Year after year, we look forward to three major showcase events for key mobile tech launches, this includes the CES in Las Vegas, MWC in Barcelona and the IFA in Berlin. The CES was already held in January with some of the most innovative creations such as but what can we expect from the upcoming MWC 2016 to be held this February?
When is MWC 2016?
This year the MWC mobile tech show is slated from February 22 to 25, 2016 in Barcelona. Usually, we expect most of the big reveals to be made during the press conferences held a few days prior to the event.
Here is a list of devices we look forward to, some have been confirmed, some are based on past annual announcements while others are thanks to the rumor mill.
Xiaomi: Mi5
February 24, 2016 will see Xiaomi make their first unveiling at MWC. The Chinese company will introduce their highly anticipated flagship device, the Mi5. Xiaomi's Global Vice President Hugo Barra has already confirmed this after he tweeted an image announcing the coming of the smartphone.
This newest Mi5 device is expected to be powered by the Snapdragon 820.
Samsung: Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge
The MWC mobile tech show has always been an opportunity for Samsung to showcase their newest Galaxy products. In MWC's 2015 event, Samsung's Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge were unleashed to the world. Samsung has already announced its Galaxy Unpacked event to be held on February 21, a day before MWC, where it is expected to introduce two devices, the Galaxy S7 and its S7 Edge variant.
LG: G5 and the X Series
The latest devices from LG were not previously announced at MWC, but rather revealed the LG G4 and the LG G3, in May and June consecutively. This perhaps was a way of avoiding a direct competition with Samsung.
But this year, LG seems to have taken a different approach, with its plans to go head to head with Samsung and even present it LG G5 flagship on the same as Samsung announces their Galaxy devices.
LG has also disclosed that it will launching two mid-range devices along with its premium flagship. These two smartphones will be the initial X series devices, with one being named LG X Cam and the other LG X Screen. Both devices are designed with one or two special features.
The LG X Cam is specially created for those who want a great camera but could forgo the other high-end specifications. Dual cameras will be present on the device's back, and according to leaked reports, the same will be complemented on the G5. It also offers a 5.2 inch display with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 p, along with an octa-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz and 2GB of RAM.
On the hand, the LG X Screen has a secondary Always On display, which allows you to see the time and date, as well as notifications, without waking your phone. This also happens to one of G5's rumored features. The LG X Screen also has a 4.93-inch primary screen, a quad core 1.2 GHz CPU and 2GB of RAM.
HTC: The One M10
HTC is also known for presenting its latest One series flagships at the MWC. This year it the company will take a different direction and instead announce the HTC One M10 in March, with the official release for sales being in April; this is according to the Ithome Chinese website. Expectations are high for this device, especially in terms of major changes in comparison to its One M9 smartphone.
Though the Taiwanese company will not present its smartphone flagship at MWC, its presence will still be felt as we expect to see the HTC Vive booth alongside Under Armor Fitness Tracker, which feature heart rate scales and monitors. Along with this, one or two HTC Desire series may even be presented.
Sony: Xperia Z5 and Z6
Sony held a press conference in mid-January to announce its plans to be present at MWC 2016. It has not been confirmed what Sony has planned but considering a press conference was not held prior to their Xperia Z4 and M4 Aqua announcement, we can only speculate big things, or even perhaps multiple devices being announced. An Xperia Z5 Tablet could be likely, the possibility of a smartwatch or even an Xperia Z6 reveal.
Huawei: Huawei P9
Huawei has officially pretty much broken into the global mobile market now, with the launch of Huawei Mate S, Mate 8 and their Nexus 6P devices. However, Huawei has always been pushing out great handsets, most especially the P line.
Some rumours suggest that a later than MWC 2016 launch for Huawei P9 may happen.
Project Ara
Due to the fact that the trial run for Project Ara set for Puerto Rico has delayed well into 2016, an MWC 2016 unveiling may be the best for Google's consumer-based modular smartphone versions, as well as a slew of its replaceable modules.
OPPO
The Chinese manufacturer has come out saying that its MWC event will “wow the world”. In 2015, OPPO revealed their R5 to the world at MWC, this only means big things.
Alcatel
Alcatel has disclosed a couple of its plans for MWC through their websites. Leaked pages of the Idol 4 and 4S specs revealed that the Idol 4 will be equipped with a Snapdragon 617 CPU and an LCD 1,080p display resolution. The Idol 4S has an octa-core Snapdragon 652 chipset along with a Quad HD Super AMOLED display.What are you most looking forward to from the MWC 2016? Let us know in the comments.
