MWC 2024: Phones, tablets, robots, artificial intelligence and more

There was no shortage of gneče, because it is MWC after all. There were quite a few sounding names, as well as exhibition spaces. In a short time, I managed to catch many interesting things, for example, humanoid robots and a laptop with a transparent screen, but I had higher expectations before the fair. Xiaomi, Samsung, Honor, Huawei are permanent and have the largest presence. I was very pleased with their approach. They are the last line of defense for consumers. Most of the time, however, I was walking around the rooms, which are mostly as apparently oriented only to B2B. Of course, at every turn, I also stumbled on artificial intelligence, 5G and even the first mentions of 6G technology. What did I manage to discover? What or who did I miss?

Phones, tablets, watches and bracelets galore

If there was still any doubt that smart watches and bracelets do not have their place in the market, it is high time to abandon this thought. Xiaomi presented its collection for this year: SmartBand 8 (Pro), Watch 4 and Watch S3. Honor also joined them with the HONOR Watch 4, and both also exhibited foldable phones, where the fight is getting tougher. Firstč I managed to take a close look at the Xiaomi Fold 3, their last year's model, which at first glance is technically perfect. In Slovenia, we are waiting for their foldable phones and I hope that this year is a lucky year for us. It would be interesting to watch how Samsung, Honor and Xiaomi would fight for the title of the best in this segment. The more Apple gets involved in the future, the better.

Before that, we already had the opportunity to meet the premium Xiaomi 14 and Xiaomi 14 Ultra, and at the same time Honor presented their premium candidate HONOR Magic6 Pro, which fascinates me the most with the 180 MP telephoto camera. HONOR still puts a lot of emphasis on the HONOR Magic V2 folding phone, which I myself during the test called the #141 the most sophisticated folding phone on the market at the moment. The Porsche version #141 was also exhibited, but it is not available in Slovenia.

Xiaomi devices

Samsung presented its main devices a little over a month ago, and I was able to observe (from a safe distance) the new smart ring Galaxy Ring in the showcase. There was no demo presentation, it looked attractive, but I have concerns about how big a market smart rings can capture. They are a reduced version of smart watches that can do much more. and at the same time we are used to their form from the past. I may be wrong and there is interest in the rings. Undoubtedly, they are interesting to look at, maybe that is enough for the target group that Samsung, Oura and others are targeting.

Tablets also got their time in the spotlight. Xiaomi does not hide its ambitions, that you would like to pick up a piece of tablet and #141; Xiaomi Pad 6 (and previous models) are an interesting combination of very good performance, beautiful aesthetics and, above all, a competitive price. Honor also has its candidates, which should not be underestimated. I missed some laptop more and in general I regret that Honor, Xiaomi and also Huawei, which has done more in the past years steps to withdraw from the market, they did not dedicate moreč attention to laptop computers.

Qualcomm, which has been teasing the public with its new Elite chips for half a year, devoted most of its space to connectivity and artificial intelligence. They also had devices with Qualcomm chips on display, and I was surprised that I had forgotten that their chips power smart glasses, VR glasses, and similar devices. There was a laptop with the X Elite chip, but the representative was more interested in showing me the artificial intelligence that works with local resources than talking about the capabilities of the chip itself.

I found some hidden gems

I've been following some lesser-known brands from the background for even longer. Tecno showed everything they have launched so far at their exhibition. Surprisingly, they also have some names under their wing that I have never heard of before. But attention was focused more on Tecno foldable phones. Their advantage is mainly in the lower price, although now that I managed to see them up close, I understand why they are cheaper than the competition. The phones are solid, but it is noticeable that they are a step behind on the hardware side. The foldable hinge is not yet at the level of the others, and the dimensions are generally much more cumbersome. It would be interesting to see if there is any advantage hidden in the operating system.

