Mobile World Congress 2018 has come and gone once again. There weren’t as many device announcements this year, but we did see some big brand names. Most notable is the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+, which will be the most popular Android phone this year. LG, Alcatel, Huawei, ZTE, Nokia, Sony, and ASUS also announced phones.
The Galaxy S9 was the biggest story at MWC. Last year, Samsung skipped MWC in favor of their own event for the Galaxy S8. This year they made the trip to Barcelona and dominated the show. The Galaxy S9 and S9+ are similar to last year’s devices. They have the new Snapdragon 845 (or Exynos 9810) processor, Android 8.0 Oreo, and a new camera with mechanical aperture. The camera can switch between f/1.5 and f/2.4 to match the lighting conditions. If you want 6GB of RAM, you’ll have to opt for the Plus model.
Nokia made a surprisingly big splash at MWC with a number of devices. At the high end of the scale, they announced the Nokia 8 Sirocco. This is an Android One device with Oreo on board. It has a 5.5-inch 2560 x 1440 display, Snapdragon 835 processor, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, dual wide-angle and telephoto cameras, and 3,260mAh battery. The Nokia 7 Plus is another Android One phone. It has a 6-inch 2160 x 1080 display with 18:9 aspect ratio. The processor is a Snapdragon 660 and it has 4GB of RAM with 64GB of storage. It has dual 12+13MP cameras and a beefy 3,800mAh battery.
On the lower scale, they announced the Nokia 6 and Nokia 1. The Nokia 6 is another Android One device with 5.5-inch Full HD display, 3/4GB of RAM, 32/64GB of storage, 16MP camera, and 3,000mAh battery. The Nokia 1 is one of the first Android Go devices. It runs a lightweight version of Oreo on a MediaTek MT6737M processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, and 2,150mAh battery.
LG took a low-key approach to MWC this year. They didn’t hold a press conference but they announced the LG V30S with ThinQ branding. It’s basically the same LG V30, but with more RAM, more storage, and a new suite of AI-infused apps. These apps do a lot of the same things as Samsung’s Bixby.
Rounding out the phones, TCL announced the Alcatel 5, Alcatel 3, and Alcatel 1 series (7 devices in total). The Alcatel 1X is an Android Go device. Alcatel 1T10 and 1T 7 are Android 8.1 Oreo tablets. The Alcatel 3 series are all very similar: 6-5.5-inch 18:9 displays, MediaTek processors, around 2GB of RAM, 16/32GB of storage, and 3,000mAh batteries.
Speaking of tablets, Huawei announced three new Android Oreo tablets. The MediaPad M510 Pro, M5 10.8, and M5 8.4. They have Kirin 960 processors, 4GB of RAM, and 7,500mAh batteries (8.4 has a 5,400mAh battery).
Next up is ASUS and a couple of phones with display notches. The ASUS ZenFone 5Z has a 6.2-inch display with an iPhone X-like notch. The ZenFone 5 has the same display and notch. The ZenFone 5Q has a more traditional 6-inch display with no notch. All three devices have Android Oreo onboard. The ZenFone 5Z is the high-end model with Snapdragon 845 processor, 6GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, dual 12MP cameras, and 3,300mAh battery.
Sony announced a couple of the most attractive phones at MWC. The Xperia XZ2 features a 5.7-inch Full HD+ display with 18:9 aspect ratio. It has a Snapdragon 845 processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, 19MP camera, 3,180mAh battery, and Android Oreo. The XZ2 Compact is nearly the same, but obviously, it’s a bit smaller. The display is 5-inches and the battery is 2,870mAh, but otherwise, it’s on par with the full-size model.
Last, but not least, is ZTE with the Blade V9 Vita, Blade V9, and Tempo Go. The V9 phones are budget devices with modest specs. They have Full HD+ 18:9 displays, dual cameras, 2-4GB of RAM, but they skimp on the processor with only a Snapdragon 435. The Tempo Go is another Android Go device with similar specs to other Go devices.
Phew. As you can see, it may have felt like there weren’t a ton of phone announcements, but we still got a decent crop. What are your thoughts on all these new Android phones? Are you sold on the Galaxy S9 or are you eyeing one of the other phones? What about the tablets? Are you still interested in Android tablets? Share your thoughts about MWC 2018 in the comments below.
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