The annual Mobile World Congress has concluded now and number of OEMs have announced their new products during the show. But, some of the regular attendees like LG and Huawei didn’t announce their new flagships as they do every year. Hence, Samsung became the star of the show with their Galaxy S9 duo.
But, it’s not only Samsung whole stole the show. There were several other manufacturers who showcased their products especially Vivo with their ‘Apex’ concept phone. So, let’s take a look at our list for the best of MWC 2018.
If you ask me, the star of the show was HMD Global, the startup behind Nokia branded smartphones and feature phones. It was only last year, they resurrected the Nokia brand and they are now back again with new phones. The 2018 lineup includes the Banana phone 8810 from the movie ‘Matrix’, the revival of ‘Sirocco’ branding, Nokia 6 2018, Nokia 7 Plus and Nokia 1.
Anyways, the best thing what HMD Global announced was every Nokia smartphones releasing now onwards will be an Android One or Android Go editions. This will enable them to provide updates even faster than now. It’s really good to know the Finnish company is very serious about their comeback.
The South Korean tech giant unveiled their much anticipated as well as the most leaked Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus. When comparing the S9 duo with their predecessor, there ain’t any big changes except for the new variable aperture camera. However, it is also not the first phone with such camera, the credit goes to Nokia N86 which was launched back in 2009.
Thus, the Galaxy S9 duo is a minor update over the Galaxy S8 duo with better fingerprint placement, new camera, and stereo speakers.
Back at CES 2018, Vivo unveiled the X20 UD Plus with an in screen fingerprint sensor and the device is already going on sale in China. However, Vivo showcased another device dubbed as ‘Apex’ with fingerprint sensor occupying the bottom half of the display. Which means the user can unlock the phone by placing their finger anywhere on that part of the display. But, it’s a concept phone but still, it could be official in the coming months.
After these many long years, the Japanese tech giant Sony finally redesigned their smartphones. The new Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact sport smaller bezels than any Sony smartphone before, but they are larger when compared to flagships from other brands. Though the display has been updated with the trend, both the devices don’t come with dual cameras. And they also feature fingerprint sensor at an awkward position(center) on the back.
Further, the back is made of glass which is why the duo also supports wireless charging. Another notable functionality is the ability to record 960 fps slow-motion video at 1080p. Previously, the XZ Premium could record those videos only at 720p.
The Taiwanese company unveiled their Zenfone 5 series consisting of three smartphones. The flagship Zenfone 5Z and the mid-range Zenfone 5 are the carbon copies of the Apple iPhone X. They feature the same notch as well as the same camera placement on the back. Simply, they are the iPhone X running on Android.
The third and the lowest variant is the Zenfone 5 lite which however features a different design.