Kerry Wan/ZDNET
We are in the ultimate stages of this yr’s Mobile World Congress, with just about all briefings, keynotes and live demos scheduled. (Tapas are a must.)
Whether you are following the week-long event or simply catching up, take a look at my curtain below showcasing the best gadgets and gizmos at this yr’s Barcelona trade show, from wearables to laptops to smartphones and, after all, plenty of concepts.
I also listed my honors (and the honorable mention award) since the sheer variety of high-quality products from brands all over the world this yr was astounding.
Best phone: Honor Magic 6 Pro
Kerry Wan/ZDNET
Of all of the phones I got my hands on this week, no device impressed me greater than the Honor Magic 6 Pro. In addition to the flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 12GB RAM/512GB storage configuration, 5,600mAh battery, and a dynamic island-like “Magic Capsule” interface that transforms background apps (timer, music player, voice recorder, etc.) right into a punch-hole camera, Honor has integrated a number of the most useful AI features I’ve seen from any phone manufacturer within the last 12 months.
“Magic Portal” stands out as a smart assistant that recommends apps and experiences based on what you choose on the screen, including Google Maps once you select an address, or the Calendar app once you select an upcoming event in a text conversation. Motion capture is my favorite feature, using artificial intelligence to take photos of fast-moving objects. I demonstrated this feature with a basketball player at MWC and the outcomes were shockingly clear.
Honorable Mentions
- Xiaomi 14 Ultra: Another big player in the worldwide market, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra is certainly one of the few flagship phones that comes with a smaller but more comfortable 6.3-inch display, and I’m here for it. The recent photography kit, which supplies you more manual control over the camera, is the best mobile accessory I’ve seen at MWC.
- Energizer P28K hard case: 28,000 mAh. Need I say more? The upcoming release of Energizer might be probably the most durable phone on the planet, with an expected lifespan of 1 week.
- Porsche Design Honor Magic V2 RSR: Perhaps the most costly phone I tested this week at MWC was the Honor Magic V2 RSR, which has an industrial design inspired by the Porsche 911 RSR. It’s also the thinnest foldable phone I’ve ever used.
Best to wear: OnePlus Watch 2
Matthew Miller/ZDNET
The sequel to certainly one of the lowest-rated smartwatches we have reviewed on ZDNET is a redemption in every respect, offering the best of what its predecessor did while eliminating its shortcomings. In fact, the runtime and performance of the newest OnePlus Watch, as my colleague Matthew Miller noted in his review this week, are among the many best we have tested, reaching as much as 100 hours on a single charge.
This is basically because of the brand new hybrid architecture of the operating system, z OnePlus Watch 2 using a real-time operating system (RTOS) for basic tasks similar to step counting and time tracking, while switching to Google’s Wear OS 4 means that you can perform more demanding tasks. At $299, the Watch 2 is much from perfect; I agree with Miller that the 47mm size just isn’t very inclusive, and the dearth of ECG reading, women’s health monitoring, and other features shall be felt by more demanding users.
Honorable Mentions
- Samsung Galaxy Ring: The first real Oura Ring competitor can have finally been unveiled. And if Samsung can offer even a fraction of Oura’s feature set, the prevailing ecosystem and improved design may very well be enough to realize market success.
- Techno Pocket Go: The first of its kind, Tecno Pocket Go is a duo of XR glasses and a Windows portable computer. Together you’ve one of the portable ways to play (or get work done) where space is restricted.
Best laptop: Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 5
Kerry Wan/ZDNET
Lenovo’s ThinkPad T series has never been related to glitz and glamour, but this yr’s model has received significant improvements each externally and internally. On the surface, an aluminum cover surrounds the Lenovo communications strip, which houses the webcam and Windows Hello facial recognition sensors. This design provides narrower bezels and a convenient touch point when lifting the open lid.
More impressively, the ThinkPad T14 Gen 5 comes with an Intel Core Ultra processor, as much as 64GB RAM and 2TB storage. Lenovo has partnered with iFixit to supply dedicated repair instructions that allow users to switch batteries, SSDs, WWAN, and more, making this model more easily repaired by the user at any time.
Honorable Mentions
- Dell Latitude 7350 Detachable: The brand’s 2-in-1 laptop could be the most noteworthy version for corporate customers. The Dell Surface Pro competitor comes with the newest Intel Core Ultra processor, a 2.8K resolution display, and all of the safety features you’ve got come to expect from the Latitude line.
- Samsung Galaxy Book4 360: Samsung’s ultra-advanced laptop is finally coming to the United States, featuring a 360-degree hinge, an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card, and a design as sleek as last yr’s Book 3 Ultra.
Best concept: Lenovo Project Crystal
Kerry Wan/ZDNET
Concepts were ubiquitous at MWC, but Lenovo’s Project Crystal stood out from the group with its transparent microLED display and keyboard. Was this on someone’s future laptop bingo card? Probably not, but Lenovo thinks the transparent screen design is suitable for an application most readers could also be acquainted with – multimodal AI processing.
By capturing what’s behind the laptop with the rear camera, the laptop can display digital overlays that add context, similar to the kind of plant or species of animal you are looking at. I’m not entirely convinced that a laptop is probably the most practical solution for such applications… Ray-Ban smart glasses by Meta or Rabbit’s R1 seems more natural – however it’s a captivating concept that has made MWC much more interesting this yr.
Honorable Mentions
- T-Mobile AI phone concept: What in case your phone could actually book an Uber ride for you, as a substitute of showing you the newest search results when asked? This is the longer term that T-Mobile envisions with its AI Phone concept, which replaces installed apps with an assistant that can hopefully do all of it.
- Motorola’s adaptive display concept: Forget about replacing smartphones – Motorola wants to switch smartwatches with the Adaptive Display Concept. I tested out a bendable phone earlier this week, and the satisfaction of shaping a flat phone right into a wrist strap was something I kept fascinated about (and still take into consideration).
Showstopper: Humanitarian Ai Pin
Kerry Wan/ZDNET
No brand or product at this yr’s MWC was more revolutionary than Humane and its Ai Pin laser beam. I passed by the Qualcomm and SK Telecom stands several times a day this week, and there was at all times a crowd with smartphones and cameras pointed at the one product that will simply replace these devices in the longer term.
Humane currently sells the Ai Pin exclusively within the US, which makes the recognition it has gained in Barcelona that rather more jarring. Either way, introducing a gadget as polarizing because the Ai Pin could be the best decision the startup has made yet. This will hopefully carry momentum into the spring competitive product launch season.
Credit : www.zdnet.com
