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Making sense of the 5G phones at Mobile World Congress 2019
After years of talk, the era of 5G is finally upon us. This time around, you couldn't take more than a few steps on the MWC show floor without bumping into someone driving a delivery truck via 5G, or seeing a man remotely directing a surgery across town thanks to 5G's ultra-low latency. (In case you hadn't heard, MWC is weird.) For most of us though, 5G just means faster data for our smartphones, so we wanted to take a moment to dig into what the 5G phones we found in Barcelona really bring to the table.
MWC's folding fetish in seven GIFs
Besides whole new families of phones, the evolution of augmented reality and the true start of 5G networks and devices, you couldn't escape the folding phone. MWC went so hard on the old folding device trend, we began to see them even where they didn't exist.
I have an opinion on folding phones
Do you want a folding phone? Seriously. Not in a "I agree with the concept of one," more: "I am willing to buy one in 2019." Samsung's Galaxy Fold and Huawei's Mate X have both officially broke cover, but there are so many questions left unanswered. Thanks to MWC, there's also no shortage of folding phone prototypes, concepts and teases. Depending on who you ask (including me), folding phones are already many things. So let's play Choose Your Own Opinion.
I drove an autonomous delivery truck from 1,200 miles away
With all the talk of 5G phones at MWC this week, it's easy to forget about the practical uses for the public, enterprise and more. Applications across a range of industries are on display in Barcelona, and one of the most interesting is from Einride. The Swedish company has already made headlines for its T-pod autonomous, and all-electric, delivery truck. Einride later revealed the T-log, a version of the T-pod, but as the name suggests, a model designed for logging. Here in Barcelona, the company is showing off a new setup for the first time: a system that allows someone to operate the T-pod truck remotely over 5G. And in this particular case, from over a thousand miles away.
Comparing the Galaxy S10+ and the Xperia 1 to the iPhone XS Max
Folding phones aren't the only big displays you'll see at this year's Mobile World Congress. Plenty of traditional, non-bendy devices have graced the show floor this year, with screens far past six inches — we're long past the days when handsets like the Galaxy Note were anomalies. This year's S10+ is certainly a contender in size, but Sony won't be left behind thanks to its super tall Xperia 1. These two flagships are entering a race that the iPhone XS Max is already in thanks to its 6.5-inch screen, though the addition of triple rear cameras will certainly help the newcomers' chances. For the full skinny on how this competition will shake out, you'll have to wait for our reviews of the new Samsung and Sony handsets in the coming weeks, but for now check out our handy spec table to see how the early numbers stack up.
Comparing the Galaxy S10, Nokia 9 and LG G8: Cameras galore
So we're more than neck deep into Mobile World Congress, and our hands-ons have been coming pretty fast and furious. Though you'll have to wait a bit to see our full reviews of the latest flagships from companies like Samsung and LG, we can always take a peek at the specs to see how they stack up against each other. Here we're looking at some of the smaller flagships — though when you're pushing six inches and up, small is relative. Check out the table to see all the key specs of the Galaxy S10, the Nokia 9 and the LG G8 — for starters, between three phones we've got 11 rear shooters alone!
Dispatches from MWC: Six things that don't fold
Did you hear? They're making foldable phones now! Yes, it's the unavoidable bendy trend of the show for sure, but there's plenty more going on here in Barcelona, and we've summed it all up here to provide some respite from our foldable future.
Comparing the Galaxy Fold, the Huawei Mate X and the Royole FlexPai
Over the past few years, new handsets haven't had a lot to distinguish themselves from the competition. We've seen more powerful cameras and larger screens, but the basic design has been a bit stuck. However, in the past week both Samsung and Huawei have showcased bendable devices that can unfold from pocket-size into a larger tablet-like screen. And companies like Oppo and TCL are also showing off their own concepts, though those are only prototypes for now. In terms of what you'll be able to buy soon, we've taken the incoming Galaxy Fold and Mate X and faced them off against the only folding phone that's made it to market so far: the Royole FlexPai. There's a lot more than just those eye-watering prices to take a look at below.
Energizer's big battery smartphone is almost three iPhones thick
Energizer has teased a huge array of smartphones for a while. The company that makes the devices, Avenir Telecom, has used that branding to showcase dummy phone models at MWC with stupidly-high capacity batteries several times but I never got to see one of them working. That is, until this chunky azure thing showed up. The P18K Pop (as it's known) is probably thicker than any battery pack you currently own. It's basically an 18,000mAH battery with a smartphone stuck on it.
Nubia's Alpha 'smartphone' is the wildest wearable yet
Flexible displays are everywhere at MWC this year. But almost every company is using them in the same way -- to build phones that seamlessly switch between a clamshell and small tablet. Nubia, meanwhile, is doing something completely different with the technology. It's building a wearable 'smartphone' with a narrow screen that wraps around your wrist.
