MWC 2022 live blog: catch up on five days of phones, tablets and wearables (original) (raw)
So Mobile World Congress 2022, an annual tech show dedicated to smartphones, tablets, wearables, and other similar gadgets, is officially over.
The show took place in Barcelona, and we had reporters on the ground and also working from afar to bring you all the news, reviews, analyses and features - we saw a busy few days of gadgets.
We saw lots of product launches on the first day of the event, February 28, and in fact there were a few big press conferences on the day before too. Towards the end of the show, there was a lot less happening, but that meant there was more time to take in the wider trends of the show.
As well as lots of consumer tech launches, MWC is big event for tech business and infrastructure, and our sister-site TechRadar Pro, which focuses on these areas, has their own MWC 2022 live blog here.
This live blog below is for all the big gadget news from the event, and you can use it to catch up on the big beats for the five days of tech.
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2022-03-02T09:19:25.642Z
(Image credit: Huawei)
The first day had a few launches:
- Huawei hosted its launch event which brought a new E-Ink tablet, a new budget tablet and its debut portable Bluetooth speaker, amongst other things.
- TCL launched five new budget Android phones
- Samsung launched two new laptops
- HMD Global unveiled three new low-cost mobiles
2022-03-02T09:34:53.027Z
And now we're on Day 3, which is actually the fourth day of our coverage, but we counted the Sunday as Day 0 since MWC technically kicks off on the Monday. We're just brewing our morning coffees and waiting for another day of tech.
2022-03-02T09:45:55.914Z
So what big launches are happening today?
- Nothing
No, we're not talking about the tech brand, we actually mean that no big launches are scheduled for today.
Why is that? Well, it's because brands like to front-load their announcements at MWC, which lets fans head over to their show floor stand during the week to test out the new gadgets.
That doesn't mean that nothing will happen today - instead, we'll have hands-on reviews, analyses, some leftover pieces of news and other feature articles. So stay tuned for that.
2022-03-02T11:02:37.473Z
We're gearing towards our first MWC pieces of the day, but we thought we'd also share what else is going on in the mobile world.
Firstly, a leak has suggested the Google Pixel 6a and Pixel Watch could be comin soon, with May looking like the likely launch date for both. Check out our full coverage here.
With news that an iPhone SE 3 could launch soon, we've also written some analysis on why, if you want to buy the SE 2020, you should probably wait until the new device launches. Check out that article here.
2022-03-02T11:30:48.771Z
We noted earlier in the week that Xiaomi's CyberDog was attending MWC. Well, it seems it's had a busy week.
The @Xiaomi team is so excited to have the opportunity to meet Xiaomi Fans, industry peers and partners, and media friends from all over the world at #MWC2022. It's a great place for exchanging ideas and sharing knowledge! pic.twitter.com/LoSQDwJBm6February 28, 2022
Xiaomi's founder posted a Tweet about the company's stand at MWC, and in one of the CyberDog laying flat on the floor - it's the second of the above pictures.
CyberDog must have had a busy week entertaining tech fans. Poor dog. Get some rest
2022-03-02T12:29:37.684Z
We've been keeping this Barcelona skyline web cam open in another tab, and wow, it just got dark there. Big storm clouds approach.
We're glad we're not in Barcelona now to cover MWC 2022 on the ground - we hope everyone at the show packed a raincoat or umbrella.
To make a ropey segue to turn this into an analytical point: this could be irritating for certain phone brands who want testers to play around with phone cameras. Pictures look much better in good lighting conditions, and rainy or overcast days aren't exactly that.
That won't be the case for phone brands who want users to try low-light or Night modes though, as certain cameras with large sensors could take great pictures in dingy conditions.
2022-03-02T12:54:08.483Z
After its big launch earlier in the week, we've been admiring Poco's two new Android phones: the Poco X4 Pro 5G and Poco M4 Pro.
(Image credit: Poco)
In fact, we liked them so much that we had to sit down with members of the Poco team to discuss these new phones.
We've got a few pieces to come from this interview, but you can read the first, about why it's still making cheap 4G phones, by clicking here.
