As the curtains came down on the Mobile World Congress 2018 at Barcelona, all the biggest brands sized the opportunity to put forward their latest launches and concepts.
Here are some of the highlights from the event
Samsung Kept the Release of the S9 Twins Simple
If you were expecting too many incremental features in the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus, over the last year’s flagships the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, you might have been disappointed. Except for the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, there was very little else to take note of and report. Analysts would still argue that the 2018 versions of the flagships from the South Korean giant are still the best bet as far as Android phones go.
Vivo Comes with a Concept Phone
Vivo, the Chinese smartphone brand, tried to take the new-found love among the smartphone makers for bezel-free or minimum bezel display to another level. It used the MWC 2018 to showcase what it called the Vivo APEX concept phone. The device, if the design is adopted, will have virtually the entire screen devoted to display and nothing else. The concept phone takes care of the audio without a physical speaker on the front and using the vibration to deliver the sounds and the front mounted camera is on top, to pop-up when needed, much like a periscope.
Sony Holds on to its Strength – The Imaging Section
Sony Xperia XZ2 and XZ 2 Compact were the new offerings from the Japanese giant and it has adopted the new full-screen displays with the 18:9 aspect ratio. The latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC gives Sony’s flagships the high-end status. But as expected, Sony’s strength in fitting the best camera sensors and back them with the latest imaging technologies has been fully exploited with the 19MP Motion Eye camera system. It also allows for HDR recording of videos.
Nokia evokes Nostalgia
HMD Global fully realizes the love and nostalgia customers have for its Nokia brand and some of the models which they had used in the previous avatar. The release of the iconic Nokia 8110 was definitely a highlight of MWC 2018.
Asus and Others
Asus announced its new flagships, the Asus Zenfone 5 and 5Z. Asus also took the concept of the full-screen display by adopting higher aspect ratios of 19:9 and even 19.5:9. But many observers feel there is a lot of cloning or copying of iPhones taking away the charm of admiring the devices.
One of the frequently observed development relates to the increased application of artificial intelligence and this could be seen across models and brands.
Besides the smartphones, there were other devices like tablets also showcased and announced.