It’s raining phones in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress

The Mobile World Congress in Barcelona has witnessed a number of high profile, much awaited launches, this year. Old and trusted hands such as Nokia and BlackBerry returned with a few exciting gadgets, while the likes of LG and Sony upped their flagship game ahead of Samsung’s S8 launch later in the year. Here are some showstoppers from the mobile event that everyone has their eyes on.

Perhaps smartphone fatigue has set in. How else would one explain the delighted reception Nokia’s old 3310 received as it launched at the MWC. By the time we’re done with the tech show, it’s the relaunched 3310 that may be the most remembered device from among all the others.

Nokia also announced three Android smartphones: the Nokia 6, Nokia 5 and Nokia 3. All these are affordable offerings on which you can ‘sense the Nokia soul’ says Nokia. The designs have been done keeping real life experience in mind and the thought that every phone should be premium rather than just one flagship a year from each company. Bright screens and brilliant cameras are a must. Phones must also get regular updates and upgrades, making them devices you can always trust.

Of the three phones, the Nokia 6 has already launched in China and amazingly was snapped up in 23 seconds, 74 per cent of buyers being young people who had never owned a Nokia. But it’s the feature phone, the Nokia 3310, with its only slightly modernised design that had people excited in India, many promising to buy one for each member in their families.

BlackBerry, with TCL Communications as its hardware partner, launched the KEYone, earlier codenamed Mercury. This may be the last chance for fans to get their hands on a BlackBerry style QWERTY keyboard. The KEYone is classic BlackBerry but based on Android Nougat. It holds on to the phones of yesteryear with its physical yet touch sensitive keyboard complete with BlackBerry shortcuts, and has a 4.5-inch Full HD LCD display.

It has all of Google's services, but keeps the business favourite BlackBerry Hub. TCL chief Nicolas Zibell describes it as a phone like no other, because it's built tough physically, runs Android and yet is the most secure smartphone running the OS. It runs on the dependable Qualcomm 625 processor with 3GB RAM, 32GB storage, mircoSD slot and 3,505mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0. The 12MP and 8MP camera set features Sony sensors. More important than the hardware specs though, is the security software that gives the individual user full control over what each app is allowed to do and a security dashboard to keep track of the device’s status.

The phone is primarily meant for business professionals but all BlackBerry fans may want to consider it as it becomes available in April for an expected not-too-expensive price in the region of ₹36,000.

Not to be left behind, Chinese electronics maker Huawei unveiled two new phones to its flagship P series — the P10 and the P10 Plus. The company showed us that they take good looks very seriously, with the wonderfully designed P9, and takes that forward, with both these phones. The P10 and P10 Plus get a high gloss finish and what Huawei claims is the industry’s first Hyper Diamond-Cut finishing.

What makes these flagships special are the high-profile partnerships that Huawei has etched to develop them. If it is with the Pantone Colour Institute for the colours the phones are available in, it is action camera maker GoPro for the mobile photo and video editing tool. German camera maker Leica continues to partner Huawei for the front and back shooters on both these phones, but more on that later.

Both phones are powered by Huawei’s own Kirin 960 processor and the latest OS — the EMUI 5.1. But on the software end, it’s Huawei’s Ultra Memory that is an important addition, which Huawei claims anticipates app use so that the ones used most often load faster and multitask seamlessly.

Huawei had already signalled its intent to take on the camera big guns by collaborating with Leica for its P9. Now too, the P10 gets a Leica dual camera and the P10 Plus gets the pro edition of the same. The rear dual camera setup has a 20MP monochrome sensor and a 12MP RGB sensor with fusion algorithms. The main talking point in this setup is the bokeh effect that is created when shooting portraits, similar to what a DSLR camera does. The front camera, again Leica, with an 8MP shooter is also equipped with portrait features.

The P10 has a 3,200mAh battery, while the P10 Plus is juiced by a bigger 3,750mAh battery. One can’t help but feel that both phones could have packed bigger batteries, but we will have to wait and see as to how they perform.

