mwc2016
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Even researchers agree that slow internet can stress you out
You're not the only one who gets frustrated when videos buffer too much and too often. Ericsson found that the stress caused by trying to load videos on a slow mobile connection is comparable to the stress you feel while watching a horror movie. The Swedish company discovered that when it conducted an experiment called "The Stress of Streaming Delays." Sure, Ericsson did it to show brands how slow internet affects them, and it's true it only had 30 subjects. But we don't think anyone would disagree that having to endure several seconds to minutes of buffering is frustrating.
MWC Revisited: The most interesting wearables
Wearables failed to make much of a splash at MWC 2016. The category seemed to be an afterthought for many manufacturers -- such as HTC and Samsung -- which instead focused on smartphones and virtual reality products. Unlike in 2015, when we saw new smartwatches from Huawei, LG and others, Android Wear was mostly missing from this year's Barcelona show. Now, that's not to say the cause was completely lost, since there were a few wearables that grabbed our attention. Especially the one designed for cows, not people. Don't you agree?
5G was the real star of Mobile World Congress
Expect 2016 to be the year when all of the talk around 5G starts to feel like more than hype. It seemed as if the big tech companies couldn't shut up about it at Mobile World Congress this week -- and for good reason. It's been over six years since LTE 4G started rolling out, and a finalized 5G standard is expected to arrive around 2018. Now's the time to start exploring the new frontier if you've got a stake in mobile. Naturally, there were plenty of demos and jargon-filled press releases about 5G during the show. But there were also some impressive demos and a palpable excitement in the air for what's to come next.
MWC Revisited: The best of the rest
We've seen smartphones, wearables and tablets galore here at Mobile World Congress, plastered with mucky fingerprints and goodness knows what else over the week on the show floor. But that's not all. During our travels we've also discovered some weird and wonderful products that require a roundup of their own. Without further ado, here's the "best of the rest," a collection of the good, the bad and the downright strange that didn't make our other catch-up pieces.
MWC Revisited: Virtual reality is here to stay
With Mobile World Congress done and dusted, it's time to take stock of what we've seen over the past week. Sure, we were treated to the usual menagerie of mobile devices, but for the second year running, virtual reality played a big part of the proceedings. Here's our official scorecard for the new, not-actually-that-mobile part of Mobile World Congress.
MWC Revisited: The best phones in Barcelona this year
The booths have been dismantled, the bigwigs have boarded their planes and the doors have been closed. That's a wrap for Mobile World Congress 2016. Now that our team has had a chance to kick back and reflect on the mobile maelstrom we've just waded through, meet the four smartphones (in no particular order) that stole our hearts and stole the show.
The MWC wind-down: what Engadget (and friends) really thought
It's been a long, long week in Barcelona. Phones were launched. VR was everywhere. And there was a spherical, laser-touting robot, too. Because why not? With so much ground passing under our feet throughout this week, there was a lot to talk about. With all the news in the bag, though, just one thing remained on our task list: to make like a tree and get outta here. Time for a well-earned cola light, a tapa or two ... and a chance to talk it over. Join us below!
Freetel is fighting to find a US niche for its mid-range phones
If you take a look at who's making reasonably priced unlocked phones for the US, you'll see Chinese names like ZTE and Huawei pop up a lot. Freetel — a Japanese smartphone maker — wants in on that game, and it hopes a touch of Japanese design philosophy will help it stand out in a far-flung market that's notoriously tough to squeeze into. That's partially the idea behind announcing the Rei, a $249 Marshmallow-powered device that they expect to launch in the US within 6 to 7 weeks.
Microsoft's budget Lumia 650 finds a few ways to impress
Microsoft's Lumia 950 wasn't a bad phone, just one that didn't seem to live up to its potential (when we tested it, anyway). We've encountered some stunners since then, but Microsoft's latest effort — the Lumia 650 — manages to impress despite its modest aspirations.
Samsung proves why 5G is necessary with a robot arm
We've been hearing murmurs about 5G for years now, but it seems like this Mobile World Congress is the one where companies have started to get serious about it. Samsung and Deutsche Telekom, for example, put together a 5G demo that shows off how the technology is a serious upgrade from today's 4G LTE networks. The big takeaway? "Faster" means many different things.
Stripe wants to help you start a business in the US
Mobile payments platform Stripe has launched a new product that lets anyone in the world start their own business in the US. Stripe Atlas is designed to enable people or, more likely, startups from around the globe to get a foothold in America. Once you've paid a $500 one-off fee, Stripe will incorporate a domestic subsidiary of your business in Delaware. In addition, you'll be automatically enrolled with the IRS, as well as having an account opened for you at the Silicon Valley Bank.
