The MWC took place in Barcelona again this year. Marlene Polywka was there for TECHBOOK and was able to see many of the technical innovations and highlights directly.
There is still a lot going on on the Gran Via in Barcelona until this afternoon. The MWC (Mobile World Congress) will take place there from February 27th to March 2nd. The trade fair for smartphones and mobile devices has been around since 1987; it is the largest in Europe. Companies from all over the world present their new devices, ideas and developments there. TECHBOOK was also there, was able to talk to exhibitors and take a look at many of the highlights of the MWC.
Xiaomi, Honor and Lenovo with highlights at the MWC
If you look at the smartphone brands at the MWC – above all Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei and Oppo, but also Motorola or Honor – then the trade fair shows what has been indicated to a much greater extent for years: the innovations in smartphones will be less and less obvious. But that doesn’t mean they are any less important. Admittedly, there weren’t any big leaps this year. With Samsung, one of the biggest names has also presented its highlight, the Galaxy S23 Ultra, in the run-up to the fair. In the end, users should still be able to make fine improvements in terms of display, performance and camera. Xiaomi has really stood out with its new 13 Series, especially the Xiaomi 13 Pro. The Chinese manufacturer is now working with the long-established German company Leica after they ended their collaboration with Huawei.
In addition to the announcement of the new Honor Magic 5 Pro, it felt lost at the MWC that the manufacturer would soon be bringing its folding smartphone, the Magic Vs, which is already available in Asia, to Europe and Germany. The manufacturer wants to compete with the market giant Samsung and its Z-Fold series. When unfolded, the 7.9-inch screen is almost as big as an iPad mini (8.3 inches).
Motorola and Lenovo also caused a stir with a technology that is not entirely new, but is still very unknown: a rollable display. This could already be admired as a prototype installed in a smartphone and a notebook. The manufacturers are taking a different approach to the subject of display enlargement. In general, it can be stated that the trend continues towards large displays in devices that are as compact as possible.
WiFi 7 and new 6G network
In addition to these hardware innovations, there were also exciting news in terms of network and mobile communications. For example, the manufacturer AVM will be launching its WiFi 7-enabled products this year. The Fritzbox 5690 Pro also combines fiber optics and (V)DSL in one device for the first time – TECHBOOK reported.
And there was also a lot of talk at the MWC 2023 about the next mobile communications standard, 6G – although 5G is still being developed in some cases and is not available everywhere. At Huawei, for example, invited trade fair visitors were able to get a first impression of the sixth-generation mobile communications standard.
But in addition to the new smartphone innovations mentioned, autonomous mobility was also a big topic. There were several self-driving and even flying vehicles on display at the MWC – you just had to follow the crowds. 6G will be an important building block for all these innovations.
The MWC is back
After the 2020 trade fair had to be canceled for the first time due to corona, significantly reduced events took place in the past two years. 2023 was the year in which the organizer himself said that the MWC was “right back again”. That was also quite noticeable. In general, it was again very crowded on site. And even if the weather didn’t always play along, the mood was very good across the board. Another important topic at the fair this year was VR (Virtual Reality). What is also noticeable in the manufacturer’s brand image is the ever-increasing user focus and the communicated focus on environmental awareness, such as the self-repairable Nokia G22 shows.