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Mobile World Congress kicked off in Barcelona over the weekend and brought with it a bevy of new smartphone announcements from some of the largest players in the mobile space.
Mobile World Congress Smartphone Announcements
It’s been a bit of a free-for-all out there, with each manufacturer looking to outdo the other with the latest technology, security and, yes, gimmicks (and with many of them taking shots at Apple, of course.) The great thing that comes out of all these Mobile World Congress smartphone announcements and the associated chest-puffing and posturing on the big stage is that consumers now know a lot about what 2015 will hold in this space, and we can begin to make educated decisions about what technology we may be incorporating into our personal and professional lives.
We’ve selected the biggest and best Mobile World Congress smartphone announcements of the last couple days and distilled them into an easily digestible form below. Who’s offering what, and why might it matter to me? Find out below.
Samsung
There’s no one bigger in the Android universe than Samsung. After a disappointing outing with their S5 line of phones that saw them cede market share to rival Apple, Samsung has gone back to the drawing board and come out swinging with two flagship S6 smartphone models that reinvent their line of thinking when it comes to the mobile space.
If there’s been one overriding criticism of Samsung phones in the past, it’s been the use of plastic across their models, resulting in devices that many found to feel “cheap.” Samsung is taking a big step forward with their Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, with metal and glass spanning their 5.1-inch frames. The backs are now colored and covered with glass, in a throwback to what many will remember of the design of the iPhone 4. The whole endeavor feels much more high-quality according to all reports from the Mobile World Congress.
Each of Samsung’s new phones features Android 5.0 Lollipop and a 16-megapixel camera (translation: you can take some really large photos!). Particularly noteworthy is the move to increased standard storage: the entry model of each of Samsung’s phones now comes standard with 32GB of internal storage. Consumers can jump up to 64GB or 128GB for extra money. Also of interest is Samsung’s new fast-charging battery feature, which will allow those strapped for time to garner up to four hours of additional use off of just a 10 minute charge. Samsung has been quick to point out that in their estimations the S6 line of phones can charge in half the time of the iPhone 6, although that’s yet to be confirmed.
The latest flagships from Samsung do come with potentially significant drawbacks for those accustomed to all their prior handsets, however. In a surprising move, both the S6 and S6 Edge no longer offer removable/swappable batteries or SD card slots, which is reflected in the increase of standard internal storage. Additionally, waterproofing is no longer included. And that S6 Edge? It now has curved edges on both sides to accommodate left and right handed users, but the edges are smaller and more subtle and their utility suffers as a result. Unless more information emerges, you can consider the edges on the S6 Edge to be stylistic gimmicks and little else.
Availability for the Galaxy S6 line is currently unknown.
HTC
Like the new Samsung offerings, the
HTC One M9 is the latest flagship from HTC that incorporates a 5-inch screen, metal design elements, Android Lollipop, and 32GB of standard internal storage into one pretty package.
While the HTC One M9 features the same metal design as the One M8 and is a very iterative phone update as a result, they did really come out swinging in one regard: the camera. The “4 Ultrapixel” camera on the rear of the M8 is now the camera used on the FRONT of the M9, just to give you a quick idea of the jump in camera quality the M9 offers adopters. The rear camera has now been upped to 20 megapixels. While megapixels themselves are not solely responsible for image quality, it’s worth noting that HTC’s “ultrapixels” allow in a little extra light compared to regular megapixels. The result? When your phone can capture more light during photography, image quality is higher and “noise” and distortion in low-light shooting situations is mitigated.
The new phone’s “Dynamic Exposure” also allows for automatic adjustment of focus, exposure, and depth during photography. Unlike Samsung’s offering, portable storage is still offered through the inclusion of the SD card slot.
The HTC One M9 will be available March 31. Prices TBA.
Microsoft
Looking for something a little different and slightly more affordable? Microsoft has
two modestly-priced phones running Windows Phone 8.1 in the offing with the Lumia 640 and 640 XL.
The 640 has a 5-inch display and 8-megapixel camera. While those megapixel numbers aren’t gaudy like much of the Android competition, keep in mind that the iPhone 6 uses a 8-megapixel arrangement, too.
Meanwhile, the 640 XL is the jumbo “phablet”-sized entry from Microsoft that includes a 5.7-inch display and 13-megapixel camera.
Pricing is a little trickier with these models, as Microsoft has chosen to split each out into 3G and 4G LTE offerings. If you don’t plan on streaming a lot of video and audio on your handset, you may be able to save a few bucks on a 3G model that doesn’t offer the same connection speeds as the 4G LTE model. Still, in today’s world, we’d suggest splurging for 4G.
Prices: The standard Lumia 640 will run $180 for the LTE-equipped version and $160 for the 3G model. The beefier Lumia 640 XL LTE version comes in at $240, while the 3G model runs for $210. Availability isn’t official, but you may see these handsets hit the streets in the April timeframe.
Wrap-Up
There’s a lot that’s still to come from this year’s Mobile World Conference, but now you’re armed with a detailed look at a few of the biggest new players in the 2015 smartphone market.
#TechTuesdays will keep you abreast of any further developments, and next week you can expect to hear about the latest competitors in the mobile wallet market and what it may mean for your day-to-day business activity.
