01. Samsung at MWC
02. Google at MWC
03. Apple at MWC
04. Nothing at MWC
05. Xiaomi at MWC
06. Honor at MWC
07. OnePlus at MWC
08. Motorola at MWC
09. Tecno at MWC
10. The latest news from MWC 2024
Every year there's a major event called Mobile World Congress (or MWC for short), and this year's is now underway. It taking place in Barcelona, with many mobile brands showing off their latest wares, all in the hope of capturing media attention and netting a spot among the best phones. But, there's much more besides: concepts, laptops and more are revealed, too.
The T3 team is at the convention in force to gather all the relevant news, announcements and product reveals from the show floor and various conferences – including the surrounding areas, as many non-participants of the GSM Association's event also utilise the city of Barcelona to set out their stalls – to bring you the latest and greatest products coming in the future.
MWC 2024 kicked off with big reveals from Xiaomi, Honor, Lenovo, Qualcomm and more. Other major brands such as Samsung are also on the show floor to flaunt the latest mobile devices. In addition to the biggest reveals, we'll be bringing you live news as and when it happens – so stay tuned.
Quick links
- Android phones get big connectivity upgrade thanks to Qualcomm X80
- The Honor Magic 6 Pro comes with eye-tracking technology
- The Xiaomi 14 and the Xiaomi 14 Ultra boast insane specs
- Lenovo's transparent laptop is a cool futuristic vision
Samsung at MWC
Gone are the days when Samsung utilised MWC as its launch base for its latest S series of flagship phones. That's already happened for 2024: and T3 has reviewed the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Ultra handsets. However, Samsung will be holding a 'Samsung Mobile Business Summit 2024' on Monday 26 February at 14:00 UK time (15:00 EU, 09:00 ET, 06:00 PT, 01:00(+1) AEST), and the Samsung Galaxy Ring is at the show.
Google at MWC
Google doesn't attend MWC and the 2024 show is no different. However, with rumours floating around of a forthcoming Pixel 8a handset, there's a question mark as to whether Google will make any noise about that as-yet-rumoured device.
Apple at MWC
Apple also doesn't participate in MWC – the iPhone launch schedule is well out of sync, anticipated for early/mid-September 2024 – and the Cupertino-based company is not likely to utilise MWC's timing to drop a wider Vision Pro release schedule.
Nothing at MWC
We know that a Nothing Phone (2a) is definitely on the way. It was hinted at from an MWC invite late last year, but since then the design and launch date has been confirmed for... March! However, Nothing loves to tease its upcoming products, so let's anticipate a drip feed of Phone (2a) hints.
Xiaomi at MWC
Xiaomi is a little peculiar in its launch cycles: the Xiaomi 14 and 14 Pro were already announced... for China. However, MWC has been used as the base to show off these phones to a wider market, plus the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, which comes with some insane specs.
Honor at MWC
Honor had a major conference on the Sundayjust prior to MWC's show doors opening. It revealed the Honor Magic 6 Pro, complete with eye-tracking, and the new Porsche Design version of the Honor Magic 6 RSR.
OnePlus at MWC
It's been fairly traditional for OnePlus to utilise MWC to showcase concept phones – sometimes purely for fun, other times as preludes to real releases. This year it's unlikely to be handset focused, however, as despite the superb OnePlus Open winning the foldable phones race, there's rumour that OnePlus will exit the foldables market (along with Vivo).
With that side unsure, it moves to the OnePlus Watch 2 to be the star of the show instead, as that's now confirmed to make its debut at MWC. The wearable has been long rumoured and is said to be "a whole new direction" ccompared to the original OnePlus Watch from 2021.
Motorola at MWC
Motorola didn't reveal a new handset at MWC – its owner, Lenovo, did show off a cool transparent laptop concept though – but has updated its Ready For mobile-to-laptop extension software to be broader, including a renaming to Motorola Smart Connect.
Tecno at MWC
If you don't know about Tecno then pay attention: this recent mobile brand caught T3's attention in 2023 for its reveal of the Phantom V Flip. And for MWC 2024 we know that the brand will be at the show, likely to launch next-gen foldable products and concepts. We'll certainly be paying attention!
The latest news from MWC 2024
Honor to livestream MWC press event
Honor has announced that it will launch new products during Mobile World Congress, with a dedicated event to take place at 13:30 CET (local time to Barcelona) on Monday 25 February.
You should be able to watch it live on T3. Alternatively, it will be streamed live on Honor's YouTube channel too, as well as on X.
OnePlus Watch 2 could be the best smartwatch at the show
OnePlus will launch its second-generation smartwatch on the Tuesday of the show (26 February) but hasn't been shy with some details already.
