MWC 2022: 7 Products — Phones, Tablets, And An Accessory — That Stood Out From The Crowd In Barcelona

MWC 2022 saw literally hundreds of products, technologies and concepts being showcased, but some stood out from the crowd as being the most likely to make an impact. Here is our list of seven.

By Akriti Rana and Nimish Dubey

The Mobile World Congress (MWC), perhaps the biggest event in mobile technology, returned to Barcelona after a two-year Covid sabbatical. From February 28 to March 3, some of the biggest brands in the world of mobile technology showcased not only their latest and greatest products and innovations to thousands of visitors, but also gave us a glimpse into the future. From notebooks to phones to tablets to accessories, Barcelona was the hub of cutting-edge mobile technology for a dizzy, crazy four days.

While the event saw literally hundreds of products, technologies and concepts being showcased, some stood out from the crowd as being the most likely to make an impact on the market and perhaps even our lives in the coming days.

Here, then, is our list of seven products that starred at MWC 2022:

What the Flash: Oppo's SuperVOOC Flash Charge 

If you thought that a phone with a 4500 mAh battery getting charged in under 20 minutes was insanely fast, Oppo redefined super fast charging at MWC 2022. The company introduced its SuperVOOC 240W flash charging solution, which can charge a phone with a 4500 mAh battery in a mere nine minutes. The solution comes with a number of safety measures. A specially customized intelligent control chip controls voltage, current, and temperature to ensure charging stays safe. Another customised battery safety monitoring chip keeps an eye on the phone's battery to see if it is damaged, and 13 temperature sensors in the phone ensure there's no chance of temperatures rising beyond safe levels. Oppo also showcased a 150W SuperVOOC flash charge with a battery health engine (BHE) which can not only charge a phone with 4500 mAh battery in about 15 minutes, but also extends the lifespan of the battery. But for us, the 240W SuperVOOC Flash Charge was the bigger star of the show. Now, let's see which Oppo phone gets it first. 

Realme GT 2 Pro: Really Premium, Realme Premium

A lot of Realme's success comes from its excellent value for money mid-segment and affordable phone offerings. The brand is now looking to carve a niche in the premium segment, and MWC 2022 saw it release one of its most premium offerings, the Realme GT 2 Pro. The phone comes with all the trimmings you would expect from a high-end device. It features what Realme claims is the world's first 2K AMOLED lfat display with LTPO 2.0 technology. That 6.7 inch AMOLED display has an amazing pixel density of 525 ppi, and is powered by the most powerful chip around, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Generation 1. The camera arrangement is innovative as well, and features not just a powerful 50 megapixel Sony IMX 766 main sensor with OIS, but also  an ultrawide camera with a staggering 150 degrees field of view, as well as a 40X micro lens camera. A big 5000 mAh battery with support for 65W fast charging rounds off the spec package. 

The phone's design is special too, with Realme collaborating once more with design wizard Naoto Fukusawa to come up with the first bio-based polymer design, which is far more sustainable and eco-friendly.  It is a good looking phone and a powerful one too, and its price tag of approximately USD 615 could well see Realme mixing it with the likes of Samsung and OnePlus in the premium segment in 2022. 

Poco X4 Pro: Note-ably Value For Money

It was raining flagships at Barcelona, but phones from the mid-segment had their share of the spotlight as well. And the most impressive of these came from Xiaomi's former sub-brand, Poco, which has been making a name for itself in the mid-segment with its loud and proud designs and remarkably competitively priced  offerings. The Poco X4 Pro will invite comparisons with Xiaomi's own Note series, but to us, it was perhaps the best value for money phone seen at the event. For EUR 299 (about Rs 25,000), the X4 Pro delivers a 6.67 inch full HD+ AMOLED display with 120 Hz refresh rate, a powerful Snapdragon 695 chip, the first 108 megapixel sensor seen on a Poco device, and a large 5000 mAh battery with a 67W charger. All of this packaged inside a design that is typically funky Poco — yes, there is a bright yellow variant. Yes, the similarities with the Note series are remarkable but we do not think any of us will mind that given those specs and that price tag. 

Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 3: Singing A New ChromeOS Duet

Lenovo launched a number of devices at MWC 2022, with different functions and features but the one we think was an absolute rockstar in this lot was the IdeaPad Duet 3 Chromebook. The latest addition in the IdeaPad Duet series has the same classic form factor. It is a touchscreen tablet that comes with a kickstand, and can also be attached magnetically to a keyboard. That familiar form factor comes with significant updates. The IdeaPad Duet 3 is powered by the ARM based Snapdragon 7C Gen 2 processor and comes with a bigger, 11-inch 2K LCD display with stylus support. The device is equipped with dual speakers, USB Type C 3.0 ports, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.1 and comes with upto 256 GB of eMMC storage. 

It runs on Chrome OS, can handle Android apps, and delivers up to 12 hours of battery life, with 45W Quick Charge support. What makes the Duet 3 special is that it still remains very affordable for a 2-in-1. Lenovo has launched the device at USD 399.99, retaining the affordability factor of its predecessor, which is a major plus in our books. It remains the closest thing to a Surface-like Chromebook. And you get a keyboard in the box!

Huawei MatePad Paper: Scribbling With Some E-inkr

Huawei may not be as big a name in the smartphone world as it once used to be, but the brand continues to come out with innovative devices. At MWC 2022, Huawei showcased the MatePad Paper, which is an ebook reader/tablet with a 10. 3 inch display. It comes with 4 GB RAM and 64 GB internal storage and runs on an ARM-based Huawei Kirin 820E chipset. But while these specs and numbers can be matched, what makes the MatePad Paper special is the fact that it features an e-ink display (similar to what you see on Amazon's Kindle e-book readers), which is unusual in the tablet world. What's more, it comes with support for Huawei’s M Pencil Stylus. 

This means you will actually be able to scribble, edit, annotate, paint and do all the other things you normally would with a pen on this tablet.  Of course, the scribbling and writing experience will not be as fast or smooth as the S Pen or the Apple Pencil, but for the e-ink world, this is pretty cool. We can see book readers who love underlining text, and scribbling in margins loving this sleek, compact device. 

Honor Magic 4 Pro: Magically Powerful

Brands try to put their best foot forward at MWC and the best foot forward in the smartphone world often means specs, specs and some more specs. That is exactly what the Honor Magic 4 Pro is about — it is a spec powerhouse. The phone comes with a 6.81 inch quad curved LTPO OLED full HD+ display, and an adaptive refresh rate which can go from 1 to 120 Hz depending on the content being viewed on it. It runs on the most powerful chipset that Qualcomm has to offer — the Snapdragon 8 Generation 1, paired with up to 12 GB LPDDR5 RAM and with up to 512 GB UFS 3.1 flash storage. The powerful spec numbers flow into the camera department as well. The phone comes with a 50 megapixel main and a 50 megapixel ultrawide sensor, and a 64 megapixel periscope telephoto unit with 3.5 x optical zoom and a staggering 100x digital zoom

As if that were not enough hardware "magic," the phone comes with a large 4600 mAh battery and supports 100W fast charging, using Honor's SuperCharge technology. We have seen faster wired charging but what makes it special is that this 100W charging speed is available for wireless charging as well, making the Magic 4 Pro one of the fastest charging phones around, wired or otherwise. Round that off with a stunning design (with a circular camera unit on the back), and this was one of the most powerful devices on show at Barcelona. 

TCL NxtPaper Max 10: Tablet That Literally 'Looks' Different

At first sight, the TCL NxtPaper Max 10 seems pretty much your tablet next door. It comes with a 10.36 inch full HD+ display, runs on Android 11 and has a massive 8,000 mAH battery. But the TCL NxtPaper Max 10 is not about specs at all. What makes it a highlight of MWC 2022 for us is its most important component — the display. It may seem like a regular display but is actually made up of multiple layers and is topped off with an anti-glare material. That makes it appear almost like paper, hence its name.

No, it is unlikely to set performance records but we love the fact that it brings some serious display innovation to the table in terms of texture, eye-safety and appearance even as other brands harp on pixels, nits and refresh rates.