The reason is partly to do with 5G rollout in certain countries, and partly because of price - it's an interesting look into the slow shift from 4G phones to 5G ones.
2022-03-02T14:08:07.681Z
So here it is: our complete list of all the phones of MWC 2022.
Unless there are any surprises (which is incredibly unlikely), these are the 20 phones which launched this year at MWC from Honor, OnePlus, Realme, Pocophone, ZTE, HMD Global and TCL
2022-03-02T15:08:00.484Z
Following on from our hands-on Realme GT 2 Pro review, our tester has been playing around with its 40x microscopic camera. Check out some of these samples.
(Image credit: Future / TechRadar)
What are those camera samples of? Well you'll have to check out our deep dive on the Realme GT 2 Pro's camera in order to find out.
2022-03-02T16:33:15.133Z
The Huawei MatePad Paper launched on Sunday, as Huawei's first ever ereader, and it got us thinking more about this popular tech segment. Currently Amazon is the big player in the sector with its Kindles, and Xiaomi and Onyx nibble at the corners of the pie too.
Based on the idea of 'debut ereaders', we made a list of the companies that we'd like to see E-Ink devices from including Apple, Lenovo and Sony.
Check out our five favorite ideas here.
2022-03-02T16:49:47.150Z
A few days ago at MWC, MediaTek launched two new chipests: the Dimensity 8000 and Dimensity 8100. Both are destined to be used in mid-range phones.
We've written an analysis, which you can read here, about why this could be a great thing for budget phones.
The low-end phone market has been the real focus of this MWC, with the vast majority of the 20 phones launched being affordable ones, and news like this from MediaTek just makes the future even brighter for fans of this type of device.
2022-03-02T17:15:10.011Z
Oh, some huge tech news: Apple has confirmed its March event is happening next week, on the 8th.
2022-03-02T17:44:59.010Z
Apple's already set a YouTube placeholder for this launch event.
I guess I already know what my next live blog is going to be!
2022-03-02T18:02:27.383Z
Because we're excitable live bloggers, we've already kicked off our Apple March event live blog which you can find by clicking here.
2022-03-03T08:42:35.142Z
Welcome to the fourth and final day of MWC!
According to my ever-reliable Barcelona skyline webcam, it's looking like an absolute beaut - look at that sunrise!
This isn't going to be the quietest day of the show, despite it being the last. That's because we've got lots of reviews and analysis saved up that we've been working on the last few days, so expect lots of words to come soon.
2022-03-03T08:59:48.009Z
Case in point, we've got a new hands-on review.
(Image credit: TechRadar / Basil Kronfli)
Our Honor Magic 4 Pro hands-on review looks at the new super-premium Android phone, and it's a pretty positive write-up!
"Matching a handsome design with best-in-class wireless charging speeds and stacks of power, it's looking promising for the first post-Huawei Honor flagship to hit the West."
2022-03-03T10:45:50.622Z
Not MWC related, but we've got two big pieces of news in the smartphone world.
After the Apple March Event was announced last night, we've seen the iPhone SE 3 and iPad Air 5 in a very incriminating place - listed on a retailer's website. Well, I wonder what's showing up at the event.
Also, rumors are surfacing that Samsung has been throttling apps on its smartphones, in order to reduce processing power while maintaining battery life, which is pretty sneaky.
2022-03-03T12:25:41.377Z
Here's our next testing article. We tested the Pro earlier in the week, and we've finally published our Realme GT 2 hands-on review.
(Image credit: Future)
This is an intriguing alternative to the Pro, especially with its low price, though we can't help but feel that we would have liked another small-body phone like the original GT.
Still, Realme is one of the big winners of MWC 2022 with its GT 2 series, and this is a big testament to that fact.
2022-03-03T15:07:29.429Z
MWC 2022 has us thinking about budget phones - that has been the theme of the show, after all.
In particular, we've seen a huge rise in the number of 50MP snappers used in budget phones over the last year or so, following on from premium mobiles using them for a year or so before.
Why is that? Well, we've gone into a deep dive on why this is happening and how it could benefit the budget phone market, and you can read it all here.