MWC 2017 will be the biggest trade show of the year as far as Android announcements go, even if the hotly-anticipated Samsung Galaxy S8 will not be unveiled. As always, the highly experienced team from Android Authority will be on the ground, covering all the essential MWC 2017 announcements. We’ve broken down our roundup of what to expect at MWC 2017 by manufacturer, so you can hit the brands you like and skip the ones you don’t. We’ll be updating this post as new information comes to light.
What is MWC and when is it?
MWC stands for Mobile World Congress, the world’s largest mobile electronics trade show, which is held in Barcelona each year. MWC 2017 kicks off on Monday, February 27 and runs through to Thursday, March 2. However, most of the major mobile announcements happen on the two weekend press days prior to the official opening of the show, so keep your eyes peeled for the latest MWC 2017 news starting February 25.
LG at MWC 2017
LG G6 announcement: 12:30 PM (CET) Sunday February 26
LG has already confirmed the LG G6 will be announced at a press event on February 26. We’ve also just been treated to the first press render of the LG G6 and a side-by-side shot with the LG G5.
In the absence of the Galaxy S8, all eyes will be on LG and the successor to last year’s modular flop, the LG G5. Based on poor sales and corresponding LG Mobile financial woes, the company has gone back to the drawing board with the LG G6 and decided to ditch the modular design concept (a wise move). The G6 will not feature a removable battery either.
We already know a few things about the G6, most of which have been confirmed by LG itself. The LG G6 features a 5.7-inch QHD+ display with an 18:9 aspect ratio and 564 ppi pixel density, heat pipes for dissipating CPU heat, water-resistance, enhanced AI (likely Google Assistant) and quality tests that are “higher than international standards”. LG has also teased the new UI and the 1:1 aspect ratio option for the camera, which the company confirmed will be a dual 13 MP affair.
The LG G6 won’t be powered by the Snapdragon 835 though, using the tried-and-true Snapdragon 821 instead, due in large part to Samsung snapping up all the early supplies of the Snapdragon 835 for the Galaxy S8. For more info on the LG G6, hit the links below.
LG G6: all the rumors in one place
These are the new LG Android Wear smartwatches
Samsung at MWC 2017
Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 announcement: around 7:30 PM (CET) Sunday February 26
Samsung will hold its MWC press conference at 7 PM CET on February 26. Based on the device outline seen on its invitation and the tide of Galaxy Tab S3 leaks, Samsung will unveil the new stylus-equipped tablet at the event along with a new keyboard shown above in a leaked render.
The render shows an LTE symbol in the status bar, indicating there will be cellular version available, and the date is April 4, a possible launch date for the tablet.
The Galaxy Tab S3 is rumored to arrive with a 9.7-inch Super AMOLED display at 2048 x 1536 resolution, powered by a Snapdragon 820 chipset with 4 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage. There’s also said to be a 12 MP camera on the back of the device, with a 5 MP front camera and it’s expected to run Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box.
We know that the Galaxy S8 will not be unveiled at MWC 2017 but that the company will announce the Galaxy S8 release date during the event, and may also show a one-minute trailer for the upcoming flagship. The Galaxy S8 will likely be announced on March 29 with an April 18 release date as multiple previous rumors claimed or on April 21 as the most recent rumor claims.
Speaking of which, it’s said that Samsung may reveal a pair of folding smartphone prototypes at the event, but likely only for industry partners. Speculation suggests both outward-facing and inward-facing products would be shown off, one of which would go into final production for release in late 2017 or early 2018.
Samsung Galaxy S8: all the rumors in one place
Galaxy S8 vs LG G6: which are you more looking forward to?
Huawei/Honor at MWC 2017
Huawei P10/P10 Plus announcement: around 2:30 PM (CET) Sunday February 26
Honor announcement (Honor Magic/Honor V9): 8:00 PM (CET) Wednesday, March 3
Huawei has a “new flagship device” to reveal on February 26 at a press conference that begins at 2:00 PM local time.
That device will be the Huawei P10 and its curved screen variant, the Huawei P10 Plus. We’ve already seen leaked renders of the Huawei P10 and P10 Plus and have heard that, like the Huawei Mate 9, they will launch with Amazon Alexa baked in.
