Mobile World Congress (MWC) is happening next week in Barcelona, and we can expect to see a lot of cool new announcements and reveals for the mobile industry.
But what exactly will we get a peek of? There are a few companies that we already know will be there, and they’ll be pulling back the curtain on their latest releases and even future concepts. Here are some of the biggest announcements we expect from MWC 2024.
Nothing Phone 2a
Nothing, the consumer electronics manufacturer wfrom former OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, has already confirmed that it will hold an event at MWC on February 27, and the full launch of the Nothing Phone 2a will be a few days later on March 5.
The brand has already established itself as a popular option for low-cost flagships among the competition. Currently, the Nothing Phone 2 starts at $599, which is a much more reasonable price compared to Samsung’s $800 Galaxy S24 or Apple’s $800 iPhone 15. But the Nothing Phone 2a will be an even more budget-friendly option with a rumored price of just $400.
One of the most unique things about Nothing Phones is the transparent glass back with LED lights. While there have been some conflicting leaks about what the Nothing Phone 2a design will look like, we can now confirm the final design of the Nothing Phone 2a.
It appears that the camera bump will be centered and horizontal rather than vertical, like on the Nothing Phone 1 and 2. There will still be LED lights, but based on the leak, it only looks like we’re getting three lights at the top, around the camera bump.
In terms of specs, the Nothing Phone 2a will have the MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro. This is the first Nothing Phone with a MediaTek chip, and it’s also the first phone to use the 7200 Pro. The Nothing Phone 2a reportedly has a 120Hz 6.7-inch AMOLED display, a hole-punch camera cutout at the top, and a possible resolution of 1084 x 2412 pixels. The minimum RAM should be 8GB and it will start at 128GB storage.
There haven’t been a lot of leaks regarding the cameras, but the dual-camera system should have at least 50MP and a possible 32MP selfie camera.
OnePlus Watch 2
OnePlus is also another company that has confirmed it will be attending MWC 2024. In this case, we can expect OnePlus to reveal its OnePlus Watch 2, which we have some information about already.
The OnePlus Watch 2 will have a traditional timepiece design with a round dial and a flattened edge that is a bit reminiscent of Casio’s G-Shock series watches. It features a stainless steel body with two colors — including a black finish and one with a natural silver style.
The main thing OnePlus has teased about the OnePlus Watch 2 is its battery life. OnePlus has confirmed that the OnePlus Watch 2 will get up to 100 hours of battery per charge. Even more interesting are rumors that the OnePlus Watch 2 will run Wear OS 4. A Wear OS smartwatch with that level of battery life is unprecedented, so we’re very eager to see what OnePlus has done to pull this one off.
Honor Magic 6 Pro
Although it doesn’t have a presence in the U.S., Honor regularly produces some of the more interesting Android phones on the market. The company revealed its Honor Magic 6 Pro flagship phone on January 11. However, we’ll likely see a wider release for the Honor Magic 6 series, which Honor is teasing for its MWC event on February 25.
According to reports, the Honor Magic 6 Pro could see a release in Europe and the U.K. This would also include a base model Honor Magic 6. The rumored launch date is February 25.
The Honor Magic 6 Pro runs on the Android 14-based MagicOS 8.0 interface. It has a 6.8-inch Full-HD+ OLED display with an in-display fingerprint sensor and a dynamic refresh rate from 1Hz to 120Hz. It runs on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, has 16GB RAM, and up to 1TB storage.
For cameras, the triple-lens system includes a 50MP main shooter, a 180MP periscope lens with 2.5x optical and 100x digital zoom, and a 50MP ultrawide camera. The selfie camera is an impressive 50MP. There is a massive 5,600mAh battery with support for 80-watt wired charging and 66W wireless charging. All in all, it looks like a pretty incredible package.
Xiaomi 14 Ultra
Xiaomi is another Chinese smartphone brand that will make an appearance at MWC 2024. Xiaomi will be showing off a new flagship smartphone for a more global audience (excluding the U.S.): the Xiaomi 14 Ultra.
Xiaomi released the Xiaomi 14 Ultra in China on February 22, and from what we’re seeing right now, it looks like one beast of a smartphone. We’re looking at a 6.73-inch display with a 1440p resolution and 3,000 nits of brightness, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, a 5,300 mAh battery, and 90W wired charging speeds.
The real magic lies with the camera specs, however. The main camera is a 50-megapixel sensor with a large one-inch sensor. There’s also a 50MP telephoto camera with 3.2x zoom, another 50MP telephoto camera with 5x zoom, and a 50MP ultrawide camera with a 122-degree field of view.
The Xiaomi 14 Ultra will join the current Xiaomi 14 lineup that includes the base model Xiaomi 14 and Xiaomi 14 Pro. These phones use Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipsets and feature an AI-heavy feature set and a new Android fork called HyperOS. The Xiaomi 14 has a 6.3-inch screen, while the Pro version has a 6.7-inch display, and both are LTPO displays with 1Hz to 120Hz refresh rates and peak brightness of 3,000 nits.
Xiaomi has confirmed it’ll be at MWC 2024 with the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, and we can expect this is where we’ll learn more about the company’s plans for an international/global release of the phone.
Crazy concept phones from Tecno
If you’re in the U.S., you may not have heard very much about Tecno since you can’t walk into a carrier store and purchase a Tecno phone. But Tecno is a brand that is very popular in the East, and it is ready to showcase some extremely interesting phones at MWC 2024, including some rollable screen phones.
So far, only Samsung has really shown rollable screen concepts that may actually work in real life. Motorola and Oppo also had such concepts, but they never made it past demos. This year, Tecno will be dipping its toes into the rollable waters.
At MWC 2024, Tecno will unveil the Phantom Ultimate smartphone, which features rollable screen technology. This will still be a concept phone, but it will have an “innovative double-sided screen.” The screen in question will grow from 6.5 inches to 7.1 inches once the rolling mechanism gets going. The dimensions suggest that it will go from a portrait-first to a tablet-like mode.
Another concept that Tecno is working on is a foldable phone with no borders. There aren’t any known details about this one, but it would be interesting to see if this kind of foldable would have any practicality to it, or if it’s just purely aesthetics. Regardless, there’s a lot to look forward to.
A new Motorola phone
Motorola is a familiar face at MWC, and we expect to see something from the company, even though it hasn’t made any official confirmations.
During last year’s MWC, we got a look at the Motorola Rizr concept. This was Motorola’s rollable concept with a 5-inch display and 15:9 aspect ratio that can roll out to a 6.5-inch display. It was comfortable to hold, and it was a great compact size.
Unfortunately, this never made it past the demo stage, as it had many durability concerns — the bottom of the screen had no bezel, so it was likely to get damaged if you dropped it. And when the screen is rolled out, it extends past the rest of the hardware, so it wasn’t flush.
In October 2023, Motorola also revealed another concept phone that you can wear. This bendable phone can be worn on your wrist like a smartwatch, or it can bend and serve as a smart display.
We’re unsure if we’ll see another rollable or bendable phone concept from Motorola at MWC 2024. Or maybe we’ll see something entirely new. Whatever Motorola may have up its sleeve, it will certainly be something unique.
