MWC 2018 has concluded, and we have a slew of new phones announced at the event. Naturally, an updated spec sheet is in order, so let’s see how some of the most notable flagships unveiled at the tech convention stack up to each other.
Instead of overhauling its S series of flagship smartphones, Samsung decided to retain the Galaxy S8’s design with the new Galaxy S9 and S9+. What has changed, however, is the introduction of a new camera system with variable aperture, promising even better camera performance. On top of that, the Galaxy S9 phones can also do slow motion video recording at 960fps, though this is only limited to 720p.
Aside from Samsung, Sony’s latest flagship smartphones are pretty interesting too. Unlike the Galaxy S9 phones, the Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact can do 960fps slow motion video in 1080p; they’re also sporting a much, much sleeker design than Sony’s previous phones. That being said, we’re not a big fan of the phones’ camera performance, not to mention the odd fingerprint placement of the XZ2.
Moving on, we have the Nokia 8 Sirocco, which maintains the conventional 16:9 display combined with minimal bezels. It also has 95% glass construction and a nice stainless steel frame, though the Sirocco does not have the most ergonomic design – it has very thin sides. Design aside, the Sirocco is one of the most premium Android One devices introduced so far, making it a rather compelling smartphone, especially to Android purists.
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Last but certainly not least is the new Asus ZenFone 5Z. Without a doubt the 5Z’s design is based on the iPhone X – right down to the display notch and rear camera placement – but to Asus’ credit, the 5Z is leaps and bounds ahead of previous phones from the Taiwanese company when it comes to design. It has a pretty darn good display to boot.
While LG did technically introduce a new smartphone at MWC 2018 with the LG V30S ThinQ, it’s really just the V30 with more RAM and AI integration. And yes, much like the Nokia 8 Sirocco, it also ships with last year’s Snapdragon 835 chipset.
MWC 2018 saw the launch of some very interesting phones, and we have much more to come in the months ahead. Right now, arguably the most interesting flagship is the Samsung Galaxy S9+ (expect our review to come up soon), but that may change in the near future. Huawei, for one, is expected to unveil the new P20 and P20 Pro on 27 March – Huawei may have some tricks up its sleeves with these two phones.
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