Since its inception in 1987, Mobile World Congress (MWC) has been known for mobile phones and related technologies. MWC 2022 took place this week as a physical event in Barcelona, Spain – nearly a year after its largely online presence and a few years after the cancellation of the original on-ground version due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s conference had not only a lot of mobile devices but also tablets, laptops, and more. TCL also presented new foldable phones with different designs and experiences at MWC 2022. In addition, this year’s conference brought ultra-fast charging technologies from companies like Realme and Oppo that we’ll get to commercial devices later this year.
On this week’s episode of Gadget’s 360 podcast Orbital, host Akhil Arora speaks with Counterpoint Global Content Manager Ritesh Bendre and our Deputy Editor Roydon Cerejo to discuss MWC 2022, which took place between February 28 and March 3.
Ritesh was on the ground this year to cover MWC, while Roydon has a long history of attending the conference in Barcelona. One of the biggest differences between this year’s MWC from previous versions was the lower attendance. In the past, thousands of people attended several keynotes simultaneously at the conference. But the coronavirus restrictions, which are still in place to some extent, have reduced the number of physical attendees at the MWC.
Those present were also required to wear face masks. Likewise, sanitizers were placed at all booths to allow people to sanitize their hands before touching demonstrating devices.
As for the main highlights, TCL grabbed eyeballs with foldable phones – the TCL Fold ‘n Roll and TCL Ultra Flex. Both phones allow users to turn them into tablets by unfolding their flexible screens. The Fold ‘n Roll can extend the screen from one side up to a maximum of 10 inches. The TCL Ultra Flex, on the other hand, has a 360-degree hinge mechanism that allows the phone to be folded both inwards and outwards.
TCL’s new foldable phones are available for presentation and not commercial purposes. However, the company may launch them in select regions later this year.
TCL Ultra Flex up to 150W fast charging: most interesting phones and technology announced at MWC 2022
In addition to the foldable, TCL presented its new smartphone models that are not unique but offer consumers more choices.
This time, Huawei introduced the MatePad Paper as the first e-reader. The device has a 13.3-inch E-ink display that supports touch input and works with an included stylus. It also has 64GB of onboard storage.
The Chinese giant also showed up at MWC with its new Windows 11 laptops. These announcements were essentially intended to maintain the customer base despite the loss of the smartphone business.
Realme and Oppo – the two subsidiaries of the Chinese BBK Electronics – joined the MWC this year with their 150W fast-charging technologies. Both companies claim that their new technologies can charge an ordinary 4,500mAh battery in five minutes—Zero to 50 percent charge.
The 150W charging will debut on the Realme GT Neo 3 later this year. Oppo, on the other hand, has announced that its 150W charging technology will be part of OnePlus phones in the second quarter of this year.
Realme and Oppo seem to be in an uphill battle with Xiaomi, which introduced its 120W fast charging to phones earlier this year. Oppo also showcased its 240W charging technology, which is currently only available as a concept.
We talked in detail about all the use cases of the new fast-charging technologies. We also talked about some of the other announcements that were part of this year’s MWC.
You can listen to all this and more in our 40+ minute talk by hitting the play button on the Spotify player embedded above.
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