Mobile World Congress (MWC) – the trade show that’s all about mobile tech – just took place in Barcelona last week, so here’s a recap of the best stuff I saw at the event. Not surprisingly, AI was the buzzword du jour at MWC this year – just like it was at CES in January – but this didn’t detract from manufacturers launching some interesting products and showing off exciting concepts.
Back in 2019, Motorola ushered the era of the folding flip phone with the nostalgia-infused (but ultimately flawed) Moto Razr. The next year, the company followed suit with the Moto Razr 5G, and Samsung refined the idea with its Galaxy Z Flip and Z Flip 5G. But it wasn’t until Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Flip3 in 2021 that the folding flip design finally gelled.
A lot has changed at OnePlus over the past couple of years. The company has merged with OPPO, and OnePlus’ OxygenOS now shares a common codebase with OPPO’s ColorOS. Warp Charge is now called SuperVOOC, which is OPPO’s fast charging brand. And while OnePlus’ affordable Nord N series has been doing well here in the US, the company’s flagships appear to have lost their mojo.
For a few years now, Apple and Samsung have battled for leadership in the global smartphone market share. This is particularly obvious in regions like the US, where both brands dominate. But did you know that Chinese manufacturer Huawei is consistently in the top three as well? In fact, it was #1 in Q2 2020 — yes, the same Huawei that the US government put on an entity list in 2019, barring it from doing business with US companies like Google.
Samsung recently announced the Galaxy Note20 Ultra, and it packs a very interesting camera system. It’s similar to what Samsung offered on the Galaxy S20 Ultra earlier this year, but with a few key differences. Since I’ve been using the company’s latest flagship for a few days, I wanted to share my experience shooting photos (primarily) and videos. So what’s new, what’s different? Is it better, is it worse? Let’s dive in.