MWC 2019 winners: what are the mobiles to watch this year?

Mobile World Congress takes place in Barcelona in the final week of February every year. Think of it as the phone version of the London Fashion Show: some of it is high concept but other releases will hit the high street almost instantly. Here, we reveal the best products of MWC 2019 in our “Top 5” picks.

MWC 2019 winner: Huawei Mate X

Huawei teaches the world how to make a foldable phone with the gorgeous and hugely innovative Mate X: a lovely looking phone that turns into an 8in tablet with the greatest of ease.

While its price is quite shocking, at 2,249 Euros, this is still a spectacular piece of design and surely a sign of things to come. See our hands-on article for Huawei Mate X videos, more photos and our early verdict.

MWC 2019 winner: Lenovo IdeaPad S540

While we love the new ThinkPads Lenovo announced at MWC, it’s the IdeaPad S540 that wins our Top 5 award. Why? Because it’s an affordable laptop with all the premium trimmings, including a fantastic aluminium chassis.

There will be three versions. One 14in model with AMD inside from €799, another 14in version using Intel chips from €899, and a 15in model (which we haven’t seen) that again uses Intel at the same price.

You won’t have to wait long before you see the S540 in the shops, with all models arriving in March and April.

MWC 2019 winner: Huawei MateBook 14

Our next choice has plenty of similarities to the 14in IdeaPad S540. First, again, it’s gorgeous to behold, albeit with a finish that reminds us of the MacBook.

It’s an update to the MateBook 13 that Huawei launched at CES (and which also won a Big Tech Question award). As the name indicates, this version includes a 14in screen, and as the photos above shows it fills 90% of the frame.

Weighing 1.5kg and measuring 15.9mm from top to bottom, Huawei is promising 15hrs of battery life. There are two versions, both available in April: the €1,199 version includes a Core i5 chip with 256GB SSD, with a 512GB Core i7 version costing €1,499. UK prices to be confirmed.

MWC 2019 winner: Nokia 9 PureView

This is a phone that photographers will love, with a total of five cameras (yes, five) plus a sixth sensor to capture depth information. Not only will captured images look amazing, but you can play around with depth of field to the nth degree – there are 1,200 layers of depth to choose from.

Curious? Watch our video explainer of how the Nokia 9 PureView works in practice, and why you should care.

MWC 2019 winner: Qualcomm X55 5G modem

To take advantage of 5G networks, you’re going to need a handset with a 5G modem inside. Right now the most likely modem is the X50, made by Qualcomm, but our first award goes to its successor: the X55.

Why? Because all the technologies inside this mean it will produce faster (up to 7Gbits/sec vs 5Gbits/sec for the X50) and more stable connections than any current rivals, including Huawei’s own 5G modem inside the Mate X.

The X55 will start to appear in phones next year.

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