MWC 2022 – Mobile World Congress – is a very big deal for phone fans. It's where some of tech's biggest names unveil their most exciting new products, and it sets the agenda for the coming year in tech.
We've been tracking the most exciting announcements in our MWC 2022 live blog, where we've seen some fantastic flagships and some budget bargains too. Here are all the new phones announced at MWC 2022.
1. Honor Magic 4 / Honor Magic 4 Pro
The Honor Magic 4 Pro is a beast, and the Magic 4 is pretty tasty too. Both phones come with 6.81 inch, 120Hz displays and three-camera setups; the Magic 4 has a 50MP main, 50MP and 8MP periscope camera while the Pro's periscope is a whopping 64MP. The Pro also has a 3D depth camera for DSLR-style portrait shots.
Both phones pack the speedy Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor and the obligatory 5G connectivity, and there's a choice of 8 or 12GB of RAM and 256 or 512GB of storage.
The Magic 4 also comes in a more affordable 128GB version. Our favorite thing about the Pro has to be its fast charging: with an incredible 100W charging it refills in an incredibly short time.
2. Nokia C2 2nd Edition
The sequel to Nokia's 2020 C2 delivers a decent specification for an extremely low price tag: it has a 5.7-inch HD display, a 5MP rear camera and a 2MP selfie shooter with 1 or 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, expandable to 256GB.
It's not going to give Honor or Samsung any sleepless nights, but at £75 (around $100 / AU$135) this is an incredibly low price for a good quality 4G smartphone.
3. Nokia C21 / Nokia C21 Plus
We're not expecting the standard C21 to launch in the UK, but the Nokia C2 Plus is definitely coming, and with a price tag of just £100 (around $130 / AU$180) it's bound to win some fans.
For £25 more than the C2 the specification on the Nokia C2 Plus is significantly better: the screen is a 6.5-inch HD+ display, there are twin rear cameras (13MP with 2MP depth) and a 5MP front camera, and the RAM is 2, 3 or 4GB with 32 or 64GB of storage expandable to 256GB.
There's also a fingerprint scanner for better security and fast unlocking.
4. OnePlus 10 Pro 5G
Already launched in China, the OnePlus 10 Pro made its worldwide debut at MWC 2022, where the handset was confirmed for Europe, India and North America, with an expected release of March.
It means we already knew pretty much everything about the OnePlus 10 Pro 5G apart from the price, which we think will place it firmly in premium territory. Which is fair enough, as it's a premium phone with an impressive specification.
There's a 6.7-inch QHD+ display with a 1-120Hz variable refresh rate, and it uses Dual Color Calibration for consistent color accuracy at both high and low brightness levels.
There's a 48MP main camera, a 50MP ultra-wide one with a very wide 150-degree field of view and an 8MP telephoto camera. The selfie shooter is 32MP. The new RAW+ mode enables you to shoot in 12-bit RAW for more editing power. The battery here is 5,000mAh with speedy 80W charging.
We also learned at the show that there won't be a OnePlus 10.
5. Realme GT 2 / Realme GT 2 Pro
The Realme GT 2 and Realme GT 2 Pro are both impressive phones, and it's the Pro we're particularly interested in: it’s competing against rival flagships on price and on specification too.
There are two versions, one with 8GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage, and another with 12GB RAM and 256GB of internal storage. The former will cost £699.99 / €749.99 (around $800 / AU$1100) and the latter £799.99 / €849.99 (around $900 / AU$1300), and there's £100 off if you buy before 16 March.
There's a 6.7-inch 120Hz display with 2K resolution and flat edges, and on the back you’ll find a triple-camera assembly with a 50MP main camera capable of 8K video recording alongside a 50MP ultra-wide camera with a 150-degree field of view and an impressive and unusual 40x microscope lens.
Under the hood there's a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. We're very impressed by the GT 2 Pro, and the early discounts mean it's a seriously affordable alternative to the bigger names in Android.
- Read our hands-on Realme GT 2 Pro review
6. Realme GT Neo 3
The successor to 2021's Realme GT Neo 2, a solid budget phone, looks to be another solid budget phone with incredibly quick charging thanks to its 150W charging support.
That'll take your phone from zero to 50% in just five minutes. It's powered by MediaTek's new Dimensity 8100 SoC and Realme is keeping quiet about the rest of the specs of far: the release is still a few months away.
7. TCL 30 / 30 5G / 30 E / 30 Plus / 30 SE
TCL are probably better known for their displays than their phones, but the firm hopes to change that with the launch of not one, not two, but five quite similar smartphones in 2022.
As we noted in our news story, "each was clearly built off the same template with just a few tweaks here and there."
The TCL 30, 30 Plus and 30 5G all have a 6.7-inch FHD+ display delivering 60Hz, while the TCL 30 E and 30 SE have a slightly smaller 6.52-inch HD+ display.
The 30 and 30 Plus have MediaTek's Helio G37 SoC while the 30 E and 30 SE have Helio G25 while the TCL 30 5G gets a MediaTek Dimensity 700.
All five models get a 50MP main camera, 2MP Macro and 2MP depth camera but their front-facing cameras differ: there's 5MP in the TCL 30 E, 8MP in the 30 and 30 SE, and 13MP in the 30 Plus and 30 5G.
All five have batteries of 5,000mAh or slightly more. We think it's highly unlikely that all these very similar models will ship in every territory; instead we expect TCL to offer an entry level and a more powerful model, with the specific versions based on what's most likely to sell in each market.
8. Xiaomi Poco M4 Pro
The Poco M4 Pro 5G is an impressive budget phone with a strong design and a decent price: expect to pay no more than £219 / $300 / AU$450.
It's a strong contender for a place in our best budget phone line-up, and it stands up well against its rivals. Like them some corners have inevitably been cut to keep the price down: here it's the camera setup, which isn't class-leading, and the omission of waterproofing and wireless charging.
- Read our in-depth Poco M4 Pro 5G review
9. Xiaomi Poco X4 Pro 5G
The Poco X4 Pro 5G is Poco's first phone with a 108MP camera, and it also includes a 120Hz AMOLED display, 67W fast charging and an impressively low price tag: roughly £250 / $340 / AU$460.
There's a 5,000mAh battery, an 8MP ultra-wide camera, a 16MP selfie shooter and up to 8GB of RAM with 256GB of storage, although that storage costs more: it takes the price up to around £290 / $390 / AU$535.
If you're wondering which corner has been cut to get the price so low, it's the processor: the power here comes from a Snapdragon 695, which isn't the speediest. Nevertheless, it's a lot of phone for the money.
10. ZTE Blade V40 / Blade V40 5G / Blade V40 Pro / Blade V40 Vita
ZTE has more Blades than Gillette, and its latest models are confusing and impressive in roughly equal measure. The emphasis is very much on battery life and budget pricing here: if you’re looking for blistering performance or – ahem – cutting edge features these are not the phones for you. But if you want a big display that won’t run out of puff when you’re streaming TV or movies, the Blades are good value.
The press information we’ve been given so far has been pretty patchy – hence us calling the launch confusing – but the official flagship is the flagship ZTE Blade V40 5G, whose specs are still largely secret. Our pick is the ZTE Blade V40 Pro, which has a 6.67-inch OLED, good colour reproduction and a 5,100mAh battery with 65W charging, but we’re also intrigued by the ZTE Blade V40 Vita and its 6.74-inch display, 6,000mAh battery with 22.5W charging and super-slim bezel. All four models are due to launch in April so we’d hope ZTE will announce more details very soon.