Sadly, Huawei enthusiasts in India will have to wait a while till these phones arrive here. But they go on sale starting this month in most of Europe and parts of Asia, priced between €649 and €799. However, the price of the P9 did prove to be a downside in India and it remains to be seen if these new ones pick up.

The company also introduced the Huawei Watch 2, the successor to the Huawei Watch. It supports independent connectivity with 4G and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor and runs on Google’s new AndroidWear 2.0 platform. The watch will be available in select markets starting March and April and is priced at €329.

LG’s new flagship was much-anticipated, especially after the debacle that the modular G5 proved to be, for the Korean electronics maker.

On display at the MWC, the G6 is a tall prospect, with a 5.7-inch screen and an aspect ratio of 18:9, twice as tall as it’s wide. The phone’s edges and the display itself have been rounded off. It has a full metal and glass body and is IP68 water and dust resistant.

More importantly, it will be one of the first phones apart from the Pixel to ship with the widely acclaimed Google Assistant. The Android Nougat is topped with LG’s own UX, which comes with handy features such as a camera tool that splits your screen in half when you’re shooting so you can view the snaps you click as you focus.

The G6 has a dual rear camera setup, with two lenses, one of which shoots a wide angle. Both are 13MP and the front camera is 5MP with a 100-degree field of view. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor, which could see it fall behind to Samsung’s upcoming S8 that packs Qualcomm’s latest 835 processor. LG has gone with a non-removable battery this time, a moderate 3,300 mAh that comes with fast charging. It’s 4GB RAM should be enough for seamless multitasking and usage speed. More details, including launch and price, are awaited.

Lenovo-owned Motorola took the budget smartphone segment by storm with its famous G series. At the MWC, Motorola has introduced the latest to the series — the G5 and the G5 plus.

The phones are said to be available in India from March and in this age where more and more smartphone makers are dishing out bigger screens, Motorola has gone with a five-inch screen for the G5 and a 5.2-inch offering for the G5 plus. But the biggest embellishment to these new additions in terms of design is the full metal and glass body, giving them a premium feel. They come in a variety of storage options too, with 2GB, 3GB, or 4GB of RAM to choose from. They run Android Nougat out of the box and will also ship with Google Assistant, giving them an edge in terms of software.

Both phones are powered by octa-core snapdragon processors (Snapdragon 430 for the G5 and Snapdragon 625 for the G5 Plus). Equipped with decent shooters for the price range, they also have Turbo charging. We can expect these devices to be priced between about ₹14,000 and ₹20,000.

The Japanese major has upgraded its flagship XZ with the launch of the Xperia XZ Premium. It has a 5.5-inch Triluminous HDR display with a resolution of 4K and the 19MP rear camera incorporates Sony’s new Motion Eye Camera system. It also has a 13MP front camera that should help you get those selfies on point.

But what sets this one apart from most others is the fact that it packs Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 835 processor. It also gets an Adreno 540 GPU and 4GB of RAM with 64GB of inbuilt storage, which is expandable, of course. It has a reasonable 3,230mAh battery and comes with Android Nougat out of the box.

The other XZ variant to launch at the MWC was the XZs, which is pretty much a smaller version of the XZ Premium, with a 5.2-inch screen. It runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor and has an Adreno 510 GPU built in. It also comes with 4GB of RAM and is available in 32GB and 64GB memory variants.

The other phones unveiled by the company in Barcelona include the Xperia XA1 and XA1 Ultra, upgrades to the XA and the XA Ultra.

Powered by a Mediatek octa-core processor, the XA1 Ultra is a massive six-incher of a smartphone, packing 4GB of RAM. But the interesting bit for this one is the 23MP rear camera that comes with hybrid autofocus and a 24mm wide angle lens. The front camera is also well endowed, with a 16MP sensor and a 23mm wide angle lens. It has a 2,700mAh battery that could be a tad underpowered, but that’s something we’ll have to wait and watch for.

The XA1 is smaller, at five inches, and comes with 3GB RAM, a 2,300mAh battery, and an 8MP front camera. These phones are to be reportedly available from spring, this year.

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