TCL Ultra Flex to 150W Fast Charging: Most Interesting Phones and Tech Announced at MWC 2022

MWC 2022 is live this week in Barcelona, Spain. While the event will continue for the next couple of days, most participating companies have already held their keynotes to announce a list of distinct offerings that are coming to the market this year. MWC has been a big event for mobile phones. However, this year’s conference has seen not just mobile phones but other technological developments that were debuted globally. These include new Windows laptops from companies including Samsung and Lenovo, Android tablets, and wearables. The mobile phones that were launched at the MWC 2022 also included new form factors, including foldables and gaming phones.

Here’s a list of 10 most exciting phones and technologies launched at MWC 2022.

1. TCL foldables

One of the most interesting announcements at MWC 2022 included the latest foldables from Chinese manufacturer TCL. These are namely the TCL Ultra Flex and TCL Fold ‘n Roll. The TCL Ultra Flex comes with a 360-degree hinge mechanism that lets users fold the phone both inward and outward. When unfolded, it gives a tablet-like experience on its 8-inch PLP AMOLED display.

Unlike the Ultra Flex, the TCL Fold ‘n Roll has a unique display on one side that can be extended to broaden the screen area to up to 10 inches. The phone can also work as a regular foldable phone where users can have a tablet-like 8.85-inch display when unfolded and a normal 6.87-inch screen when folded.

The TCL Fold ‘n Roll was first unveiled in April last year.

Both TCL Ultra Flex and Fold ‘n Roll are currently at their prototype stage. It is, therefore, unclear whether these new designs will be made available to end consumers by the company anytime in the coming future.

2. 150W charging from Realme and Oppo

As phones are becoming quite important in our daily lives, manufacturers are racing to cut down their charging time. BBK Electronics subsidiaries Realme and Oppo joined the competition this time around, and brought their 150W charging solutions. Realme announced that the Realme GT Neo 3 will debut with its in-house 150W UltraDart Charge technology. Oppo, on the other hand, mentioned that its 150W SuperVOOC charging will be available first on OnePlus phones in the second quarter of 2022.

Realme GT Neo 3 will be amongst the first phones to come with 150W charging
Photo Credit: Realme

Realme and Oppo (or OnePlus) plans to give a tough fight to Xiaomi that introduced its phones, including the Xiaomi 11i HyperCharge 5G, with 120W fast charging earlier this year.

3. Lenovo’s new gaming phone

At MWC 2022, Lenovo Legion Y90 debuted as the company’s latest gaming phone. The smartphone comes with a 6.9-inch Samsung E4 AMOLED display that carries 144Hz refresh rate. The Legion Y90 is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, along with up to 18GB of RAM and vapour-chamber cooling. The top-end variant of the phone also includes a RAID 0 storage strip that brings 128GB of SSD storage.

The Legion Y90 supports Dolby Atmos. The phone also has a dual X-axis linear motor and packs a dual-cell 5,600mAh battery with 68W fast charging.

Lenovo is initially bringing the Legion Y90 to China at a starting price of CNY 3,999 (roughly Rs. 47,900) for the base 12GB RAM + 256GB storage variant. The top-of-the-line 18GB + 512GB model, on the other hand, is priced at CNY 4,999 (roughly Rs. 59,900).

4. Honor flagship

Honor Magic 4 Pro was launched at this year’s MWC as the brand’s latest flagship. It comes with top-notch specifications that include a 6.81-inch Flex OLED quad-curved display with a dynamic 120Hz refresh rate, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, and a triple rear camera setup which comprises a 50-megapixel primary sensor and a 64-megapixel secondary sensor with a periscope-shaped telephoto lens. The Honor Magic 4 Pro also includes 8GB RAM, 256GB storage, and a 4,600mAh battery with 100W wired and wireless SuperCharge fast charging support.

The Honor Magic 4 Pro price is set at EUR 1,099 (roughly Rs. 93,000). It will be available in various colour options as well as a special Orange (Vegan Leather) version.

5. Lenovo’s ThinkPad laptop based on ARM architecture

At this year’s MWC, Lenovo brought the ThinkPad X13s as its latest ThinkPad laptop based on ARM architecture. The Lenovo ThinkPad X13s is powered by Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 SoC, along with Adreno GPU and up to 32GB of LPDDR4x RAM as well as up to 1TB of PCIe SSD. The laptop also includes a 13.3-inch WUXGA display and carries connectivity options including 5G, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth v5.2, two USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports, and a SIM card slot. It weighs 1.06kg and has 13.4mm of thickness.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X13s price is set at EUR 1,399 (roughly Rs. 1,18,400). The laptop will initially be available in Europe starting May and will go on sale in the US through AT&T and Verizon carriers later in 2022.

