Smartphones will get a lot more interesting next week

This time next week, there will be dozens of new Android smartphones to choose from, and many of them will be unlike any other smartphone you’ve ever seen before. 

I’m talking about Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, which kicks off on Feb. 25. It’s the place where smartphone-makers come to show off new wares every year. But this year, there’s an air of uncertainty and excitement surrounding the event. Global smartphone shipments have declined four quarters in a row, and for the first time in a while, smartphone makers are trying to do something truly new and different. 

It’s not just one trend taking over the industry, like the screen notch, ushered by Apple’s iPhone X in 2017. This year, giants like Samsung and Huawei are announcing foldable phones. The notch will generally give way to the hole-punch screen. Nearly all major manufacturers (with the probable exception of Apple) will launch 5G phones. And then there are the numerous other tech marvels which we’ll also see from smaller manufacturers, like blockchain-friendly phones and phones with dual pop up cameras.

Yep, this year, the smartphone industry will get a little bit crazy. 

First up is Samsung. Just four days before MWC kicks off on Feb. 24 (that’s the press day, the show officially starts a day later), the Korean smartphone giant will show three new flagships — the Galaxy S10e, the S10 and the S10+. We already know nearly all there is to know about these phones, down to the very last spec. They’re powerful, they’ve got hole-punch screens and a lot of cameras. We even know what they look like — see below.

But we don’t really know much about Samsung’s foldable phone, which is also likely to make an appearance at the event. It may not even be fully finished yet, though Samsung execs have said it’s scheduled to launch in the first half of 2019. It’s also bound to be quite expensive, so you’re not going to see it at every corner, but it could be a glimpse of the industry’s future. 

Huawei‘s also got a foldable phone, which will also be a 5G phone. We know nearly nothing about it, but Huawei’s expertise in the area of 5G is well-known (though not always for the right reasons; the company’s lately been under scrutiny over spying concerns). 

Huawei isn’t always terribly innovative, but it’s really good at perfecting mobile technologies, iteration after iteration, ultimately producing some of the best phones around. On Feb. 24, we’ll see if the company can get it right on the first try.

LG has an event scheduled for Feb. 24 as well. The company will launch its new flagship smartphone, the LG G8 ThinQ, though that one appears to be a pretty run-of-the-mill affair, design-wise. 

But even though it looks quite ordinary, the G8 does pack a few interesting technologies, like advanced face recognition and an OLED screen that doubles as an audio amplifier, which LG says can produce sound at an “impressive volume.”

The company also said it would launch a phone with a vapor chamber cooling system, a 5G phone, and it may be considering launching a foldable phone as well. It’s unlikely that all of that will happen on the same device, so we’re eagerly waiting to see what surprises the Korean company has in store. 

To wrap up the story about foldable devices, we also need to mention Xiaomi, which recently teased a very interesting double-folding phone/tablet hybrid, though that device is still in an early stage and it’s unlikely that it’ll hit the market soon. Xiaomi will have an event in Barcelona, so there’s definitely something coming from the Chinese company’s workshop. There’s also China’s Oppo, which said it will announce a foldable phone at the show, as well as showcase some new technologies (hopefully we’ll see the company’s 10x zoom smartphone camera there as well). And then there’s this report about a foldable Lenovo Razr phone, coming in February with a (gulp) $1,500 price tag. 

HTC is taking a completely different route this year. The company has recently launched a blockchain-oriented phone called the Exodus I, a powerful device with a number of interesting technologies for keeping your cryptocoins safe. And while the phone’s available for pre-order, there’s still a lot we don’t know about it; hopefully, we’ll get to see it in the silicon in Barcelona. 

HTC doesn’t have a big launch event at the MWC but the company told me they will be there, demoing new products. Besides the Exodus phone, HTC will also be showing 5G and VR innovations at the show.

Nokia may bring a phone with five rear cameras to the show, likely called the Nokia 9 PureView. The rumors of such a device have been flying for a while, and the MWC might be the place where we actually see it launch. 

The new, HMD Global-owned Nokia is not the powerhouse it once was, but it does produce some very decent Android phones with solid, Zeiss-branded cameras. A phone with this many rear cameras is unheard of, and — if real — it would be the first time the new Nokia is really doing something innovative. And who knows, maybe we see another nostalgia phone this year — for better or for worse. 

Vivo is also doing something different this year. The company is about to show a new version of its Apex concept — a phone that’s literally all screen on the front. Vivo was the first to achieve this with its original Apex (launched at MWC 2018), and I’m excited to see how the concept has progressed. 

Sony, which has been struggling to sell smartphones since forever, will have its traditional presser on Feb. 25. The company is likely to launch the Xperia XZ4, which is rumored to have a triple camera on the back; it’s not unheard of, but it’s definitely new for Sony. Given the company’s pedigree in smartphone camera technology, this might be one powerful cameraphone.

Finally, companies like OnePlus, Meizu and ZTE will all have some sort of presence at the show, even though we don’t expect major launches from any of them. But get ready to be surprised by companies you’ve never heard of. After all, Energizer is launching 26 new smartphones at the MWC, one of them with a dual selfie pop-up camera. 

If you’re looking for a TLDR, there isn’t one. This year’s phone launches at and around the MWC are incredibly diverse, with every manufacturer trying its own thing, be it foldable phones, all-screen phones, 5G phones, blockchain phones or crazy-camera phones. Not all of these ideas will stick, but it will make for one hell of an exciting show. As always, Mashable will have a team in Barcelona to bring you all the news.