What to expect at MWC 2018 from Samsung, Nokia, Sony and more
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Mobile World Congress is back. Every year, the world’s biggest smartphone manufacturers (apart from Apple) descend on Barcelona to announce their shiny new phones.
The event officially runs from February 26 to March 1 year, but many of the biggest announcements will take place in press conferences on Sunday, February 25.
Details of the new phones are kept tightly under wraps, but, as always with these things, there are plenty of leaks and rumours already circulating about who’ll be unveiling what in Barcelona. Here’s everything we already know ahead of MWC 2018.
Samsung
The South Korean company is expected to use MWC 2018 to announce the Galaxy S9 and S9+. These latest flagship phones are rumoured to include seriously upgraded cameras, with a variable aperture for the S9 and dual lenses for the S9+. Design leaks suggest that Samsung hasn’t managed to place the fingerprint scanner beneath the home screen, although it seems to have shifted it to just below the camera instead.
Aside from the camera, it doesn’t look like the S9 will be a major upgrade over the S8. Samsung seems to be sticking with 3,000mAh and 3,500mAh batteries for the S9 and S9+ respectively, and leaked photos of the devices show that they look pretty much the same as the previous models.
Samsung’s conference kicks off on February 25 at 5PM GMT. You can watch a live stream of the event here.
Sony
Sony teased its MWC announcement with a short Twitter video featuring some curvy lines, leading some to speculate that it would finally ditch the angular design of its XZ line in favour of a smoother look. The company tends to a take a bit of a scattergun approach when it comes to new releases, and rumours are that this year will see Sony announce two new phones, most probably updated versions of the Xperia XZ series.
The press conference is on Monday, February 26 at 7:30AM GMT, so set your alarm nice and early to get the first look at the new releases.
Nokia
Last year, Nokia pulled the biggest PR coup of MWC when it announced it was bringing back the 3310 – although the reality didn't live up to the nostalgia-tinted expectations. It’s entirely possible that they’ll try and dominate headlines again this year with another retro release. What it’ll be, however, is anyone’s guess.
Rumours are that Nokia will also announce a flagship phone – mostly probably the Nokia 9, that will see the old-school manufacturer compete with the likes of Samsung and Sony.
Nokia’s press conference will start at 4PM GMT on Sunday, February 25.
Google likes to use MWC as an opportunity to big-up Android rather than shining a light on its own devices, but you can expect the search giant to make some noise about improvements to Google Assistant.
The company’s press conference will be held at 7AM GMT on Monday, February 26.
Huawei
Initial rumours suggested that the Chinese manufacturer would announce an update to its flagship line – possibly the Huawei P20 – at MWC, but that looks unlikely since the company has scheduled a standalone press event later in March. Huawei is still holding a press conference at MWC, though, so it’s looking like that’ll mean an update to its range of notebooks or tablets.
Its press conference is at 1PM on Sunday, February 25.
LG
LG won’t be releasing its next flagship, the LG G7 at MWC, and instead it’s likely that its press conference will stick to updates to its lower-tier devices and possibly wearables.
HTC
HTC didn’t announce a flagship smartphone at MWC in 2017, so it may well leave major announcements until later this spring.
Apple
Apple doesn’t do MWC, so you’re out of luck there, sorry.
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