CES 2018 may not have been as great as we expected, but MWC 2018 definitely didn’t disappoint. Despite the fact that majority of the manufacturers (Huawei, LG, HTC, Xiaomi) decided to skip this event to unveil their big guns, the event currently going on in Barcelona still managed to keep us all interested with launches like the Vivo Apex and the Matebook X Pro.
So, let’s take a look at the top launches from MWC 2018.
DAY ZERO:
Sunday was an exceptionally busy day for tech enthusiasts given that three major manufacturers had lined up announcements one after the other. And yes, there was the LG announcement too, launching the LG V30S ThinQ model, but to be honest, that wasn’t the highlight of the day.
The following were the top products announced on Sunday.
HUAWEI MATEBOOK X PRO
Huawei kicked off MWC 2018 with its amazing Matebook X Pro. There’s no doubt that the new laptop is inspired by the bezel-less design of the Dell XPS 13 but the company has taken things to another level. The company has integrated the web camera as a pop up component on the keyboard, ensuring you are away from prying eyes when the camera is not in use. Not only that, the Matebook X Pro features a 3:2 aspect ratio that enables more pixels on the screen with a resolution of 3000 x 2000. Coming from a company that entered the laptop market just a couple of years ago, the Matebook X Pro is definitely a product worthy of your attention.
Read more about the Matebook X Pro and its features from here.
NOKIA 8 Sirocco, Nokia 7 PLUS, & NOKIA 8110
Nokia managed to impress us with its strategy last year, slowing gaining ground in the ever competitive smartphone market. The company used the event on Sunday to unveil a number of new smartphones for the global market. First of all, the Nokia 6 2018 model is finally coming to markets outside of China. It’s a great phone (our hands on here!) in the budget segment.
New announcements of the day included the Nokia 8 Sirocco edition with upgraded features and specs. Basically, the Sirocco is what the Nokia 8 should have been and with Snapdragon 835 inside, the phone could have been a great option back in 2017. But it might be a little too late to the party in 2018, especially with its costly price tag.
The Nokia 7 Plus is actually the most interesting smartphone of the lot. The phone features the powerful Snapdragon 660 chipset with dual cameras and 2X optical zoom. It’s being marketed as a premium mid-ranger and also adopts the current trend of 18:9 aspect ratio for its display, which is something that the Nokia 6 2018 model skipped. For less than $400, the phone offers pretty amazing value. Read more about the model here! Note that there’s a Nokia 7 Plus China edition too, which is cheaper by the way.
The new Nokia 8110 Slider refreshes the iconic banana phone. With a banana yellow shade, the company is definitely trying to bring back the trend to current market. However, apart from the looks, the phone has nothing extraordinary. So, we wonder who will end up buying this one, despite its iconic design. More about the phone here.
Samsung Galaxy S9 & S9+
The Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ unveil were the two most powerful launches on Sunday. The South Korean giant has retained what was good about the S8 and made some minor yet necessary upgrades in the new S9 & S9+ models. Powered by SD845 (in US and China) and Exynos 9810 in other markets, the phone is the most powerful flagship from Samsung till date. The camera gets a super slo-mo bump at 960 fps at 720p among other upgrades. The S9 keeps a single camera module, while the S9+ gets the expected dual camera upgrade.
Read all about the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus from here.
DAY ONE:
The first official day of the MWC 2018 saw Sony & Vivo grab all the attention.
Vivo Apex
Vivo surprised us all by revealing the Vivo Apex Concept smartphone on Monday. It is definitely one of the most interesting smartphone concepts that we have seen lately. The phone features a nearly 98% screen to body ratio, which is insane for a smartphone. The company reportedly made this possible by integrating the microchips directly into the flexible circuit board. Further, the phone features a unique pop up periscope front camera, which enabled the company to limit the front bezel to a bare minimum. Further, there are other high-end tech for its speakers and ear piece.
You can read all about the Vivo Apex Concept from here.
Sony Xperia XZ2 & XZ2 Compact
Sony’s smartphone department wasn’t doing so well in the past few years. Some of its phones have been promising, but as an overall package, the Japanese giant often failed to impress. However, with the XZ2 series, the company is hoping to change some things. First of all, it has ditched the omnibalance design and now, the new models feature an 18:9 aspect ratio display along with a revamped ‘ambient flow’ design. The XZ2 flagship features wireless charging as well.
Overall, if priced correctly the Sony Xperia XZ2 series could be a game changer for the company. You can read all about these two models from here.
Helio P60
Mediatek has given up on its flagship X series chipsets but that doesn’t mean that the company is out of the smartphone market. MTK unveiled the brand new Helio P60 chipset on Monday at MWC 2018, featuring promising specs that can take on the SD660 chip. The company plans to compete in the premium mid-range segment with its new chipset and comes with the new NeuroPilot AI processing tech along with Mali-G73 MP3 GPU to ensure it can handle the premium features of a flagship grade smartphone.
More about the chipset and its specs here.
DAY TWO:
The second day at MWC 2018 saw Nubia and ASUS revealing its top phones for the year.
NUBIA’s First Gaming Phone
Smartphone manufacturers seem to be interested in the concept of gaming phones and Nubia is the first Chinese smartphone company to reveal details about its new Gaming phone. Inspired by a super car design, Nubia’s gaming flagship concept features several cuts and creases at the back with the camera module arranged vertically. The design retains its symmetry and Nubia seems to have done a fine job in making this smartphone design.
The phone is confirmed to launch in China sometime in the coming months, so it’s not just another concept that may never see the light of the day. You can read more about the company’s gaming concept here.
ASUS Zenfone 5Z and Zenfone 5
ASUS unveiled its big guns yesterday, announcing the Zenfone 5 and the Zenfone 5Z models. The Zenfone 5Z is the pick of the lot featuring SD845, 6GB RAM, a 6.2-inch FHD+ display with 90% screen to body ratio — in under $500! But the Zenfone 5 is also a great smartphone, differing from the 5Z model in the processor department (SD636) and memory (4GB RAM).
ASUS isn’t ashamed to accept that the two phones are iPhone X inspired, but it does add that their notch is smaller.
Read all about the two ASUS Zenfone 5 models from here. You can also check out the ASUS Zenfone 5 Lite and the ASUS Zenfone M1 Max models.
This sums up all the major announcements at MWC 2018 so far!
Stay tuned to our MWC 2018 coverage from here.
