Congress (MWC) officially on Monday, February 25th, but most companies have scheduled their events tomorrow, and some of them include, LG, Huawei, Nokia and some of them have already started introducing new products. The upcoming week is going to be a cornucopia of smartphone goodness and we’re on ground already to bring you the latest on the latest! With the tone set, we thought it right to bring you a quick rundown of the latest buzz from Barcelona about what to expect. So without further ado, here’s the top announcements we expect from MWC 2019.
LG
LG will introduce its flagship G8 ThinQ smartphone at its event tomorrow. We had already seen several leaks of the phone, including a press image. The company has confirmed that it will feature Time-of-Flight (ToF) technology in the front-facing camera for 3D face unlock and Crystal Sound OLED (CSO) technology that utilizes the phone’s OLED display as an audio amplifier, in addition to Boombox Speaker on the bottom, Hi-Fi Quad DAC, DTS:X 3D and more. It is expected to pack a Snapdragon 855, dual-rear cameras, 6GB RAM and 128GB of minimum storage option.
LG is also expected to introduce alongside, featuring 5G support powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon X50 5G modem and triple rear cameras. Recent renders also revealed that it will head to Sprint in the US. It is said to sport a 6-inch display, Snapdragon 855 SoC, and a 4000mAh battery.
LG already confirmed a water-cooled cooling unit vapor chamber for the phone to overcome any heating problem. LG already introduced Q60, K50 and K40 smartphones. It will showcase all these from next week.
The LG MWC 2019 Premiere takes place at CCIB (Centre de Convencions Internacional de Barcelona) on February 24th at 7:30PM CET (12:00 AM IST).
Huawei
Huawei already teases that it will introduce a foldable phone at the event. It recently confirmed that it will introduce 5G smartphones powered by Balong 5000 at the MWC. Few hours back Huawei Mate X banner has surfaced confirming the design and the company claims that it will be the world’s first foldable 5G phone, event though Samsung has introduced its Galaxy Fold with 5G support earlier this week.
The Huawei MWC 2019 event on February 24th starts at 2PM CET (6:30 PM IST).
HMD Global / Nokia
The company will introduce Nokia 9 PureView smartphone with penta rear cameras arranged in 1-1-3 formation with ZEISS optics, rotating zoom-camera tech, an in-display fingerprint sensor, 18:9 aspect ratio display, glass back and a metal frame. The phone is rumored to come with a 5.9-inch Quad HD 3D glass OLED display, powered by Snapdragon 845 with up to 8GB of RAM, 128GB storage, expandable memory with microSD, Android 9.0 (Pie), IP68 ratings for water-resistance, Nokia OZO Audio and wireless charging. Check out the image shot on the phone below.
The other phone could be Nokia 8.1 Plus with ultra-slim bezels with a cut-out for the selfie camera on the top-left corner. It is said to feature a 6.22-inches Full HD+ display, 3.5mm headphone jack, dual rear cameras with Zeiss optics and dual LED flash. It could also be the rumored Nokia 6.2 (2019) with 6.2-inch display with in-screen camera, Snapdragon 632, 4/6GB RAM, 16MP Dual-rear Zeiss Camera with OZO Audio.
The event starts at 4PM CET (8:30 PM IST) on February 24th, and the company will offer live streams on its social channels.
OPPO
OPPO will detail its 10x hybrid lossless zoom technology and demo it at the MWC after it was introduced in China last month. This uses triple-camera solution consisting of “Ultra Wide Angle + Ultra Clear Master + Telephoto”. The ultra-wide-angle camera has an equivalent focal range of 15.9mm, primary camera guarantees photo quality, and the telephoto camera, with 159mm equivalent focal range, combined with the original “peep-up periscope structure” is responsible for the high-magnification 10x lossless zoom. It has OIS optical image stabilization on both standard and telephoto cameras.
Another first. 👀
Our 10x Lossless Zoom, in action. 🤯RT if you’re ready to #GetCloserWithOPPO🔍
📸: Brian Shen, OPPO VP pic.twitter.com/euZN67Xm3i
— OPPO (@oppo) February 19, 2019
The OPPO 2019 Innovation Event is scheduled for today, February 23rd at 2PM CET (6:30 PM IST).
Sony
Sony will introduce its flagsip smartphone with 21:9 aspect ratio 4K HDR OLED display and triple rear cameras. It is expected to be powered by Snapdragon 855 with 6GB of RAM.
It will also introduce Xperia 10 and Xperia 10 Plus phones at the event with 21:9 aspect ratio displays and dual rear cameras. We had already seen detailed specifications of both the phones that revealed 6-inch and 6.5-inch FHD+ screens, Snapdragon 630 and Snapdragon 660 SoCs and Android Pie, respectively.
The company will also introduce L3 smartphone with 5.7-inch HD+ 18:9 screen, 13+2MP dual rear cameras, 3GB RAM, 32GB storage, side-mounted fingerprint sensor, Android 8.1 Oreo and a 3300mAh battery with USB Type-C port.
The Sony Xperia MWC 2019 event on February 25th, 2019 takes place at Hall 4, Gran Via, Barcelona and starts at 8.30AM (1PM IST) on February 25th.
Xiaomi
Xiaomi already confirmed that it will showcase its flagship Mi 9 smartphone at the MWC, after it was introduced at China earlier this week.
It will also introduce the Mi MIX 3 5G, which will be the company’s first 5G smartphone. The event on February 24th starts at 10:30 AM CET (3PM IST).
OnePlus
OnePlus has scheduled an even on February 26th, in which OnePlus CEO Pete Lau will be joined by Qualcomm President Cristiano R. Amon, and EE CEO Marc Allera will discuss about 5G. The event starts at 2:15 PM CET (6:45 PM IST).
OnePlus will also showcase its first 5G prototype at the MWC.
Microsoft
Microsoft will finally introduce HoloLens 2 and we can also expect some Windows Mixed Reality news at its event tomorrow, February 24 at 6PM CET (10:30 PM IST).
Qualcomm
Ahead of MWC, Qualcomm introduced its X55 5G modem, QTM525 RF front-end (RFFE) solutions for 5G multi-mode mobile devices and more. The company has also scheduled an event on February 25th at 10AM CET (2:30PM IST) to talk more about 5G.
Others
Lenovo has teased Z6 Pro, successor of last year’s Z5 Pro at the MWC. The teaser hints at wireless charging that the Z5 Pro lacked.
ZTE’s Nubia brand has scheduled an event on February 25th at 6PM CET (10:30 PM IST) to introduce its final version of nubia-α wearable smartphone with a curved OLED screen after teasing it at the IFA last year. Alcatel , Motorola and others will showcase new phones at the MWC. It is not clear if we can see the rumored Razr foldable phone at the event. ASUS has confirmed that its Zenfone 6 series will not debut at the MWC since they are not ready.
We will be at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week and have big announcements for the #EXODUS1. Like if you will be there as well. We would love to see you. @philchen913 #MWC19 #MWC2019 #mobileworldcongress #mobile #Barcelona #ZION #phones #Crypto pic.twitter.com/fTN7qReDl1
— HTC EXODUS (@htcexodus) February 19, 2019
HTC has not scheduled an event, but it will showcase its Exodus 1 Blockchain phone at its booth.
You can follow all the MWC 2019 news here, and keep an eye on FoneArena and FoneArea Tamil on YouTube for videos. Which smartphone are you eagerly waiting for?