MWC 2019 Barcelona Highlights : All important updates from LG, Huawei, Sony, Nokia, and more!

MWC 2019 highlights

Mobile World Congress is in full swing and we are witnessing an unprecedented amount of 'revolutionary' mobile devices being launched.

LG has come up with successors to its G and V series phones.

Huawei showcased their answer to the Galaxy Fold.

Nokia showed up with the Nokia 9 PureView and a bunch of other affordable phones. The 5-camera monster is now finally a reality.

Sony came up with the world's first smartphone with a 4K 21:9 OLED display!

I'm hoping to cover all these in this single article. Let's get on with it!

LG Event Highlights:


MWC 2019 highlights

LG G8 is now official, and it comes with some new motion tracking tech inside.

Most of the design remains similar to the G7, except the G8 skips on the earpiece speaker. Instead, the entire top half of the display vibrates and acts as a piezoelectric earpiece, similar to what we saw on the OG Mi MIX. They're calling it the Crystal Sound OLED.

The phone now uses its front time-of-flight sensors to track your palm movement. you can do a bunch of cool, but weird things now, such as unlocking the phone by using the vein pattern in your palm!

MWC 2019 highlights

Yup! you literally have to hold your palm up to the screen to register and unlock the LG G8. It also has palm gestures, by which you can launch some apps, play or pause videos, skip tracks, etc.

It might theoretically be easier than face unlock. but you sitting there, performing Dr. Strange hand movements doesn't make it any less awkward. Besides, just like any other tech, this is first gen. So, it naturally won't work a 100% all the time.

But it's cool to see and show off to a couple of friends anyway. Just like when Samsung made a big deal about Air View with the Galaxy S4 back in 2013. Remember that? Yeah, funny times.

MWC 2019 highlights

Basic G8 specs:

  • The latest 2.8 GHz snapdragon 855 CPU
  • 6 GB RAM
  • 128 GB storage (expandable)
  • 3400 mAh battery
  • Classic rear mounted fingerprint sensor 


That's about it with the LG G8. We'll see how the device actually fares in real life later. On to the V50.

LG V50 seems a bit rushed to me. It is exactly the same as the LG V40, but with 5G tech. It even looks pretty much identical to the V40. That's not a bad thing by any means, just pointing it out.

Huawei Event Highlights:


Looks like 2019 is going to be the era of foldable smartphone concepts/ models.

MWC 2019 highlights

After Samsung showcased their ridiculously expensive but cool looking Galaxy fold (which I choose not to cover too much), Huawei decided to hit back with their own version of a foldable 5G flagship, the Huawei Mate X.

MWC 2019 highlights

The phone folds outwards, unlike the Galaxy Fold, which gives it a fairly flat profile when folded. What's dope is that in "phone mode", it has two displays: a 6.39" on one side and a 6.6" on the other.

Depending on how you're holding the Mate X, that respective display turns on, which is awesome.

MWC 2019 highlights

It has the beastly Kirin 980 powering it along with a 4500 mAh battery inside. Get this, it has a whopping 55 Watt charging technology which can supposedly get you up to 85% in under half an hour!

Needless to say, the phone looks and sounds incredible. But it is too early to draw a concrete judgement. They have, however, managed to beat the Samsung phone in one obvious aspect, the price tag.

MWC 2019 highlights

Coming in at over €2200, this is by far the most expensive consumer phone I've seen yet.

Nokia Event Highlights:


Nokia's back on the radar with the new Nokia 9 PureView. The rear camera setup is exactly what we saw in the leaks.

MWC 2019 highlights

The 5 camera setup on the rear consists of 2 RGB and 3 monochrome sensors, all of the same 12 mp resolution and f/1.8 aperture.

Light, a fairly well known company who made that 16 camera monstrosity, L16 have worked with Nokia on this penta-camera array thingy that they have going on here.

MWC 2019 highlights

Nokia says it can capture over 1200 layers of depth with this 5 camera setup as opposed to other phones, which can only do 7-12 layers.

You can also capture stunning monochrome images, as these sensors let in 3x more light due to the absence of a color filter.

The front of the phone looks relatively normal. It has the standard 18:9 OLED screen with an in-display fingerprint sensor.

MWC 2019 highlights

Other specs include:

  • An older Snapdragon 845 processor
  • 6 GB RAM
  • 128 GB storage 
  • 3320 mAh battery
  • 20 mp front camera
  • IP67
  • No headphone jack


Sony Event Highlights:


MWC 2019 highlights

Sony Note 3 new phones at MWC the likes of which we have never seen before. They all have incredibly tall 21:9 (3840x1644) aspect ratio displays. They are called the Xperia 1, Xperia 10, and Xperia 10 Plus.

MWC 2019 highlights

The Xperia 1 has some other new things in it, such as the fingerprint sensor on the side, which does not double up as the power button this time. The power button is below it.

MWC 2019 highlights

These phones also showcase Sony's first ever triple camera sensor. It consists of a standard, telephoto, and wide angle sensor combo, 12 + 12 + 12. You cam do some pretty amazing things like record 4k 21:9 videos.

MWC 2019 highlights

Other specs are:

  • Snapdragon 855
  • 6 GB RAM
  • 128 GB storage
  • 3300 mAh battery

Final words:

MWC 2019 highlights

Well, that's about it. I think all these phones were pretty amazing. We got to see something we never saw before with each device.

What do you think about all these new smartphones coming out at MWC? Drop a comment down below or hit me up on my socials at Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

I'll see you with the next one, cheers!

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