Best of MWC 2024: Smart rings, AR glasses, and see-though screens

We shouldn't be disappointed, as the Ultra is much more differentiated than the vanilla. Xiaomi 14. It comes with a Photography Grip accessory that not only adds some comfort mimicking older point-and-shoot cameras, but also serves as an additional 1,500 mAh battery with a physical shutter button. There is also a 67mm adapter for standard camera filters to mount on the phone. Check out our hands-on preview of the Xiaomi 14 Ultra here.

OnePlus Watch 2 has two operating systems

The successor to the original OnePlus Watch

The original OnePlus Watch wasn't very inspiring and received a mixed reception when it launched a few years ago. Now, the OnePlus Watch 2 takes things to a much more exciting level as it offers two operating systems that you can switch between.

The idea is simple: for basic tasks you default to the simple RTOS, while for more complex tasks you enter Google's Wear OS4. To get a better idea of ​​how this works in practice, check out our OnePlus Watch 2 hands-on preview.

Now let's move on to the futuristic stuff.

Xreal Air 2 Ultra AR Glasses

The Xreal Air 2 Ultra glasses look pretty cool

Xreal is a well-known player in the AR scene (we reviewed the Air 2 a few months ago), but at MWC the company showed off its latest prototype, the Xreal Air 2 Ultra. What's so different, you might ask? Spatial computing! Yes, what Apple boasts about with the VisionPro. The only difference is that the Air 2 Ultra costs $699.

Okay, maybe the experience isn't up to par VisionPro, but the glasses still offer three levels of pass through electrochromic dimming, 120 Hz OLED screens and 3D mapping, and the glasses are featherweight at only 80 grams. You can check out our hands-on preview of the Xreal Air 2 Ultra for an in-depth analysis.

Motorola Adaptive Display

For those of you who want to wear your smartphone on your wrist

Last year, Motorola introduced a cool rollable concept called Moto Rizr. At this year's MWC, things got even crazier with a proof of concept called the Motorola Adaptive Display. Basically, it's a smartphone that you can wrap around your wrist.

We've seen the concept in action with our own eyes, and while it looks a bit strange and bulky, it could accelerate the adoption of smart gadgets with flexible screens (we've been waiting for them for ages, remember the Nubia bracelet Alpha?)

Now, it's just a concept at this point, and Motorola now has a few safe in a super secret lab, but we're keeping our fingers crossed we see more of Rize and this screen-adaptive display technology. 'future. Check out the full preview here.

We saw the Galaxy Ring (but literally, no practical application)

The Galaxy Ring is pretty… from afar

It would have been strangely satisfying to test out the recently announced Galaxy Ring, but it wasn't meant to be. We saw the device under glass and spoke with the representatives on site, but unfortunately, no contact (it was more like “don't touch” these rings!). We do not know if the Galaxy Ring is actually ready for its debut, but that's all the hype these days. Smart rings are not a completely new idea, most of you are probably familiar with the Oura ring, but Samsung will try to make these gadgets mainstream. There was another version of this technology at MWC by a company called HiFuture, and you can buy one of their rings if you want to get a taste, but you'll have to wait a bit for the Galaxy Ring to arrive and relaunch adoption.

Lenovo presented a transparent screen laptop

Lenovo Crystal concept laptop

Remember the Xperia Pureness? It was a strange phone with a transparent screen, launched 15 years ago. Today, technology seems to have gained momentum and developed to the point where we could have a transparent laptop.

The concept is impressive, but the actual applications of such technology are a bit unclear. Do we need smartphones with transparent screens? Probably not. But maybe in the future we can turn our windows into smart interactive consoles without blocking all the light, and that's at least an interesting prospect.

Xiaomi presented its SU7 Max car

Xiaomi SU7 Max

We've been hearing about the Xiaomi car for a few months, and there it was, in all its glory. The sleek and stylish SU7 Max. Some say it looks like a Tesla, but to me it reminds me of a Porsche Taycan. This vehicle marks a very important moment in history, where the technology and automotive industries begin to meet and mix. We've heard about the partnership between Sony and Honda before, but seeing the marriage of these two worlds in person is astonishing. The car can go from 0 to 60 in less than 3 seconds and the base model will go on sale for as little as $40,000. Take that, Elon Musk!

Want a bigger battery? How about a 28,000 mAh smartphone?

Our batteries are stuck in the past and it's a constant struggle to get through a full day on a flagship smartphone. Well, if you are willing to do daily physical exercises, you can get a 28000mAh P28K smartphone made by Energizer. This thing weighs 570 grams, so it's like doing bicep curls every time you answer a call. But currently, this is the price to pay to have a week of autonomy.

There were other rugged phones with big batteries around the exhibit, and for some people this approach might work. We're much more excited about solid-state batteries, though. Let’s bring this technology to smartphones already!

Bonus: the Nothing Phone (2a) is real!

The Nothing Phone (2a) has a very distinct design

Carl Pei's new idea is called Nothing Phone (2a), and it's been getting a lot of media coverage in recent weeks. We've had a chance to see the phone (but not touch it), so we have a pretty good idea of ​​its design… and nothing more. This model is supposed to be a more budget-friendly version of Nothing's classic phones (Google Pixel A series, anyone?), so we shouldn't expect a powerhouse.

The phone is on its way to our testing lab, so stay tuned for a full review very soon. The full official reveal of the model will take place on March 5.

Final Thoughts

The Doogee flip phone is one of many

MWC has always been a huge, wild place for technology, and it's difficult to physically visit all the booths, as there are hundreds of them. We have done our best to give you an overview of the most interesting and important things at the show.

Some final thoughts. There were many, many phones inspired by the Galaxy Z Flip, so expect more and more companies to come out with their own flip phone models. AR glasses are also on the rise, but we don't know if the Vision Pro has anything to do with that.

A big company I can't mention has also unofficially stated that their concept AR glasses are not completely dead and have a team working on them, so exciting times ahead! And of course, almost every major tech company is currently using or working on its own AI, as the OpenAI Foundation appears to have opened the Pandora's Box of software. There is therefore no return possible.