After all the preparations and exciting events for the conference itself, MWC 2024 is now over. This year, it’s less of a stage for launching new products and more focused on the future – with companies bringing prototype devices and research projects that could make their way to consumers in the near future.
Still, phones are being announced, and we’re getting our hands on these new devices. Some newcomers have also just announced their global availability. Here’s a summary of what happened at MWC 2024.
The MWC 2024 awards were announced on Thursday. The Google Pixel 8 series won the Best Smartphone award, and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra won the Best Connected Consumer Device award. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 won the Breakthrough Device Innovation Award. Honor Magic V2 RSR won the Best of Show award.
Use the links below to jump to the brands you’re interested in – to avoid favoritism, we’ve arranged the brands alphabetically.
Table of contents:
head display
The fate of HMD’s brand partnership with Nokia is uncertain, but it’s not over yet! Regardless, the Finnish company is preparing to launch its own brand of mobile phone. The first phone of its kind arrived quite early – the HMD Phone 1 promised a 108MP camera, so it wasn’t just an existing Nokia-branded model under a new name. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait for more details.
HMD, Nokia and Barbie-branded phones coming later this year
While HMD may have lost its Nokia brand, it has struck a deal to align itself with a big brand in another category – the company is developing a Barbie flip phone. Additionally, the company has confirmed that we will see more Nokia-branded phones, with new batches expected to launch in May this year. Barbie Mobile will be available in July. Details on both are below.
honor
While none of these products debuted at MWC, they were all present and influential at the show. The company has announced the global launch of Honor Magic6 Pro and Honor Pad 9 along with European pricing.
In addition, the company also launched the stylish Honor Magic V2 RSR, priced at a whopping €2,700. This is clearly an enthusiast device, others can look at the regular Magic V2.
unlimited
Infinix is launching technology that could change the way phones work. For starters, color matching may be a thing of the past – E-Color Shift technology can dynamically change the color and appearance of your phone, and even animate it.
Infinix Technology Demonstration: E-Color Shift • CoolMax
More practical and equally interesting, CoolMax is a combination of thermoelectric cooling (Peltier effect) and a fan, all built into a prototype phone. A prototype that set an AnTuTu score record with its Dimensity 9300 chipset. The company says CoolMax can help chipsets run 10°C cooler.
Motorola
Motorola’s Adaptive Display concept phone is a wild, bendable phone — it’s technically a foldable phone, but instead of folding flat, it’s designed to be a bracelet, like an oversized Wear it on your wrist like a smart watch.
Motorola adaptive display concept device
Additionally, Motorola announced a partnership with Corning to use Gorilla Glass on entry-level phones (Motorola already uses the glass on most of its flagship and mid-range phones).
There’s also Motorola Smart Connect – a continuity feature that creates seamless workflows between Motorola and Lenovo phones, tablets and laptops. This includes unified keyboard and mouse controls, notification sync, shared clipboard, fast file transfers, using your phone as a webcam, and more.
there is nothing
Nothing wasn’t at MWC, not even in Barcelona – instead, the company showed off a giant mockup of its upcoming Nothing Phone (2a) in London.
Nothing Phone (2a) design revealed
Nubia
nubia has launched the Flip 5G, which will be one of the cheapest clamshell foldable phones on the market, with a suggested retail price of $600. Of course, there are cheaper flip phones out there now, like the Moto Razr (2023), although that’s after several rounds of discounts. The Razr’s MSRP starts at $700.
The company subsequently launched several use-case-specific devices. nubia Focus and Focus Pro are equipped with 108MP main cameras that shoot at quad-focal length and penta-focal length respectively. It’s just in-sensor zoom rather than optics, but keep in mind that these start at $200, which might be the best deal you can buy on a camera in 2024.
The nubia Neo 2 also starts at $200. It’s a budget gaming device with a more powerful Unisoc T820 chipset (versus the T760 on the Focus), a 6.72-inch FHD+ 120Hz display, DTS:X Ultra stereo speakers, and a large 6,000mAh battery.