The OnePlus Watch 2 will feature "military-grade durability" for starters, and the manufacturer has confirmed that the battery life should last up to 100-hours between charges.
Don't expect the Nothing Phone (2a)
Although there will be a stack of exciting phone launches during MWC 2024 you'll have to wait a bit longer for one of the most talked about new handsets.
The Nothing Phone (2a) will launch after the show is done and dusted, on Tuesday 5 March instead. However, you can see the phone already, as we've corroborated the recently released renders with our own sources – just check them out above.
Keep your eye out for a new foldable phone
Although we're not expecting many new foldables, it is reported that Tecno plans to follow up its Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 rival with a launch during MWC.
The Tecno Phantom V Fold 2 is said to run on the same MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ as its predecessor, with 12GB of RAM, but it's worth remembering that Tecno's devices are much more affordable than many peers. Watch this space.
We're here
The T3 team are now here in Barcelona ready for MWC and we're expecting the first big announcements in just a few hours. Today there are keynote speeches from Xiaomi, Honor and OnePlus with a host of new devices expected. Stay tuned – we'll bring you the news right here.
Waiting for Honor...
I'm here at the Honor event, ready for the announcement of the Honor Magic 6 Series, Magic V2 Series and MagicBook Pro 16. The event starts shortly...
Iconic Nokia on its way
HMD, owner of Nokia phones, has announced that it plans to "bring back an iconic phone this summer. This is as well as a Barbie branded flip phone that it has planned. So which will it be? My favourite ever Nokia was the 8800, a compact stainless steel bodied phone with a sliding cover. Or maybe it's the 7110, which no only featured inthe Matrix films, but offered the company's first WAP browser.
Xiaomi the money
T3 resident Staff Writer, Sam Cross, here reporting live from the Xiaomi launch event in Barcelona. We've expecting news about phones, some IoT devices and possibly even some EV news. Stay tuned for more details.
Android phones to get connectivity advance
Qualcomm used MWC to reveal its latest and greatest modem, the X80, which might not sound like a super-exciting reveal – but it's actually really important for future Android phones.
Why? Because the new chip adds artificial intelligence for better 5G performance, plus non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) using Snapdragon Satellite for potential future services, such as SOS, being made possible.
We're here [part 2]
Hi, news editor Rik taking over and we'll be bringing you hands-ons and more mobile news today as the show kicks off in full.
We have several T3ers out at the show, including Sam Cross and Mat Gallagher (as you can see above) so will give you our impressions on the coolest products we see throughout the next few days.
TCL's latest smartphones are super affordable
As well as the European availability of several of its NXTPAPER products, TCL has announced several budget smartphones that are coming in April.
The TCL 50SE, 50 5G, 501 and 505 phones start at just £59.99 and will max out at £149.99 when they arrive in the UK in a couple of months. Wowsers.
Samsung Galaxy Ring unveiled
Although we're expecting a full launch at the end of the summer, alongside the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6, Samsung has displayed its prototype smart ring in public for the first time.
The Samsung Galaxy Ring is on its show stand and we'll be bringing you our own thoughts on it in the near future.
Off the cuff with Motorola
Motorola has taken the idea of the bendable phone to the next level with a concept device you can wrap around your wrist.
The Motorola Adaptive Display has a flexible material backing and can be bent backwards to form a C-shape. That doesn't just mean you can wear it, but you could stand it on one end, for example, to form a bedside clock.
It's crazy stuff but the sort of interesting idea that makes a show like MWC that much more fun.
C'mon Barbie let's go party!
HMD didn't actually show any phones during its dedicated press event on the eve of MWC. It instead announced product lines that are to come in the next few months, including a device it is working on in collaboration with the toy manufacturer Mattel.
The Barbie flip phone will be a retro-style device launching this summer. We don't have an awful lot of detail at present, but it is likely that it'll feature a physical keypad rather than foldable display. Oh, and it'll be pink, of course.
OnePlus Watch 2 looks the real deal this time
OnePlus has turned to Wear OS for its second-generation smartwatch and the device seems all the better for it.
The OnePlus Watch 2 is also pleasantly chunky and boasts up to 100-hours of battery life, so could be a real contender when it comes to the best smartwatches of 2024.
We see right through you Lenovo
Another out-there product to be shown at this year's MWC is the Lenovo ThinkBook Transparent Display Laptop (which we're calling just Lenovo ThinkBook Transparent for the sake of our typing fingers).
I comes with a "world's first" 17.3-inch Micro LED see-through screen which looks pretty great in our opinion – very Minority Report. It also uses a touchscreen keyboard, just to make the whole shebang even more sci-fi.
