【A Thought of Ecstasy】

The A Thought of EcstasyMobile World Congress in Barcelona is the world's largest mobile industry event. Yes, it took a hit during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, but it never really went away, and this year it will once again be the place where some of the world's largest phone brands launch new devices.

How new? Well, that's a bit of a harder question to answer. Chinese manufacturers such as Xiaomi and Honor typically unveil their flagship devices in China a few months earlier, and then launch them internationally at the MWC. The silver lining is that this year, we're expecting to see some really cool phones from these and other smartphone makers.

And, as always, we just know there will be some surprises at the show. The MWC is a massive event that's primarily about phones, but we've often seen cool new tablets, laptops, TVs, and even robots and car prototypes at the show.

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Xiaomi

Xiaomi's new flagships are going global. Credit: Xiaomi

Xiaomi's new flagships, the Xiaomi 14 and 14 Pro, launched last year in China. They're powerful devices, with Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon chip inside, and a triple 50-megapixel camera systems on the back. The company will likely launch them for a global audience at an event scheduled for February 25.

But the company is also likely to launch the Xiaomi 14 Ultra sometime in the future, so we might find out more about that device in Barcelona as well. Typically, the Ultra is an over-the-top, super-powerful variant of Xiaomi's latest flagship, often with a distinct design, but also always with a price to match. One rumor we've seen claims the phone will have a larger battery, and new Leica optics.

Honor

Honor Magic V2 is the world's thinnest foldable smartphone, and we expect to see it in Barcelona. Credit: Honor

Honor typically has a strong presence in Barcelona, and this year will be no different. The company has a February 25 event scheduled with the tagline "Discover the Magic."

There's no official word on what we might see there, but the company did recently launch the world's thinnest foldable smartphone - the Honor Magic V2 - so we definitely expect that one to be mentioned. The company also launched the Magic 6 Pro in January 2024, so it seems that Honor will mostly recap its lineup in Barcelona, though some sort of surprise announcement isn't out of the question.

Nothing

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Nothing is definitely showing somethingin Barcelona, as it has an event scheduled for February 27. The tagline, typical for the company, is "Nothing to see," leaving us wondering whether it's just a pun or whether the company, which has recently been teasing Nothing Phone 2a, will actually have a big announcement at MWC. Never a boring day with Nothing.

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The Nothing 2a, which is definitely coming soon, will likely be a cheaper version of the company's Nothing Phone 2. Yeah, the distinctive, semi-transparent styling will likely be there, but the phone will probably have a mid-range chip inside and just two cameras on the back.

Nothing isn't known for launching new devices during MWC, as it most often does that at its own, separate events. But the MWC might be our first chance to see the Nothing 2a in person.

OnePlus

The OnePlus Watch ran on OnePlus' proprietary OS, but word on the street is that its successor will run on Wear OS. Credit: OnePlus

With OnePlus 12 already launched, is there anything left for OnePlus to announce at MWC? The answer is yes! There are rumors that the company is preparing to unveil its first-ever smartwatch based on Wear OS, the OnePlus Watch 2. We've heard that it'll have a round, 1.43-inch AMOLED display, a Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 chip inside (which you may remember from Google's Pixel Watch 2), and two hardware buttons. Nothing is certain at this point; we're still waiting for an official announcement from OnePlus.

Samsung

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It's unlikely that Samsung will have a major product announcement at this year's MWC, but the company always has a strong presence in Barcelona, and we suspect it will be there this year as well.

While we probably won't see any immediately available gadgets from Samsung, the company might showcase some tech that will trickle into its future products at a later date.

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Motorola/Lenovo

Lenovo's smartphone brand, Motorola, is unlikely to announce anything major at this year's Barcelona. But just like Samsung, Lenovo always has a presence at Mobile World Congress, and we'll be on the lookout for any announcements.

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Lenovo likes to have some fun at MWC, and it appears this year they plan to bring some cool devices to the show as well. One of them is a transparent laptop concept which already leaked quite extensively online, and we hear there will be more to see from Lenovo in Barcelona this year.

TCL

TCL isn't afraid to break new ground. Credit: TCL

China's TCL likes to bring futuristic products and concepts to MWC. Historically, this included foldable phones; at this year's CES, the company also announced its RayNeo X2 Lite augmented reality glasses. We're excited to see where the company takes us this year.

The rest: Google, Sony, HTC, Nokia, Huawei, ZTE...

Did we mention that the MWC is the largest mobile industry event in the world? This means that everyone who's anyone (with the exception of Apple, which prefers to do its own thing) in the smartphone world will be there in some capacity. Some companies, such as HMD Global (owner of the Nokia brand), might launch new phones; others, like Google, will likely just be a ubiquitous presence in Barcelona, though we don't expect to see any new products.

One thing that invariably happens in Barcelona is some company (sometimes a completely unknown company) unexpectedly stealing the spotlight from the big players, and we look forward to being surprised this year as well.