As every year around this time, the heart of technology was beating for a few 24 hours in Barcelona, where the Mobile World Congress or MWC was held, an exhibition that, although it focuses perennially on mobile devices and technologies (mostly smartphones and tablets), always hides surprises that resemble a sci-fi scene.

The MWC 2023 was no exception, as the biggest manufacturers, as every year, presented us with products and concepts that, in some cases, left us with our mouths open and only the idea of how they can be applied in our daily lives.

These are the 11+1 that we singled out and impressed us!

Nokia: Even if it breaks? You can fix it yourself!

HMD Global has presented the Nokia G2, a user-friendly device, but what does that exactly mean?

The smartphone will be accompanied by a repair kit, which, thanks to the QuickFix feature, will allow the owner to easily and quickly repair it themselves!

The service is provided in collaboration with iFixit, which will inform the user about the parts and tools they will need, as well as the steps they need to follow to fix the problem themselves: from a simple battery replacement to screen replacement! Everything is literally in the hands of the consumer, saving them the cost of service!

So, are you ready to get your hands on it?

Cooling smartphone with lighting

If you're looking for a smartphone with impressive effects that will make those around you ask about your phone, OnePlus has the ultimate proposal.

At MWC 2023, the company brought an extra version of its flagship, the OnePlus 11, but with the difference that this one had the Active CryoFlux cooling system.

What's special about it?

It uses a blue coolant that flows through visible pipes on the back of the device! The result was impressive to magical, and according to OnePlus, it's particularly effective as it reduces the temperature inside the smartphone during gaming by up to 2.1 degrees Celsius. Not bad!

For now, it's a concept, but something tells us we won't have to wait long to see it commercially available.

The Vivo makes a "click"

If you were waiting for the MWC to find your next camera phone, you just found it! The Vivo X90 Pro is the mobile phone of the wannabe photographer. 

It is one of the first devices with a one-inch sensor, resulting in incredibly clear shots, even in low light conditions.

The main camera has a resolution of 50MP (f/1.8, 1.6 μm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS), while it is accompanied by an ultra-wide 12 MP (f/2.0, 108ο, 16 mm) and a telephoto 50 MP (1/2.4 inches, f/1.6, 0.7 μm, AF, OIS and 2x optical zoom). 

The capabilities of the device are amazing, giving us noise-free images, with incredible detail and vivid colors in realistic, earthy tones. And besides the camera, the X90 Pro is not doing badly: it has a 6.78-inch 120 Hz AMOLED screen, 8-12 GB RAM, 256-512 GB capacity, MediaTek Dimensity 9200 and a 4870 mAh battery.

Pure "magic" from HONOR

HONOR presented its new series of devices in Barcelona and, yes, it impressed us! 

The Magic 5 Pro in particular stood out. It features a 6.81-inch LTPO display with a 120Hz refresh rate and dynamic dimming that mimics natural lighting for a more comfortable viewing experience. Specifically, HONOR claims that eye fatigue is reduced by 18%. Inside, it has a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, a 5100 mAh battery, up to 16 GB of RAM, and UFS 4.0 storage capacity up to 512 GB. 

It has 3 cameras of 50MP (50 MP wide-angle, 50 ultra-wide-angle, 50 MP telephoto), which provide crystal-clear images and exceptionally smooth videos with the help of AI technology, while there is also a 16 MP front camera. 

As for its price, it starts at €1199 for the basic version.

New generation SIM "cards"

Just as we were getting used to the idea of eSIMs, the digital SIMs that came to replace physical cards forever, here come the iSIMs.

They are another generation of SIMs and you may already be wondering if we really need them.

In reality, Qualcomm's goal is to integrate SIMs into the chip of our devices, starting with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.

What are the benefits of such a move?

Basically two: on the one hand, space savings inside the device and on the other hand, lower power consumption. In both cases, however, our thoughts go to mobile devices in general and not necessarily smartphones.

By the way, which smart devices would you like to see gaining the ability to connect to a mobile data network?

What can you do in 10 minutes?

How annoying is it to have to pause your life every time your smartphone needs to be charged? That's why Realme won us over with the GT3, the smartphone that can charge in 10 minutes! And when we say "charge," we mean it: 0-100%.

No, it doesn't have that much battery capacity: it's 4600 mAh. The magic comes from the 240W charger that comes with the smartphone and can fully charge it in less than 10 minutes.

According to Realme, five minutes of charging is enough to bring the battery from absolute zero to 50%, which is enough time to get dressed before leaving the house!

The company even claims that it will take 1600 charging cycles before the battery health drops to 80%, which is almost double the number guaranteed by many devices. That's a lot.

Xiaomi and TCL, "put on" our glasses! Literally

Augmented reality (AR for short) is a type of technology that many companies continue to experiment with.

Two of these companies were TCL and Xiaomi, both of which came prepared to MWC 2023. 