I also stopped by the manufacturer ZTE, which in addition to its phones controls the gaming brand Red Magic and also Nubia phones. Red Magic 9 Pro is still far draws attention to himself. Its curved design epitomizes gaming devices, which are not to everyone's taste, but I like them. I also quickly tested the camera and the results were surprisingly not bad. Also on display were some accessories (fan, Android controller) that should be part of the ensemble of anyone who wants to seriously play games on their phone. It's a shame that gaming phones have no place in Slovenia, with the exception of POCO phones, which in recent years have become masters of everything rather than real gaming devices, such as the POCO F1 in the past.

Speaking of POCOs, the POCO X6 (Pro) and F5 (Pro) should soon be ready for the Slovenian market. They still have a bold design, relatively interesting hardware components, but I will wait for the price and tests before I dare to say that they will be better than, for example, the Xiaomi 13T, which at the moment for 400 € may be the best ¡i phone in this class.

ZTE also introduced the Nubia Flip foldable phone and a special Music phone that enhances the music experience with higher volume, back lighting that responds to the song being played, and some features for easy media management. Also on display was the Nubia Pad 3D II, their second generation tablet with a 3D display. It is not clear from the photos that it is 3D technology at all, but it was interesting to watch live how objects move on such a screen. At the beginning, due to the different perspective, you have a slightly weak sensation, but it quickly disappears (similar to VR glasses). I didn't need glasses for the 3D experience, which is perhaps the most important fact.

Lenovo once again "teased" us with the concept of a transparent laptop, which at first seems very interesting, but then you wonder why you would want someone to see what you are doing on the screen, and why you would allow yourself to , to be distracted by objects and scenes behind the screen. Since it is a novelty, a large crowd of curious people flocked around it anyway. I also made a quick stop at the iFixit booth where they walked me through the process

Robots, robots and robots again

In a little while, robots will be waiting for us in front of the entrance at the MWC. The company Etisalat put a “humanoid robot” in front of everyone, which wanted me to accept an invitation for coffee in every possible way. The guts of the robot were visible to everyone and I can only imagine how much sweat was put in and how much effort and development is still waiting for this kind of robot to be able to do more. than just basic interaction. There was also a mechanical hand nearby, which tried its hand at the role of an amateur barista, but so far we have also noticed this at some airport.

Xiaomi attracted the traditional crowd with its Cyberdog 2 dog robot. The Tecno dog is almost identical, but with both, I wonder who and why would have it in the living room.

The fair was also a gathering place for drones and autonomous flying taxis, which are still in use in China.

Huawei targeting 5.5 and 6G

Huawei appropriated the largest territory. The part that was open to the public was dedicated to the presentation of the new phones (Huawei Mate 60), with which they ruled again in China. They are equipped with a new, proprietary Kirin chip, which is also the reason why we will not see these phones in Slovenia and Europe in general. They look great, the manufacturing is top-notch as always, but for everything else, it's hard to say what's going on. What I was able to photograph was very encouraging, but I'm still used to that from Huawei cameras, which are still considered one of the best. Special models of phones and watches in collaboration with Porsche were also on display. The Huawei Ultimate, a watch that still brims with premium features, was something special in the showcase with a Porsche guise, as was its price (around 4,000 EUR). I also managed to snag the FreeClip wireless headphones, which have a tongue that clips behind the ear.

The second part, closed to the public, was filled with technology that is unknown to the consumer, but which nevertheless takes place everywhere in the background. They presented us with 5.5G technology and how they create usage scenarios with which they want to convince service providers to invest. We also saw the beginnings of the sixth generation of the mobile network, but this is still several years away.

I missed …

... OPPO, OnePlus, Sony, Vivo, Realme, NVIDIA and similar sounding names. Currently dominating the field of artificial intelligence, NVIDIA would be a good fit as I have had that infamous word “AI” floating around my head all this time.

OPPO Find X, Find N3 Flip, Vivo X100/X100 Pro were showcased by MediaTek, which supplies them with čipi. I regret that Vivo pulled out of our (and European) market due to patent disputes, because the Vivo X80 and Vivo X90 were great phones with a great system and cameras that can compete with Samsung, Xiaomi and Apple.