Leaked specs including a larger, higher resolution 5.5-inch QHD display (on both models), octa-core Kirin 960 chipset clocked at 2.3 GHz, 4 GB of RAM and 32 and 64 GB storage versions. A 6 GB/128 GB version has also been rumored, but it may not be available globally. Leica’s dual camera partnership will return on both the P10 models.
The Huawei Watch 2 with LTE connectivity seems a shoo-in at this point and the Huawei MediaPad T3 tablet has also been leaked with an 8-inch display and Nougat on board. Announcements surrounding the Huawei VR headset or new markets for the Huawei Mate 9 Pro could also be in order.
The Honor Magic was at CES recently and it’s a very nice looking phone, one we sincerely hope gets a global announcement. The Honor V9 was just unveiled in China (aka the Honor 8 Pro in the US) and Honor has announced an event for 8PM on March 1, so it’ll likely be about new markets for the Honor Magic or for the Honor V9.
TCL/BlackBerry at MWC 2017
BlackBerry ‘Mercury’ announcement: around 7:30 PM (CET) Saturday February 25
The BlackBerry Mercury will officially be unveiled at MWC 2017 on February 25. At that point we’ll finally find out what it is actually going to be called (as TCL informed us at CES that ‘Mercury’ was invented by the internet).
We had the opportunity to do a quick BlackBerry Mercury hands-on at CES 2017 but due to its non-final status we weren’t allowed to shoot much video or demo the software.
Based on our early experience though, BlackBerry is shaping up to have one of the more interesting Android phone announcements at MWC (now there’s a sentence I never thought I’d type), even if TCL Communications is more responsible for it than BlackBerry.
HMD/Nokia at MWC 2017
Multiple Nokia announcements: around 4:30 PM (CET) Sunday February 26
Nokia has teased an announcement on February 26 starting at 4:00 PM local time. The devices expected to be unveiled include the Nokia 3, Nokia 5 and a “homage” to the legendary Nokia 3310 (which won’t be a smartphone). The Nokia P1, or Nokia 8 as it has also been called, is no longer expected to appear at the show.
Withings, which is owned by Nokia, has also announced it will reveal something “exciting” during Nokia’s press conference. HMD Global, the new “owner” of the BlackBerry brand, will announce further new information on Nokia’s future during a keynote speech delivered by the company’s CEO Rajeev Suri.
We also wouldn’t be surprised to see a global launch for the already-announced Nokia 6. Considering the Nokia 6 has been selling like hotcakes, we’re certainly hoping HMD is feeling emboldened by its early success and has some big news in store for Nokia fans. But really we just can’t wait to see a rebooted Nokia 3310.
Sony at MWC 2017
Sony Xperia X2 series announcement: around 9:00 AM (CET) Monday February 29
Sony is holding its MWC 2017 press event on February 27 where it is expected to announce — at the very least — the Xperia X2, the successor to last year’s debut device in the new Xperia X lineup.
But realistically, Sony could be revealing anywhere between one and four phones in Barcelona. The Xperia XA (2017) has already been leaked and can be seen in motion in a leaked video, while two Sony phones with the model numbers G3112 and G3121 have also been doing the rounds on benchmark sites lately.
Last year Sony announced the Xperia X, Xperia XA and Xperia X Performance at MWC 2016, so we could potentially also see a new X Performance successor.
One of Sony’s devices may also feature MediaTek’s recently announced Helio P25 chip — it’s expected Q1, 2017 and the Xperia XA already made use of the Helio P10 processor. Sony also recently outed its new slo-mo camera sensor, which can capture slow motion footage at an amazing 960 fps.
Lenovo/Motorola at MWC 2017
Motorola G5/G5 Plus announcement: around 5:00 PM (CET) Sunday February 26
Motorola has announced a press conference for February 26 where the Moto G5 and G5 Plus are expected be announced, possibly with some of the 12 new Moto Mods Motorola has planned for 2017.
Lenovo and Motorola can announce new products at each other press conferences, so we could be seeing new devices from Lenovo as well but we’re not expecting it. It’s no secret that Lenovo has had a tough time reviving the Moto brand, but sales of the Moto G series have historically been Motorola’s saving grace, so we’re looking forward to getting our hands on the latest iterations.
