MWC 2015

This week the folks at Sony have detailed their new midrange smartphone, the Xperia M4 Aqua. This device is Sony's first octa-core 64-bit smartphone running a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor with Android 5.0 Lollipop under the hood. This device will be released in 80 countries worldwide with more than 100 carrier partners - except the United States. No Xperia M4 Aqua for us. There are no plans at this time to bring the US, suggests Sony, as their flagship focus in the United States continues. Guess we'll have to live with the ultra-awesome Xperia Z3 or Z3v.

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The Sony Xperia team have revealed the Xperia Z4 Tablet, a device with a 10.1-inch display with 2K resolution. This device will roll out with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 octa-core 64-bit processor under the hood and will hold a couple of world records for 10-inch tablets. According to Sony, the Xperia Z4 tablet will be the lightest and slimmest 10-inch tablet in the world at 389g Wi-Fi / 393g LTE and just 6.1mm. It'll also be rated IP68 waterproof and dust-tight, just like each of Xperia tablets released over the past several years.

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You’ve heard of Apple Pay, you’ve heard of Google Wallet, but now there’s Samsung Pay, the South Korean company’s take on mobile payments. Debuting as a feature update on the new Samsung Galaxy S 6 and Galaxy S 6 edge later in 2015, Samsung Pay’s claim to greatness is that not only does it use NFC for transactions, as per Apple Pay, but that it can emulate a traditional card for use with older cash registers. Confused? Don’t fret; we’ve got you covered after the cut.

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Now that we can call Samsung the edgiest smartphone maker on the planet, with their two curved-screen devices that tumble off the side of the device, it’s time to compare the two. Should you opt for the larger Note Edge, or is the Galaxy S6 Edge right for you? Two sloped sides, or one? It’s a tough question to answer, but if you’re slipping your credit card out to buy a Note Edge, you might want to wait. Then again, it might be your best bet.

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You might want to sit down for this one: Samsung has, with the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge, finally built the Android smartphones we’ve been asking it for. Freshly announced at Mobile World Congress 2015 today, the new flagship pair also debut a new design language for the South Korean company, taking what was hinted at with the Galaxy Alpha and Galaxy Note 4, and finally doing away with Samsung’s old plastic fetish in favor of metal, glass, and - in the case of the Galaxy S6 edge - double-curved AMOLED. Read on past the cut for my first-impressions.

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At MWC, Lenovo has unveiled some new tablets for Android fans, and we think you’re going to like these. The Lenovo Tab 2 A10 and A8 offer quite a bit, but don’t ask a lot. With sub-$200 pricing, these aren’t flagship tablets. They definitely don’t disappoint, though. Lenovo is also good to provide large batteries in their tablets, so these two are both affordable and long lasting. Both will sport Android 5.0, and will be available starting in June of this year.

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We might be in the midst of the wearables boom right now, but a safe bet for the next technology to take off in the next few years is wireless charging. Thanks to features from a handful of smartphone manufacturers, as well as several charging accessory makers, wireless charging seems prime to be popular among consumers. Furniture retailer IKEA
is betting on it, as they're just announced a new line of lamps and tables that feature integrated wireless charging.

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Huawei's Mobile World Congress 2015 announcements continue with the debut of the MediaPad X2, with a 7-inch screen placing it squarely in the phablet category. As a follow-up to the original MediaPad, the X2 has slimmed down to 7.28 mm thick, and now features a 64-bit ultra octa-core chipset inside its aluminum casing. Other upgrades across the board, including the camera and screen, should make this a contender in a widening range of Android phablet offerings.

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Now that the HTC One M9 is official, you might be wondering if it’s time to upgrade. Sporting all the latest specs, like a Snapdragon 810 octa-core CPU and 3GB RAM, might make you wonder if it’s that much better than your current phone. A new 20-megapixel rear shooter and Ultrapixel front-facing camera are quite the pair, too. If oyu’ve got a One M8, you’re probably one of the many who love their phone, so rather than keep you guessing about whether an upgrade is worth it, we’ll break it down.

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There's a Valve-centric VR headset coming from HTC this year, and it goes by the name Vive. That's HTC Vive, a new take on the virtual reality universe. A headset that works with what HTC and Valve describe as Full Room Scale. This device combines the massive gaming knowledge of Valve, the user base of Steam, and the manufacturing knowhow and high-end craftsmanship of HTC. Just like HTC was early to the game with smartphones with Android, they want to be in on Virtual Reality right this minute.

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As expected, HTC now has a wearable. The company has long been complimentary of wearables, and vowed long ago to have one for us at some point. With the Grip, HTC hopes to get a grip on the wearable market, and tough it has a display — the Grip is more fitness wearable than smartwatch. It also makes good on HTC’s partnership with Under Armour, and when we consider other moves Under Armour has made, could make this wearable a go-to for fitness buffs.

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The HTC One M9 is here, and it feels mighty familiar. The company’s new flagship, unveiled here at Mobile World Congress 2015, takes the premium metal unibody of its predecessor and slots in a new chip, new camera, and tweaks what has already proved to be a popular design. And, while it might be easy to discount the One M9 at first for being an evolution rather than a revolution compared to the phones that came before it, HTC’s argument is that such an approach is exactly the route it needs to take: refinement rather than replacement for its own sake. Read on for some first impressions.

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