Editor’s Pick: Smartphones Launched at the Mobile World Congress 2017

March 10, 2017

The 3-day Mobile World Congress 2017 event that took place in Barcelona from 27th Feb to 2nd March, 2017 officially ended last week.

The event saw smartphone giants all over the world launching their newest flagship, although Samsung Electronics; the world’s third biggest smartphone maker didn’t launch any smartphones during the event. As many expected the South Korean firm to launch the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, Samsung Mobile Chief Koh Dong-jin told Reuters that the firm wouldn’t be launching the flagship at the MWC 2017.

During the keynote session at the MWC 2017, Samsung confirmed that Galaxy Unpacked 2017 will be held on March 29th expecting to unveil the successor of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and later on go on sale by April 21st. However, early this week, According to reports by VentureBeat‘s Evan Blass, the phablet will be launched on March 29th, but will be delayed by a week before it hits the stores. This means that after it was scheduled to hit the stores on April 21st, they’re to go on sale on April 28th.

There were no mentions as to why the phablets would be delayed.

In our editor’s pick this week, we looked at 5 of some of the smartphones that were launched at Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona.

1. Huawei P10 and P10 Plus
The awaited P-series smartphone, the ‘Huawei P10 and P10 Plus’. Following the success of its predecessor, the Shenzhen-based smartphone markers, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd, launched the phablets along its second-edition smartwatches, the Huawei Watch 2 and Huawei Porsche Design. The newly introduced P-serie flagship are a combination of beautiful hardware and the latest advances in software. Even more, the smartphones showcase striking colors and finishes, and introduce new Leica front and back cameras with cutting-edge portrait features to make every shot a cover shot.

The HUAWEI P10 and P10 Plus, a stunning combination of technology and art.

Specs: They are powered by the HiSilicon Kirin 960 SoC, a dual rear camera setup with one 20MP and 12MP, 8MP front camera. Both a dual-SIM devices (Nano + Nano/ microSD) running on Android 7.1 Nougat-based EMUI 5.1 OS, while in terms of connectivity, spot 4.5G LTE, Bluetooth v4.2, USB Type-C, GPS, and DLNA. The Huawei P10 features a 5.1-inch HD display while the Huawei P10 Plus features a 5.5-inch 2K display, and packs a 3200mAh and 3750mAh batteries respectively.

Pricing and Availability: Huawei P10 is priced at EUR 649 (roughly 2,458,200 UGX), the Huawei P10 Plus 4GB is priced at EUR 699 (roughly 2,647,500 UGX), while the Huwei P10 Plus 6GB is priced at EUR 799 (roughly 3,026,300 UGX). The smartphones are currently available to Australia, Austria, Chile, China, Columbia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, the UK, and Vietnam. Meanwhile other countries including Uganda will have to wait.

Color Variants: Mystic Silver, Rose Gold, Graphite Black, Dazzling Gold, Dazzling Blue, and Greenery.

2. Nokia 6
Launched in China first in January, HMD Global; who currently own the right to the Nokia Branded phones, re-launched the smartphone at the MWC this year. The company alongside a launched its Android smartphones; Nokia 3 and 5. And not forgetting the famous Nokia 3310.

Nokia 6 was the first Nokia Android Smartphone launched. It was launched in China and made it limited to China market, and was later on launched at MWC 2017 to make available globally.

Specs: Spots 5.5-Inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, Qualcomm MSM8937 Snapdragon 430 chipset, 16MP & 8MP rear and front cameras respectively, a fingerprint sensor mounted at the front, 3GB RAM/32GB ROM, and 4GB RAM/64GB ROM with an expandable microSD card of up to 256GB, running on a Android 7.1.1 (Nougat) OS which is backed on a non-removable Li-Ion 3000mAh battery.

Price and Availability: The Nokia 6 will be available at EUR 229 (roughly 868,000 UGX), while the all-new Nokia 6 Arc Black variant which will sport high-class piano black color has been priced EUR 299 (roughly 1,132,800 UGX). HMD Global in a statement said that Nokia 6 will as well as Nokia 3, 5, and 3310 will be launched in Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa, and Europe in the second quarter of this year.

Color Variants: Arte Black, Matte Black, Tempered Blue, Silver, and Copper.

3. Moto G5 and G5 Plus
As expected, Motorola after confirming their attendance at the MWC 2017 where they launched the Moto G5 and Moto G5 Plus. According to reports we managed to get, the phablets received a much needed design refresh, with a metal chassis and a circular camera frame at the back. Specifications also see a bump in many departments.

Motorola G5 and G5 Plus received a much needed design refresh, with a metal chassis and a circular camera frame at the back. Specifications also see a bump in many departments.Image Credit: PC Advisor

Spec: Both the smartphones come with fingerprint scanners in the front underneath the Home Button, Google Assistant, the duo runs on Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box. While in comparison, the Moto G5 features a 5-Inch full-HD display screen, powered by a 1.4GHz Snapdragon 430 processor, 2GB or 3GB of RAM and 16GB or 32GB of ROM, with the option to expand further via a a microSD card slot up to 128GB and packs a 2800mAh removable Li-lon battery with support for fast charging, 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front camera.

While the Motorola G5 Plus features a 5.2-Inch full-HD display, powered by the 2GHz Snapdragon 625 octa-core processor, 2GB, 3GB, and 4GB RAM models depending on the region, 32GB or 64GB of inbuilt storage, with the option to expand further via a microSD card slot up to 128GB, 12MP rear camera, 5MP front camera, a 3000mAh non-removable Li-lon battery with TurboPower charging.

Price and Availability: The Moto G5 will start at Euros 199 (roughly ) for the 2GB RAM/ 16GB storage variant and the Moto G5 Plus will be priced at Euros 229 (roughly ) for the 2GB RAM/ 32GB storage variant, and Euros 279 (roughly) for the 3GB RAM and 32GB storage variant. Available in Europe.

Color variants: Lunar Grey, and Fine Gold.[related-posts]

4. LG G6
LG G6 launched at MWC 2017 in Barcelona on Sunday followed the company’s Less Artificial, More Intelligence theme. According to reports by NDTV news, Juno Cho, President of Mobile Communications Company at LG Electronics, at the company’s keynote stressed that the smartphone war isn’t about specifications but about usability. The LG G6 highlight is of course the presence of the Google Assistant, the first non-Google Pixel smartphone to sport the virtual assistant.

Further mentioned that the company confirmed that LG G6 comes with a G6 Game Collection promotion which will be free for the buyers and will offer in-game content with a retail value of up to a total of $200 for six games including Temple Run 2, Spider-Man Unlimited, Crossy Road, SimCity BuildIt, Cookie Jam and Genies & Gems – on Google Play.

LG G6 comes with a G6 Game Collection promotion which will be free for the buyers and will offer in-game content with a retail value of up to a total of $200 for six games.

Specs: The LG G6 specifications include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 SoC with 4GB RAM, 5.7-inch FullVision display bears a QHD+, two storage options; 32GB and 64GB, expandable storage via microSD card up to 2TB, a dual rear camera setup with two 13MP sensors, 5MP front camera with autofocus, packs a 3300mAh non-removable battery running on Android 7.0 Nougat on the company’s brand new UX 6.0.

Price and Availability: The LG G6 will first go on sale in South Korea and will most likely hit the US (and other markets) sometime in late March or April, according to reports by Android Police. However, the price and availability aren’t yet confirmed.

Color variants: Astro Black, Ice Platinum, and Mystic White.

Honorable Mentions