This year’s Mobile World Congress is in its final stages, with nearly every information session scheduled, keynotes delivered, and live demos streamed. (Be sure to eat tapas.)
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Whether you’ve been following the week-long event or just caught up recently, take a look below at the curtain call to see the best gadgets and gizmos from this year’s Barcelona trade fair, from wearables to laptops, smartphones and, of course, lots more. of the concept.
This year saw a ton of high-quality products from brands around the world, so I’ve listed my honorable mentions (and notable awards) as well. that Amazing.
Best phone: Honor Magic 6 Pro
Of all the phones I picked up this week, none made as much of an impression on me as Honor’s Magic 6 Pro. Powered by his Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 12GB RAM/512GB storage configuration, 5,600mAh battery, and a dynamic island-like “magic capsule” interface that turns any background application (timer, music player, voice recorder, etc.) into a hole-punch camera. It is over. , Honor has integrated some of the most useful AI features I’ve seen from any phone manufacturer in the past 12 months.
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Magic Portal is a standout, offering apps and apps based on what you highlight on screen, like Google Maps when you select an address, or the Calendar app when you select an upcoming event in a text conversation. It acts as an intelligent assistant that recommends experiences. . Motion sensing capture is my personal favorite, leveraging AI to capture still images of fast-moving subjects. We demoed this feature with basketball players at MWC, and the results were surprisingly crisp.
Honorable mention
- xiaomi 14 ultra: Another giant in the global market, Xiaomi’s 14 Ultra is one of the few flagship phones with a smaller but more comfortable 6.3-inch display size, and I’m all for it. The new photo kit gives you more manual control over your camera and is the best mobile accessory we saw at MWC.
- Energizer Hard Case P28K:28,000mAh. Need I say more? Energizer’s upcoming release is likely the world’s longest-lasting mobile phone, expected to last for a week.
- Porsche Design Honor Magic V2 RSR: Perhaps the most expensive phone we tested at MWC this week is Honor’s Magic V2 RSR, which features an industrial design inspired by Porsche’s 911 RSR. This is also the thinnest flip phone I’ve ever used.
Best wearable: OnePlus Watch 2
One of the lowest-rated smartwatches we’ve reviewed on ZDNET, this sequel is a tale of redemption in every sense of the word, delivering the best parts of its predecessor while eliminating its shortcomings. In fact, as my colleague Matthew Miller pointed out in this week’s review, the battery life and efficiency of his latest OnePlus Watch is one of the best we’ve tested. Reach up to 100 hours on a single charge.
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This is primarily due to the new hybrid OS architecture. one plus watch 2 It leverages a real-time operating system (RTOS) for basic tasks like counting steps and tracking time, and switches to Google’s Wear OS 4 for more intense tasks. At $299, the Watch 2 is far from perfect. I agree with Miller that the 47mm size is not the most comprehensive and the lack of ECG reading, women’s health tracking, and other features will be felt by more demanding users. .
Honorable mention
- samsung galaxy ring: Perhaps Oura Ring’s first true competitor has finally been revealed. And if Samsung can deliver even a fraction of his Oura’s feature set, its existing ecosystem and advanced design may be enough for market success.
- Techno Pocket Go: The first of its kind, Tecno’s Pocket Go combines XR glasses andHandheld Windows PC. Combine these and you have one of the most portable ways to game (or work) where space is at a premium.
Best laptop: Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 5
Lenovo’s ThinkPad T series has never been the flashiest and flashiest, but this year’s model has received notable upgrades both on the outside and inside. On the outside, an aluminum-clad section surrounds Lenovo’s communication bar, which houses the webcam and Windows Hello sensor for facial recognition. This design contributes to a slimmer bezel and convenient touch points when opening the lid.
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Even more impressively, the ThinkPad T14 Gen 5 is equipped with Intel’s Core Ultra processor, up to 64GB of RAM, and 2TB of storage. This model is also more user-repairable than ever thanks to Lenovo’s partnership with iFixit, which features special repair guides that allow users to freely replace the battery, SSD, WWAN, and more. I am.
Honorable mention
- Dell Latitude 7350 Removable: The brand’s business 2-in-1 laptop will be its most notable release for corporate customers. Dell’s Surface Pro competitor features the latest Intel Core Ultra processors, a 2.8K resolution display, and all the security features you’d expect from the Latitude product line.
- Samsung Galaxy Book 4 360: Samsung’s ultra-premium laptop is finally coming to the United States. It features a 360-degree hinge, an Intel Core Ultra 7, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, and a design as sleek as last year’s Book 3 Ultra.
Best Concept: Lenovo Project Crystal
Concepts were everywhere at MWC, but Lenovo’s Project Crystal stood out from the crowd with its transparent micro-LED display. and keyboard.Was this on? AnyoneBingo cards for future laptops? Probably not, but Lenovo believes the screen’s see-through design is well-suited for a use case most readers are familiar with: multimodal AI processing.
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When you capture what’s behind your laptop with the rear camera, the laptop can display a digital overlay of additional context, such as the type of plant or animal you’re observing. I’m not entirely convinced that a laptop is the most practical form factor for such an application. meta ray ban smart glasses Or maybe Rabbit’s R1 feels more natural, but it’s a fascinating concept and one that made this year’s MWC even more interesting.
Honorable mention
- T-Mobile AI phone concept: What if your phone could actually book an Uber on your phone instead of showing you the latest search results on demand? That’s the future T-Mobile envisions with its AI Phone concept. Replace installed apps with an assistant that can do everything, preferably.
- Motorola Adaptive Display Concepts: Forget about trying to replace your smartphone — Motorola wants to replace your smartwatch with its adaptive display concept. I tested this bendable handset earlier this week, and the satisfaction of molding a board phone into a wristband was something I kept thinking about (and still do).
Highlight: Humane eye pin
At this year’s MWC, no brand or product was more disruptive than Humane and its laser-beaming Ai Pin. This week, I passed the Qualcomm and SK Telecom booths multiple times each day, and there were always crowds of people with smartphones and cameras looking at the products that could one day replace those devices.
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Humane currently only sells Ai Pins in the United States, which adds to the attention they’re receiving in Barcelona. Either way, demoing a gadget as polarizing as the Ai Pin might be the best decision a startup has ever made. We hope to carry this momentum into this spring’s competitive product launch season.