Mad Catz has a gaming pad for Samsung's Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge
Now that the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are officially out of the bag, it's time for peripheral makers to introduce products for Samsung's latest flagship smartphones. Not surprisingly, Mad Catz is spearheading that movement. The company has brought a refreshed version of its S.U.R.F.R mobile gamepad and media keyboard to Mobile World Congress 2016, and it works perfectly with the new S7 and S7 Edge. While the add-on has been around since last year, this model is part of Mad Catz's recent commitment to the Designed for Samsung program, an effort by the Korean tech giant to offer quality control guidelines for accessories.
ZTE's Android projector/tablet combo is crazy like a fox
Even more intriguing than new mid-range phones is ZTE's Spro Plus, which might just be the craziest projector design I've seen yet. The company basically managed to fit an 8.4-inch Android tablet right on top of a projector. And while that may sound a tad useless, it's actually a convenient way to access video content without relying on another device. It's like the inverse of Lenovo's Yoga Tab 3 Pro, an Android tablet with a built-in pico projector.
Hands-on with ZTE's stylish Blade V7 mid-range phones
ZTE proved it could make a killer-looking device with last year's Axon, and now it's bringing some of that design work down to its mid-range Blade line. This week at Mobile World Congress, the Chinese company unveiled the Blade V7 and Blade V7 Lite, both of which feature metallic cases. And yes, they both look very familiar.
Up close and personal with Xiaomi's gorgeous Mi 5
After a few minutes playing with Xiaomi's Mi 5, a thought runs through my head: "I really shouldn't be surprised." The company has found enormous success in its native China, to the point that new allotments of phones sell out in minutes. Since Xiaomi phones have virtually no presence in the United States (or the Western Hemisphere, for that matter), my previous experience with them was limited to fits of fondling in Hong Kong phone shops. Xiaomi just held its first European press conference here at Mobile World Congress and brought new Mi 5s to share, and now — finally — I get the appeal.
Jolla's 'Aqua Fish' phone quietly surfaces at MWC
So this is a surprise. Jolla, the Finnish mobile company known for its gesture-based Sailfish OS, quietly showed up to MWC with a new handset called "Aqua Fish." The Sailfish-based phone is the result of its partnership with Indian firm Intex Technologies. Aqua Fish is the first handset to come out of Jolla's licensing ambitions, which the Finnish company launched after its fumbled crowdfunded tablet launch.
LG's cute Rolling Bot takes a casual stroll at MWC
LG has a new friend for its G5 flagship smartphone. LG named it Rolling Bot. Rolling Bot is cute, though right now it doesn't do very much. You can control it with a G5, but it moves very slow -- so slow. There's a laser in it, so your cat will probably love it.
Xiaomi's latest mid-range phone is a sequel to the popular Mi 4
Xiaomi global VP Hugo Barra just rolled into a Barcelona press event on a hoverboard, but the company already unveiled its new devices at a companion event in Beijing. Beyond the high-end Mi 5 and its Snapdragon 820 chipset, we've also got Xiaomi's Mi 4s, a more-than-modest update to the very popular Mi 4. Seriously: Something like 16 million Mi 4 phones have been sold since its launch two years ago, and Xiaomi is clearly hoping to capture some more of that lightning in a bottle.
Xiaomi's 'most beautiful' flagship rocks a Snapdragon 820
As promised, Xiaomi has unwrapped its new flagship phone for us here at Mobile World Congress. The Mi 5 is the long-awaited successor to the Mi 4 from 2014, which took a backseat to the Mi Note and Mi Note Pro last year. The new handset runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, a beefy processor that only breached the market in January. Every Mi 5 sports a 5.15-inch 1080p display, but you can choose between the regular model with 3GB of RAM -- coupled with either 32GB or 64GB of onboard storage -- and the Pro version, which comes with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of space. Display aside, the latter is an absolute beast of a phone, at least on paper.
Oppo promises stable photos from smaller smartphones
Numerous smartphones have image stabilization, but they're usually large, chunky or both, and for good reason: The optical (lens-based) stabilization they typically use chews up a lot of space. Oppo, however, believes it has a better way. Its new SmartSensor brings sensor-shifting stabilization to phones (reportedly for the first time), giving you blur-free shots without the usual bulk. Moreover, it fixes some of the chronic problems with OIS. It's much faster when correcting shots, uses about 50 times less power and accounts for rolling motions and other kinds of shaking that optical stabilizers usually can't correct.