Finally, nubia Music features a large DTS-branded speaker on the back that is 600% louder than typical phone speakers. The device also has two(!) 3.5mm headphone jacks. For more details, view our practices.
one plus
It’s been three years since OnePlus first tried its hand at a smartwatch. It’s been a mixed bag, but now the company has given it another chance – this time with Wear OS – and launched the OnePlus Watch 2.
For more details, check out our hands-on review, which details the “dual-engine architecture” (it’s almost like two smartwatches in one).
OPPO
Oppo didn’t show off a new phone, but it confirmed that it will launch the next-generation Find flagship in all countries where Oppo has previously operated. It also announced a three-year partnership with Telefónica Groupe.
Oppo Air Glass 3 XR prototype.
Oppo did show off a new device – the Air Glass 3 XR prototype. The glasses weigh just 50 grams but create an AR experience through an in-house developed resin waveguide. There is also an artificial intelligence AndesGPT running on smartphones that will provide support for voice assistants.
Samsung
Samsung has provided more details about the Galaxy Ring, a small fitness tracker that comes in US ring sizes from 5 to 13. It can track heart rate, breathing rate, sleep and nighttime activities, and even detect early signs of sleep apnea.
Samsung ring
Unofficial sources claim that the Samsung Galaxy Ring will have a battery life of up to 9 days and will go on sale in the second half of this year.
TCL
TCL has launched two mid-range products – TCL 50 SE and TCL 50 5G. The 5G model has better connectivity, but it’s held back by the 6.6 HD+ display. The SE model has a larger 6.78-inch display with a higher resolution of FHD+ (both 90Hz IPS LCD). Check out our practice reviews for more details.
Techno
Tecno launches the Camon 30 Premier with the new Tecno PolarAce imaging system. It is a combination of Sony sensors with new Sony ISP chips and Tecno image processing algorithms. The dedicated ISP is efficient and powerful, enabling full scene processing of 4K video.
The company has also launched three other models. The Tecno Camon 30 Pro is similar to the Premier, except without the 3x periscope camera and with a non-LTPO display. There’s also the less expensive Camon 30 5G and Camon 30.
We have a hands-on review of the Tecno Camon 30 Premier and another review of the other three.
Tecno also launched the Pova 6 Pro, a streamlined gaming phone. The phone is powered by the Dimensity 6080 and has 8-12GB RAM and a 6.78-inch FHD+ 120Hz display, along with a large 6,000mAh battery with 70W fast charging.
The company also announced that artificial intelligence features are coming to HiOS devices, including a new digital assistant called Ella. Call translation and social media translation will be provided, as well as automatically generated video subtitles.
The company also demoed a few prototype devices — a rollable phone, a better foldable phone and color-changing panels for customization. Additionally, it showed off a portable Windows-based gaming console that doesn’t have a screen and instead uses AR glasses. Another “alternative” design is the Dynamic 1 robot dog.
Tecno Pocket Go with AR Pocket Vision • Tecno Dynamic 1
in vivo
About a month after launching the vivo V30, the company has officially launched the Pro model. The Vivo V30 Pro features four 50MP cameras (three on the back and one on the front), a 6.78-inch 120Hz 10-bit AMOLED display, Dimensity 8200, and a 5,000mAh battery with 80W fast charging.
Millet
According to official news, Xiaomi 14 and 14 Ultra are going global (while the Pro will stay in China). Ultra features a 1-inch sensor with infinitely variable aperture (f/1.6-f/4.0), 5x periscope, 3.2x telephoto lens, and ultra-wide-angle camera (122°). For more information, head to our hands-on review.
The Mi 14’s camera department features three 50MP cameras on the back, but they’re more restrained – a 1/1.31-inch main camera, a 3.2x telephoto camera, and a 115° ultra-wide-angle camera. The product features a 6.36-inch display, which is smaller than most Android flagships today.