6. Huawei e-reader

Huawei MatePad Paper debuted at MWC 2022 as the company’s first e-reader. The device carries a 13.3-inch E-ink display that has a pixel density of 227ppi. The display supports touch inputs as well as works with a bundled stylus called Huawei M-Pencil. Under the hood, the Huawei MatePad Paper has a hexa-core SoC, with 4GB of RAM and 64GB storage. The device also includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and USB Type-C connectivity.

Huawei MatePad Paper features a 13.3-inch E-ink display
Photo Credit: Huawei

The Huawei MatePad Paper will debut in Europe at EUR 499 (roughly Rs. 42,200). It would compete against Amazon’s Kindle Oasis.

7. Samsung’s Windows 11 laptops

At MWC this year, Samsung did not bring any new phones to showcase but introduced its Galaxy Book 2 Pro, Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360, Galaxy Book 2 360, and the Galaxy Book 2 as its four new laptops that all run on Windows 11. The new laptops come with the latest Intel Core processors and have up to 32GB of RAM as well as discrete graphics options. The machines also have up to 1TB of NVMe SSD storage and touchscreen versions to choose from.

On the pricing part, the Samsung Galaxy Book 2 360 starts at $899.99 (roughly Rs. 68,100), while the Galaxy Book 2 Pro at $1,049.99 (roughly Rs. 79,500) and the Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360 at $1,249.99 (roughly Rs. 94,600). The pricing details about the Galaxy Book 2 are yet to be revealed. Moreover, all new models will debut in markets including the US starting April.

8. Huawei AiO with an UHD display

Huawei MateStation X was launched by the Chinese company as a part of its lineup at this year’s MWC. The All-in-One PC comes with a 28.2-inch UHD touchscreen that has an IPS panel under the hood. The machine also includes AMD Ryzen 5 5600H or AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor with integrated AMD Radeon graphics, paired with 16GB of RAM. It includes two 5W speakers and a 10W subwoofer as well as a 720p camera for video calls.

In terms of connectivity, the Huawei MateStation X has two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C ports, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, and a 3.5mm audio jack. The AiO PC seems to take on Apple’s iMac with its sleek design. Moreover, it runs on Windows 10.

The Huawei MateStation X has debuted in Europe at EUR 2,199 (roughly Rs. 1,86,000). Details on its availability in other markets including India are yet to be announced. However, the device with a 23.8-inch display did launch in China last year.

9. Affordable Nokia C-series

Although this year’s MWC included some unique phones and Windows laptops, Nokia brand licensee HMD Global used the conference to showcase its new affordable Nokia C-series phones. The latest range comprises Nokia C2 2nd Edition, Nokia C21, and Nokia C21 Plus. All three phones have basic specifications to please people looking to upgrade from a feature phone.

Nokia C21 is one of the company’s latest affordable phones
Photo Credit: HMD Global

The Nokia C2 2nd Edition is the most basic option in the series, while the Nokia C21 and Nokia C21 Plus are the company’s new budget models. The Nokia C2 2nd Edition comes with a regular FWVGA display of 5.7-inch size, a single 5-megapixel rear camera, and a quad-core SoC. In contrast, the Nokia C21 and Nokia C21 Plus both have 6.517-inch HD+ displays with waterdrop-style notch design and octa-core Unisoc SC9863A SoCs. The Nokia C21 Plus comes with a dual rear camera setup, while the Nokia C21 has a single camera at the back.

In terms of pricing, the Nokia C2 2nd Edition starts at EUR 79 (roughly Rs. 6,700), while the Nokia C21 and Nokia C21 Plus start at EUR 99 (roughly Rs. 8,400) and EUR 119 (roughly Rs. 10,100), respectively.

10. New Poco phone with a 108-megapixel primary camera

Making its debut at MWC 2022, Poco X4 Pro 5G comes with features such as a 108-megapixel primary camera sensor, 120Hz AMOLED display, and a Snapdragon 695 SoC. The Poco X4 Pro 4G also includes up to 8GB of RAM as well as maximum 256GB storage. The smartphone packs a 5,000mAh battery that supports 67W fast charging.

Poco X4 Pro 5G price starts at EUR 299 (roughly Rs. 25,300) for the 6GB + 128GB storage model and goes up to EUR 349 (roughly Rs. 29,500) for the 8GB + 256GB option. It will be available in the European markets starting March 2, though details about its arrival in India and other regions are yet to be announced.