Microsoft HoloLens 2 hands-on: A giant leap closer to mixed reality
Microsoft has made mixed reality less awkward. That was the major takeaway from my time with HoloLens 2, its new $3,500 headset aimed not at you (or me), but at businesses. It's not only because the headset is so much more comfortable, (though that can take a lot of the credit). Microsoft has also doubled the mixed reality field of view, making the holographic overlay less like a floating reticle and more like a (virtual) display that's useful.
Lenovo's Yoga headphones are built for music, chat and voice control
Microsoft debuted its take on active noise-canceling headphones last year with a Surface-branded model. At MWC 2019, Lenovo is introducing an audio device of its own with headphones that carry its Yoga label. The on-ear Yoga headphones employ hybrid active and electronic noise-canceling microphones to help block out the world around you. Onboard controls offer easy access to voice control, as well as basic functions like volume adjustments.
Microsoft resurrects the Kinect, but for business
Wha? Even before a Hololens sequel could grace Microsoft's stage at MWC, the company has revived the Kinect, but in a buttoned-downed business sense. Nearly a decade since the Kinect first launched, the Azure Kinect combines a depth sensor, high-def camera and a spatial microphone array. It's got an "intelligent edge", in that it sees and hears in high levels of detail, but also interprets those inputs. The new camera module has a depth sensor with wide or narrow views, depending on the use case.
We're live from Microsoft's press event at MWC 2019!
Microsoft may have surprised us when it sent out invites for an MWC event in mid-January, but now it's time to find out what the company wants to discuss. Based on the invitation, we know that HoloLens creator and Microsoft technical fellow Alex Kipman will be part of the festivities, as will CEO Satya Nadella and CVP Julie White. Nothing is set in stone, but Kipman's participation seems to indicate some HoloLens news is on the agenda -- perhaps even the official reveal of the HoloLens 2 or some Windows Mixed Reality news. No matter what Microsoft has to show us, we're on the ground in Barcelona, ready to bring you all of the news as it's announced. Keep your browser locked here when the event kicks off at 12PM ET/6PM CET.
Watch Microsoft's HoloLens 2 event at 12PM ET!
After weeks of anticipation, and a pretty direct tease, Microsoft's MWC event is going down today at 12PM ET/6PM CET. We'll be there to bring you all of the news as it happens in liveblog form, but the company will also have a livestream if you'd like to follow along directly. When the time comes, head over to the event page to follow the live feed from Barcelona. We're expecting to see the official unveiling of HoloLens 2 and probably more, so be sure to join us later today for all of the festivities in Spain.
The problem with Huawei’s foldable Mate X is availability not flexibility
Who's going to buy the Galaxy Fold? It's too expensive, the hinge is questionable, the front looks ugly. How about the Huawei Mate X, its own foldable entrant? Yep, it's even pricier (€2,299 equates to roughly $2,600), unproven as a valid smartphone form-factor and we have serious questions about foldable phone software. But the kicker is it's not going to the US any time soon -- if ever. And Huawei knows it.
We're live from MWC 2019 in Barcelona!
The show floor at Barcelona's Fira Gran Via may not officially open until Monday, but there's plenty happening at Mobile World Congress this weekend. We're on the ground in Spain to bring you all of the news as it happens, including live coverage of a Microsoft event tomorrow (February 24th) at 12PM ET/6PM CET. In addition what's expected to be the reveal of HoloLens 2, we're counting on huge announcements from the likes of Google, LG, Sony, Huawei, Nokia and more. Keep it locked here for all of the details, and follow along at our event hub, via the link below. In the meantime, check out what you can expect this week in our preview of MWC 2019.
Huawei MateBook X Pro hands-on: Modest upgrades to a solid laptop
Huawei's Mobile World Congress lineup actually starts with laptops this year. Expect to see at least three MateBooks in 2019, in fact. The company is rounding out of its PC family, but the main draw is the triumphant return of the MateBook X Pro, upgraded for 2019 with up to 8th generation Core i7 processors, up to 16 gigs of RAM and 1TB of storage (double the amount from last year). There's also a GPU upgrade to the NVIDIA GeForce MTX 250, which I'm not going to complain about, either.
Xiaomi's Mi 9 flagship comes to Europe on February 28th
Xiaomi's latest Android flagship, the Mi 9, will hit European store shelves on February 28th. At a press conference in Barcelona, the company confirmed that the phone will be available with either 64GB or 128GB of internal storage for €449 (roughly $510) and €499 (roughly $566) respectively. We went hands-on with the Mi 9 last week and liked what we saw. The handset sports a 6.39-inch, FHD+ (1080x2340) AMOLED display with a teardrop notch and 19:6 aspect ratio. It's also packing a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor, 6GB of RAM and a 3,300mAh battery.
Samsung Galaxy S10+: What’s great and what’s not (so far)
Samsung's Galaxy S10 family was only announced a few days ago, but we got one just in time to bring along to Barcelona. It's a beautiful device, and clearly represents Samsung at the peak of its smartphone-building prowess, but there's a bigger question that needs tackling: What's it actually like to live with? We definitely don't want to rush this review, but after 24 hours of sharing our new S10+, senior mobile editor Chris Velazco and I have some thoughts -- join us as we share our early impressions below.
