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The Phones of Mobile World Congress: Holding Out for a Hero

It seems like every phone manufacturer at Mobile World Congress was showing off what used to be known as a "hero phone"—large, expensive, top-of-the-line devices aimed at big markets. But after a while, all of the phones started to look similar. Almost every Android phone maker offers a phone with a 5-inch, 1080p display; a quad-core processor; and advanced camera features. Most of those manufacturers also have even larger devices with displays between 5 and 6.2 inches—what we sometimes call "phablets." (Looking at the market these days, I'd call a 5-inch device a phone, though others might disagree.) Also, they all almost always look wonderful.

With so many similarities, I wonder how manufacturers will differentiate their phones in the future. I'll cover that in my next post, but in the meantime, let me recap some of the phones I saw last week.


Asus Padfone Infinity MWC2013

Asus was showing its PadFone Infinity. Its basic specifications are similar to most other hero phones—it has a 5-inch, 1,920-by-1080p display; a 1.7GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor; and a 13-megapixel camera. Unlike most of the other phones, though, it plugs into the back of a 10.1 "docking station," which turns the phone into a tablet with 1,920–by-1,200 resolution. This concept is not new and tablet docks have been around for a while, as exemplified by Motorola's Atrix offering a couple of years ago. For people who want both a phone and a tablet, but don't want to sync information or pay for the processor multiple times, it's an interesting concept. I wonder, though, if they'd be better off with separate devices.

The company also showed its Fonepad, which, depending on how you look at it, is either a somewhat low-end tablet (distinguished by running an Intel Z420 processor) or a very large phone (with a 7-inch, 1,280-by-800 display and a 3-megapixel camera). It has phone features, but I'd consider it a tablet because it's a bit too large for most pockets. 


HTC One MWC 2013

HTC was showing off its HTC One, which it debuted a few weeks ago. This has a 4.7-inch, 1,920-by 1,080 display and a 1.7GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor, plus a unique camera that uses what the company describes as four million larger "ultrapixels" instead of more, smaller megapixels. That's a unique idea, and the phone looks well-built, but it's really the software that I think makes the phone shine.

Note that HTC already has the Droid DNA with a 5-inch, 1,920-by-1080 display and an 8-megapixel camera. It runs a 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 processor, which is Qualcomm's current top-end processor, until the Snapdragon 600 shows up in a few weeks. This didn't get much attention at the show; it's months old, after all.


Huawei Ascend P2 MWC 2013

Huawei started the show by announcing its Ascend P2 (above), which has a 4.7-inch, 1,280–by-720 display and has a 13MP rear-facing camera. It runs on a 1.5GHz quad-core Cortex-A9 processor called the K3V2, made by the company's HiSilicon affiliate. Because this supports LTE Category 4 (theoretically allowing downloads up to 150Mbps, though only through a few carriers today), Huawei claims this is the world's fastest smartphone.            

Huawei Ascend D2 MWC2013

But the Ascend P2 isn't even Huawei's hero phone. That would be the 5-inch Ascend D (above) with a 1080p display, a 13-megapixel camera, and the same processor, announced at CES last month. Huawei's phablet, the Ascend Mate, is the biggest I've seen yet (at least the biggest that isn't actually being called a tablet). It flaunts a 6.1-inch screen, though its 1,280-by-720 display isn't particularly high resolution. Both have the K3V2 processor and appeared at CES in January.


Lenovo K900 MWC2013

Lenovo has a huge range of phones, from very inexpensive models aimed at the Chinese market to much higher-end devices. At the show, though, the one that attracted my attention was the K900, which is the first phone I've seen based on Intel's 1.8GHz dual-core Atom Z2580, known as the CloverTrail+ platform. The phone has a 5.5-inch, 1,920-by-1080 display. It's a good-looking device, but it's unclear whether it will be released in the U.S. market.


