MWC 2023: all the phones, gadgets, and announcements coming out of Barcelona

¡Fantástico! This year’s MWC edition is held again in Barcelona with four days of phone excitement from today until March 2nd. In case you didn’t know, this is a high-profile event, attended by tens of thousands eager to be at the vanguard when it comes to the latest innovations in the sector.

Without further ado, here are some of the most interesting highlights of the MWC so far. 

OnePlus’ new concept phone

OnePlus is a pretty exciting company, even with OnePlus 11’s charging issues. This time, they unveiled a cool phone with colorful strips on the back. These are not just cosmetics, it’s in fact the Active CryoFlux cooling system. According to OnePlus, it’ll allow better performance when gaming and charging, besides showing off, of course.

Even though it looks great and all, it’s not certain whether this device will ever reach consumers. OnePlus has unveiled several interesting technologies over the years, such as a phone with a color-changing back, which was never released.

Lenovo’s rollable laptop and smartphone

Come again? Yes, you read that right. Foldables are so 2022 that Lenovo decided to build rollables instead. First unveiled in October, the company is developing a rollable laptop and phone in collaboration with Motorola. They were presented at the MWC 2023 yet again, though they’re far from being released yet.

Simply by flipping a switch, you can make the screen extend or protract. How cool is that? It also lets you have more screen real estate whenever you need it, and makes these devices more portable at the same time.

Xiaomi 13 Pro in new markets

The big announcement is that Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro are set to be released outside of China, more precisely throughout Asia and Europe. There’s no information regarding a US launch, however.

The Xiaomi 13 Pro’s highlight is, undoubtedly, its 1-inch camera sensor but the goodies don’t end there. It has a 120Hz fast-refresh OLED screen, wireless charging, and wired fast charging too.

 

No more repair shops with Nokia 

If you’re constantly dropping your phone, I’ve got news for you. The latest Nokia G22 is all about DIY skills, but easy. You can replace a battery in less than five minutes, and the screen in about twenty. HMD is even partnering with iFixit to sell the parts.

This is a budget phone with a release price of about $180, but unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it’ll come to the US market, at least for the time being.

Bluetooth gets new functionality

Motorola unveiled an accessory called Defy Satellite Link Bluetooth. It lets you use normal smartphones, Motorola or otherwise, for emergency two-way satellite texting.

This keychain accessory allows you to upgrade your phone’s capabilities to be on par with the iPhone 14 and other phones with SOS-via-satellite features. The feature is not only useful when the time of reckoning for all of us comes, but also in less dramatic scenarios, such as when you have no signal.

 

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