TCL presented the RayNeo X2 with a design that does not in any way testify to their high-tech character. They feature Micro-LED displays, incorporate Snapdragon XR2, and are able to provide navigation, recognize gestures, translate text and speech in real time (with subtitles in front of your eyes), and of course present information about everything the user sees!

Xiaomi, on the other hand, showed us the Wireless AR Glass Discovery Edition, which also incorporates Snapdragon XR2, weighs just 126 grams, features retina-level Micro-OLED displays, and offers an even more natural way of interacting for a new, even more connected user experience.

Both pairs of glasses are currently in the concept stage, but you can see where this technology is headed…

Xiaomi 13 Series

The Xiaomi 13 series, which was initially launched in China last year, has now been presented globally by the company at the Mobile World Congress 2023.  

The series consists of the Xiaomi 13, Xiaomi 13 Pro, and Xiaomi 13 Lite models. As expected, the Pro is the company's top proposal for the first half of the year (at least), a device that has been developed in collaboration with Leica. It stands out for its impressive 6.73-inch display, with brightness reaching 1200 nits, but mainly for the central camera system on the back. 

The central sensor has a resolution of 50MP and a size of 1", similar to those found in top compact cameras. It is accompanied by a 50MP telephoto lens, while the ultra-wide camera has the same resolution and an aperture of f/2.2.

OnePlus Pad: The Android Alternative to iPad?

For the second time, OnePlus appears on our list, this time thanks to the OnePlus Pad, a tablet that doesn't go unnoticed.

It's a remarkable achievement, considering that it's OnePlus' first tablet. With an aluminum body and weighing 550 grams, it's a premium proposal that, at the very least, offers comfortable grip. 

Its screen is 11.61 inches, occupying 88% of the front, with a refresh rate of 144Hz and a resolution of 2800x2000 pixels, making it ideal for a variety of activities, from reading to gaming. The device comes with a 9510 mAh battery, four Dolby Atmos speakers, a 13MP main camera, and MediaTek Dimensity 9000 with 12 GB RAM for comfortable multitasking, while it will be compatible with OnePlus' magnetic keyboard and stylus.

We won't lie: it impressed us greatly, even giving us some iPad vibes! Of course, we'll wait to see it in real-life conditions (don't forget that OnePlus owes us price and availability), but the first impression was very positive.

Motorola: No signal? There's a solution for emergencies!

Surely you have found yourself in situations where your smartphone has no signal whatsoever.

And, okay, when you're deep in your house: you go out on the balcony and problem solved. But when you're in the middle of a hike;

That's where the Motorola Defy Satellite Link shows its value. A product of the collaboration between Bullitt and Motorola Mobility, it is a durable, rugged accessory that connects via Bluetooth to any smartphone (supports both iOS and Android), providing it with the ability to send and receive satellite messages, thanks to the Bullitt Satellite Messenger service, SOS signal and location sharing.

It meets the MIL-SPEC 810H standard specifications, has an IP68 certification, and has a 600mAh battery.

The folding smartphone

Lenovo stole the show with the Motorola Rizr, a smartphone with a rollable screen. 

And yes, we know that rollable screens are not something new, but we're talking about smartphones here. 

So, the Rizr is a device with a 6.5-inch screen, which, however, "drops" to five inches with the press of a button! 

How does it manage to do that?

It wraps (or rolls, if you will) around the bottom of the phone, with the additional part passing to the back of the smartphone and turning into an external screen! 
Want more? Lenovo also introduced the rollable Laptop with a screen that transforms from 12.7 to 15.3 inches with the press of a button.

As awesome and amazing as this may seem, the devices are still in the concept phase, so we'll probably have to wait to welcome them to the market. 

Oppo Find N2 Flip

One of the smartphones that stood out this year in Barcelona was undoubtedly the Oppo Find N2 Flip. It is the company's first widely available foldable model on the global market and will soon be available in our country.

With its well-known clamshell design, the Find N2 Flip comes with 2 screens, where the external one is AMOLED, has dimensions of 3.26", and is one of the largest we have seen in flip models. With this, you can manage notifications, messages, and calls, applications, and even take the best selfies with the main camera. With the FlexForm function, you can keep the phone at the angle you want, to enjoy your video calls or hands-free streaming, or even use it as a tripod for your group photos!

The ultimate experience comes as soon as you "unfold" the device to reveal the second and larger screen with a diagonal of 6.8" and a refresh rate of 120Hz.

The hinge, according to Oppo, is certified for more than 400,000 folds, which translates to 10 years if you open and close the screen 100 times a day.

Finally, the Oppo Find N2 Flip has a total of 3 cameras, two of them on the back with resolutions of 50MP and 8MP (wide-angle). The third camera is for selfies, when the screen is fully open and has a resolution of 32MP.

This year's MWC had it all! Some of the above products and technologies will be with us within the current year, with some already released, while others we will likely see in the coming years. What can we do, patience!

Did something catch your attention? Find all the smartphones of 2023 that have been released so far, here!