The biggest smartphone exhibition on the planet is set to begin in a few weeks time. The 2017 Mobile World Congress will be held in Barcelona from 26th February to March 2, and is set to include many big-name smartphone launches and announcements.
While the Galaxy S8 is likely to give MWC a miss, several manufacturers like HTC, Lenovo and Xiaomi are planning to unveil their flagship handsets.
Also read : The 5 Best Smartphones of 2016
Undoubtedly, the biggest highlight of the Congress is expected to be Nokia’s announcement, where the company is set to announce their global comeback smartphone - the Nokia 8.
Here are the top 5 smartphone launches expected at MWC 2017:
1/5 Nokia 8
Nokia's new flagship handset - the Nokia 8 is set to come in two variants, one with 6GB of RAM, 128GB of internal storage and the Snapdragon 835 SoC and one with 4GB of RAM, 64GB of internal storage and the Snapdragon 821 SoC.
On the imaging front, the handset is rumoured to come with a massive 24MP primary camera with Optical Image Stabilisation and a 12MP front shooter for selfies.
The smartphone is also said to come with Zeiss branded optics as seen on earlier Nokia devices. Taking Nokia's history with imaging into account, the camera is sure to be a highlight of the device.
Apart from the flagship we may also see a mid-range handset codenamed ‘DC1’ and a low-end smartphone codenamed ‘Pixel’.
(The smartphone in the image is the recently announced Nokia 6)
2/5 Moto G5 Plus
On the hardware front, the G5 Plus is set to come with a 5.5-inch fullHD display, the Snapdragon 625 SoC, 4GB of RAM, 16/32GB of internal storage and a 3,080mAh battery.
The handset is rumoured to come with a 16MP rear camera and 5MP front camera. Software wise, the G5 Plus will run Android 7.0 Nougat right out of the box.
On the design front, the G5 Plus is set to come with a home button up front (unlike the G4 Plus which had on screen capacitive keys), a circular camera panel at the back and a new silver color variant.
3/5 Xiaomi Mi 6
Latest rumours indicate that the Mi 6 will come in three different variants with different chipsets in each.
Out of the three variants on offer, two are supposed to be powered by the Helio X30 chipset and Snapdragon 835 respectively. The model with the Helio X30 SoX is set to be priced at RMB 1,999 ( Roughly Rs 19,800) and the variant with the top of the line Snapdragon 835 is et to be prices at RMB 2,499 ( Roughly Rs 24,800). This variant will also come with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage.
The third variant will be the top of the line model and will cost RMB 2,999 ( Approximately Rs 29,600). This variant is set to come with same Snapdragon 835 as the middle variant but will increase the RAM to 6GB and the internal storage to a whopping 256GB. The top of the line model will also feature a dual-edge curved display, circa the Galaxy S7 Edge .
All three models will be powered by a 3,000mAh battery and will come with USB C for charging and data transfer.
On the imaging front, reports indicate that the device will come with a 16MP camera at the rear with 4K recording support and a 4MP sensor at the front for selfies. Some rumours also point to the the Mi 6 coming with a dual-camera setup at the rear.
4/5 LG G6
The LG G6 is set to come with a a dual camera setup on the back, with a fingerprint sensor located underneath it.
Additionally, the smartphone will be waterproof and come with a non-removable battery (unlike the G5 and V20), a 5.3-inch QHD display, a 3.5mm headphone jack and wireless charging support.
It is unknown whether the ‘modular’ capabilities of the LG G5 will be carried over to the new flagship. The lack of a removable battery point towards LG either dropping the modular functionality or coming up with a new way to implement it.
Like the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, the LG G6 is expected to come an iris scanner. Rumours also point to LG launching an integrated payment system with LG G6 akin to Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.
5/5 HTC 11/Ocean
HTC is set to announce it’s flagship smartphone for 2017 at the Mobile World Congress. IT is unknown at the moment whether the device will be named HTC 11 or the HTC Ocean, which certain rumours point towards.
The HTC Ocean is set to come with a metallic body with chamfered edges, a 5.5-inch QuadHD display, Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 835 processor and a 3,700mAh battery.
On the imaging front, the smartphone will reportedly come with a dual-camera setup on the back, with one 12MP sensor and one 8MP sensor. The Smartphone is set to run Android 7.0 Nougat and come with HTC’s AI based Sense UI skin on top.
(Image source: Techconfigurations)
