BARCELONA—Mobile World Congress, the biggest trade show dedicated to mobile technology, bustled with activity this week in Spain. The GSMA, the industry group that organizes the show, says about 90,000 people attended, a significant jump from 80,000 attendees in 2023. MWC has expanded far beyond phones to include a wide range of tech, including smartwatches, laptops, and artificial intelligence (AI). After spending nearly a week in Spain and seeing as much of the show as possible, these are the products, concepts, and technologies we think will have the biggest impact on the industry.Best Phone
(Credit: Eric Zeman)
Honor Magic 6 ProThe Honor Magic 6 Pro is the company’s latest flagship phone. It has a 6.8-inch OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 mobile processor, a massive 5,600mAh battery, and wired charging at up to 80 watts. More importantly, it banks on AI for a lot of its software features. Honor is using an AI-based Motion Sensing Capture algorithm to help speed up photo capture for fast action scenes such as sports and wildlife. It calls this “sportography.” The MagicOS 8 platform, based on Android 14, uses AI to do things such as automatically recognize addresses in text messages and search for them in Google Maps. It also has a tool similar to Google’s Circle to Search for image-based queries. It’s set to ship later this year for 1,299 euros ($1,409). Best Phone Camera
(Credit: Eric Zeman)
Xiaomi 14 UltraXiaomi used MWC to mark the global debut of its Xiaomi 14 and Xiaomi 14 Ultra handsets. Both phones are flagships, but, as the name implies, the Ultra model goes a step further. Its main feature is a 50MP Sony-LYT 900 camera sensor with a variable aperture lens. It can range from f/1.63 to f/4 when the scene calls for it and is about as bright a lens as you’re going to find on a smartphone. The camera supports Dolby Vision and 10-bit HDR log capture for video enthusiasts. The 14 Ultra also has a 6.73-inch 120Hz display, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, 12GB of RAM, and either 256GB or 512GB of storage. Its 4,610mAh battery supports 90W wired charging and it’s all sealed up in an IP68-rated chassis. It’ll cost about $1,625 when it goes on sale. Best Smartwatch
(Credit: Andrew Gebhart)
OnePlus Watch 2The OnePlus Watch 2 is a commendable second effort from the company. Revealed in Barcelona, the Watch 2 is better than the original in every possible way. The biggest improvement is battery life. In our independent tests, it ran for 103 hours, more than four days, on a charge, outlasting Google’s Pixel Watch 2 and the Apple Watch Series 9 by a wide margin. It’s able to do this by splitting the operating system, running the basics on a power-efficient chip and more intensive tasks on the full-system processor. Beyond the battery, the Watch 2 has a large and sharp display, runs Google’s Wear OS with support for third-party apps, and has plenty of fitness tracking prowess. It’s available for pre-order now for $299.99.Best Smart Ring
(Credit: Eric Zeman)
Samsung Galaxy RingIf you find that wearing a smartwatch to bed for sleep tracking isn’t comfortable, then perhaps a smart ring will work. Samsung envisions the Galaxy Ring as the ultimate wearable for those seeking to track their health and fitness consistently every day. With a design similar to the Oura, it has a number of integrated sensors to measure your heart rate, temperature, and other health metrics. Samsung says the Galaxy Ring will work together with its Galaxy smartwatches, phones, and Galaxy AI to provide a more complete picture of your health. Samsung didn’t announce pricing and availability details and will more fully reveal the product later this year. But MWC marks the first time we were able to see the Galaxy Ring in person.Best Laptop
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
Lenovo ThinkPad T SeriesOK, maybe Lenovo’s ThinkPad T14, T14s, and T16 aren’t the sexiest laptops at the show. From the outside, they pretty much look like the standard-issue business laptops IT departments know and love. But the ThinkPad T Series marks the first of a collaboration between Lenovo and iFixit, with special attention paid to repairability—online manuals will be available to clearly illustrate how to fix and use the new machines. Accordingly, iFixit has rated the T series 9.3 out of 10 in a Reparability Assessment. So even if it’s far from the flashiest laptop at the show, it scores big points from us on practicality.Best Dedicated AI Device
(Credit: Eric Zeman)
Humane AI PinThe basic idea behind the Humane AI Pin is to get you to use your phones less so you can be more present, while still keeping you connected. To that extent, it features a dedicated touch panel for tapping and swiping actions, a camera, and a pico projector. It acts like a phone in that it can make calls and receive messages, but without a screen or any apps, you interact with it mostly by asking questions and speaking commands (similar to Google Assistant or Siri). The camera lets it do things like perform visual searches and the pico projector can beam information, such as the weather or your messages, onto your hand. Two LEDs that Humane calls Trust Lights let others know that the camera is on or that the mics are listening. It’s available for pre-order now for $699 and requires a monthly data plan. Best Generative AI
(Credit: Eric Zeman)
MediaTek Dimensity 9300Generative AI has come a long way in the last year. At MWC 2023, we saw on-device generative AI from Qualcomm that is capable of producing an image based on a text prompt in about 15 seconds. This year, MediaTek is showing its main competitor with real-time generative AI. Based on the company’s Dimensity 9300 processor, a demo device was able to render images as fast as you could type the prompt. It is by far the fastest generative AI we’ve seen, capable of creating images instantly.
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Best Prototype
(Credit: Eric Zeman)
Motorola Adaptive DisplayMotorola’s designers have conjured up one of the most flexible devices we’ve seen. First revealed at Lenovo Tech World, the Motorola Adaptive Display Concept is a full-sized smartphone with a 6.9-inch screen. Thanks to the flexible pOLED, it can bend into a C-shaped cuff that you can wear on your wrist. The device acts like a full phone when the screen is unfolded, but it loses some functionality when fully curved. You’re still able to triage notifications and keep track of activities when it’s on your wrist. A magnetic bracelet helps secure it to your arm. Best Concept
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
Lenovo Project CrystalLenovo gave us a peek at our science-fiction future at MWC in the form of its Project Crystal proof-of-concept laptop. It has a translucent, see-through lid and display that has to be seen to be believed. Lenovo says the display features micro LEDs that are sandwiched between two glass panels. It’s large at 17.3 inches and doesn’t have any borders or bezel around the glass. It can deliver up to 1,000 nits of brightness, which ensures that your work is visible. In our time with it, we thought images, apps, and icons looked sharp and were easy to see. Lenovo says Project Crystal is a prototype for now and not a planned product, but it’s extremely cool either way.More of the Best From MWC
(Credit: Eric Zeman)
Want more MWC coverage? Be sure to check out the coolest things we saw at the show.
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