LG Optimus G Pro MWC 2013

LG Electronics highlighted its new 5.5-inch Optimus G Pro (above), which was also announced a couple of weeks ago. This has a 1,920-by-1,080 display, a 13MP camera, and a 1.7GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor. It's designed to compete with the Samsung Galaxy Note. Perhaps the most notable feature is Qslide, a software program which lets you slide one application on top of another and take notes on the screen.

LG Optimus G MWC2013

The company also has a somewhat smaller 4.7-inch Optimus G (above) with a 720p display, a 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro, and a 13MP camera.  


Google owns Motorola, but the hardware maker has been quiet lately. At the show, its biggest attractions were probably the Razr Maxx HD, which has a 4.7-inch, 720p display and a dual-core Snapdragon S4 Plus processor; and the Intel-based Razr i. Both look like fine phones, but certainly not top-end in today's market. There are lots of rumors about an "X" phone coming at some point, but the company's presence at Mobile World Congress was disappointing.


Samsung Galaxy Note 8 MWC2013

Samsung, which has become the best-selling maker of Android phones by a large margin, had a huge and rather crowded booth. It was showing the Galaxy S III and Note II, along with lower-priced and older devices, such as the Galaxy Grand.

Its show highlight was the Galaxy Note 8 (above), an 8-inch version of its popular Galaxy Note II. This has a quad-core, 1.6GHz Samsung Exynos processor on Android 4.1.2. It seems to target the iPad mini. In the United States, this will be sold as a Wi-Fi device, though the international version is said to include phone capabilities. (You could use it through Bluetooth, although an 8-inch phone seems too big to me.)

Rather than compete at the show, Samsung has scheduled a press event for next week, where it is widely expected to introduce the Galaxy S IV. I'm curious to see what the company has to show.


Sony Xperia Z MWC 2013

Sony focused on both the Xperia Z phone (above), introduced at CES. It also has a 5-inch, 1,920-by-1,080 display and a 13MP camera, though it has a 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor.

The phone looks quite good, but what sets it apart are its water-resistant features (something relatively common in Japan but unusual elsewhere) and Sony's applications.     


ZTE Grand Memo MWC 2013

Chinese vendor ZTE was staking out both ends of the market with a new Firefox-based phone on the low-end, and the new Grand line on the top-end. The highlight was the Grand Memo (above), with a 5.7-inch, 720-by-1,280 display and a 13MP camera. While the resolution isn't quite up to par with that of some other new devices, ZTE announced that at least some models will come with a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor (which should be faster than the other Qualcomm processors, though not slated until later in the year).

ZTE Grand S LTE MWC 2013

In addition, the company was showing off the ZTE Grand S LTE (above) with 5-inch, 1,920-by-1080 display; a 1.7GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor; and a 13MP camera. Again, it's not quite clear whether or not this will ever hit the U.S. market, but it is certain that the company is shooting to be a global competitor.

Windows Phone and Others

There were lots of other phones at the show, including all sorts of inexpensive Android phones. Some unusual phones targeted particular markets, such as NEC's Medias W N-05E, with 4.3-inch dual-displays.

Huawei Ascend W1 MWC2013

Then there were the Windows Phones. Nokia highlighted a full line and Huawei showed its Ascend W1 (above). Generally, Windows Phones top out at 4-inch, 1,280-by-768 displays and dual-core Snapdragon S4 processors—not quite at the high end.

Apple, which almost never appears at events that aren't its own, has its top-of-the-line iPhone 5 with just a 4-inch display and a dual-core custom A6 processor (though with relatively high-end graphics). Apple's software remains top-notch, but on the hardware side, it looks a step behind. Apple will have its own introduction later in the year.

Still, if you look over the phones I highlighted above, you'll see a certain sameness. Big, high-resolution displays, quad-core processors, thin bezels, black (or maybe white or metallic) cases with slightly rounded edges, higher-megapixel cameras. They all look terrific, but I do wonder how the companies will differentiate themselves. Regardless, I know who the winner is: all us smartphones users.

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