Alcatel at MWC 2017
Alcatel Idol 5 Pro announcement: around 10:00 AM (CET) Monday February 27
Alcatel will hold its press conference at 9:30 AM on February 27 and has issued invites to the event featuring the slogan “Light Up.”
Alcatel is predicted to launch as many as five smartphones at MWC 2017, one of which could be its next flagship, the Idol 5. What’s more, rumors suggest Alcatel may introduce the Idol 5 Pro with modular functionality like that found on the Moto Z, alongside an LED panel module which would move in time with music — hence the Light Up invite tagline.
Alcatel announced the A3 XL during CES recently, but MWC has traditionally been the time to let the Idol series shine.
Acer at MWC 2017
Acer “two new phones, one new wearable” announcement: TBC
Acer has, rather circuitously, revealed it will unveil two new phones and a wearable at MWC. The news comes via an interview with Acer’s EMEA president, who told Tbreak that Acer would have a “couple products. One will be a wearable, I cannot say too much…. We are also launching a couple of new phones. It is not fifty phones, but we’ll continue to make a statement in the Android market.” So yeah, let’s wait and see.
Asus at MWC 2017
Asus Zenfone 3 Go announcement: TBC
Asus will reportedly reveal a new budget Zenfone 3 Go at MWC. The $160 handset is rumored to feature a 5-inch HD display with a Snapdragon 410 chipset and 32 GB of RAM. It’ll apparently have a 13 MP main camera and 5 MP front-facing shooter.
Asus is also rumored to have a successor to the original Chromebook Flip in the works, called the Flip C101. The new Chromebook may not arrive until Computex later in the year, but if it’s at MWC we’ll be sure to bring you the latest. A new Zenbook Pro with GTX 1060 graphics should keep laptop geeks happy too, but again, nothing has yet been confirmed.
Oppo at MWC 2017
Oppo “5x smartphone photography tech” announcement: around 2:30 PM (CET) Monday February 27
Oppo has confirmed it will reveal “5x smartphone photography technology that will give users unprecedented ability to capture highly detailed images” at MWC. But the company stops short of stating the new camera tech will be unveiled in a new smartphone. Oppo’s press conference is scheduled to start at 2:00 PM on the first day of MWC.
ZTE at MWC 2017
ZTE Gigabit Phone announcement: TBC
ZTE has confirmed it will announce a Gigabit Phone at MWC but has not set up a press conference in which to make the announcement. The company has also officially scrapped the Kickstarter campaign for its crowd-sourced Hawkeye phone, although it will reappear with a different specs sheet.
The ZTE Android Wear watch is also a possibility for an MWC reveal, but it must be noted that the date on the leaked render shows May 31…
Likewise, ZTE sub-brand Nubia has sent out invites to go and visit its booth, presumably to show off new devices, but again, has no plans for a press conference.
HTC at MWC 2017
HTC hasn’t announced any plans to be at MWC 2017
The company did just skirt convention — as it usually does — by announcing new devices just outside the typical CES-MWC window. The HTC U Ultra and U Play were announced on January 12, just after CES wrapped up and last year the HTC 10 was announced just after CES.
Evan Blass leaked an HTC teaser video recently showing a number of new devices, including an HTC Vive-branded handset. There’s no telling if or when any of those devices will be announced though, and the same can be said of the leaked HTC One X10.
Some mid-range devices in the Desire line might be announced at MWC, but HTC has already stated it will cut its smartphone launches in half in 2017. The existence of the endlessly-rumored HTC smartwatch has also been officially denied by HTC’s president of smartphones and connected devices, Chialin Chang.
Chang also recently confirmed that HTC will have a new flagship when the Snapdragon 835 arrives — but not for MWC.
Xiaomi at MWC 2017
Xiaomi has confirmed it will not attend MWC 2017
Last year, Xiaomi attended its first MWC and held a press conference to launch the Xiaomi Mi 5. The recently-leaked Xiaomi Mi 6 therefore could have been scheduled for this year, but Xiaomi has since confirmed it will not be in Barcelona.
Xiaomi’s plans for global expansion have been rumored for ages but with Hugo Barra announcing his imminent departure from Xiaomi in favor of heading up Facebook’s VR efforts, Xiaomi is in need of a new global frontman.
That’s everything we know about so far at MWC 2017. What are you hoping to see at the show? Let us know in the comments.