Mobile World Congress 2023: the 4 most exciting reveals, from Xiaomi AR smart glasses to world’s fastest-charging phone and Honor foldable

The Mobile World Congress returned with devices such as Motorola’s rollable-display smartphone prototype and a Realme phone that charges in under 10 minutes
The coolest devices at the Barcelona event also included a foldable phone from Chinese tech giant Honor, and Xiaomi’s augmented reality glasses concept

Smartphones

Ben Sin

Published: 4:15am, 2 Mar 2023

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The annual Mobile World Congress (MWC) trade show returned to Barcelona, Spain, this week in full swing, after being severely affected by measures to curb the Covid-19 pandemic for the past three years.

A slew of new electronic products were announced.

MWC was originally intended to be a showcase of the best mobile technology from around the world, but with Apple and Google mostly shunning the show, and the continuing decline of Japanese and European brands, it has become a battleground for Chinese companies in recent years.

Here are the four most exciting devices introduced at the show.

Xiaomi’s Wireless AR Smart Glass Explorer Edition smart glasses, shown at the Mobile World Congress 2023 in Barcelona. Photo: Ben Sin

Xiaomi Wireless AR Smart Glass Explorer Edition

At MWC Xiaomi launched a pair of flagship smartphones, some new earbuds and a smartwatch, but it was a prototype device that drew the most attention: the Xiaomi Wireless AR Smart Glass Explorer Edition.

The smart glasses are truly cutting-edge. They can map high-definition visuals onto the wearer’s field of vision, and are completely wireless.

The glasses can source from a host device, such as a smartphone, via Xiaomi’s proprietary connection technology that has a latency of just 50 milliseconds – low enough that most people won’t be able to perceive any lag between what they are doing on the host device and what they are seeing.

The glasses can run a series of augmented reality (AR) games with real-world environments as a base, and can play videos from a source device. Although introduced as a concept, it looks like they are almost ready for market release.

Motorola Rizr

Not sure about foldable displays? How about rollable displays? Motorola showed off a its Rizr concept device, which has a screen that augments its height via a roller mechanism.

At the press of a button, the display grows from 5 inches (127mm) to 6.5 inches.

While the concept is interesting, it seems further from becoming a reality than Xiaomi’s AR Smart Glass. The roller mechanism lacks robustness to judge by the demonstration models shown, and given that the extended display will probably be constantly exposed when the phone is in use, it looks pretty much impossible to employ in the real world without it sustaining damage.

Motorola’s Rizr has a rollable display which extends from 5 inches to 6.5 inches. Photo: Ben Sin

Realme 240W fast charging solution

Introduced as a concept at last year’s show by Realme’s sister brand Oppo, this extremely fast charging solution is now reality, as a feature of the Realme GT3 smartphone.

The 240W charger brings the phone’s 4,600 mAh battery to full charge in just nine-and-a-half minutes.

The Realme GT3 smartphone with 240W fast charger (above left) on show at this year’s MWC in Barcelona. Photo: Ben Sin

Perhaps even more impressive than the time to full charge is the shorter burst charging. Realme reps say a 30-second charge will fill the battery enough for a two-hour call, or 40 minutes of video streaming.

This may sound too good to be true, but Oppo and its sister brand OnePlus, like Realme owned by Chinese company BBK Electronics, have been pushing the boundaries on charging for years, and their track record is convincing.

Years ago, when iPhones took 90 minutes to fully charge, OnePlus phones could do so in 40 minutes. This new release shows that BBK is staying ahead of the competition.

The secret to the fast charging lies in Oppo’s proprietary “SuperVOOC” technology that prioritises current over voltage, and which it has licensed to Realme.

Honor Magic VS

Following months of testing, Honor’s large-screen foldable phone has finally been released for the global market. This is noteworthy because it ends Samsung’s monopoly of the foldable industry outside China.

The Magic VS is a book-like foldable similar to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold series, but is thinner and has a larger battery and larger camera sensors. While it remains to be seen whether Honor’s foldable software is as polished as Samsung’s, just the fact that consumers in Europe and Asia will now have another foldable option is good news.

Honor’s Magic VS looks similar to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold devices, but it’s thinner. Photo: Ben Sin

These four products show where the mobile industry may be going in the next few years. AR glasses are seemingly the next big thing, especially since Apple is actively working on a device of its own.

Foldables will continue to gain mainstream acceptance as the display technology matures. And Chinese phone brands will continue to one-up each other in charging speeds, which will ease battery anxiety in our increasingly device-reliant lives.

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