There are only three major events worth anticipating when it comes to big mobile tech announcements – the IFA in Berlin, the CES in Las Vegas, and the MWC in Barcelona. In trade show calendar, the CES will be held before the MWC. And it is from the MWC (Mobile World Congress) event that we will see the announcement of new devices. What should you be expecting from the MWC 2016? 

Before we reveal some of the mobile tech announcement in Mobile World Congress 2016, let’s treat the question: when is the event? 

The event will come up in Barcelona between February 22 and 25. A couple of days before the event, press conferences will be held so that major announcements will be proclaimed. 

List of Expected Phones to be announced 

We expect that the following list of phones here will be announced in the event after the press conference. However, we are not going to guarantee any of the devices on our list. The list is produced using data from yearly announcement cycles, past history, and the ever-active rumor mill. 

Make sure you check back this list regularly as it will be updated as the devices are announced. This will help you to stay updated and not miss anything out from the guide. 

Xiaomi Mi5 

For the first time, the Xiaomi brand will be presenting in the Mobile World Congress 2016. Its much anticipated and newest flagship, the Mi5 will be introduced and reviewed. Hugo Barra, Xiaomi Global Vice President, has made this known is his tweet on January 28, 2016. He also made a bold statement that the Mi5 is “All you ever imagined, and more.” 

There have been speculations about the specs on the Mi5 especially the processor type. Etoren blog gathered that the event start time would be 8:20, which signaled that the smartphone could have the Snapdragon 820 under its hood.   

Samsung Galaxy S7/ Galaxy S7 Edge 

Samsung is expected to deliver both the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge on February 21, the day before the MWC 2016 event. In 2015, Samsung released its Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge at the MWC event. It is expected that the company will be doing the same this year as a matter of its yearly announcement cycle. 

LG G5 

In the past, LG has never announced any of its latest devices in the MWC event, probably to avoid competing directly with Samsung. Last year, the LG 4 was released in May, while the LG 3 was released in June of the same year, after the Mobile World Congress event. The company seems to be taking a different approach this year (probably to compete head to head with its competitors). The Etoren blog has gathered that the LG G5 will be presented at 14:00 in February 21, the same day Samsung will announce its S7 flagship. 

HTC One M10 

Just like Samsung, the HTC usually take advantage of the MWC event to announce its latest flagships. It has done that with the One series. Now, the Taiwanese company is embattled as it continues to loose market share to smartphone giants like Samsung and Apple. This could affect how the new flagships from the company will be announced. And according to a Chinese website (link: http://wap.ithome.com/html/202078.htm), the company may not be announcing its phone this at the Mobile World Congress this year. 

The website stated that the HTC One M10 will be announced in March instead. And sale of the smartphone will begin in April this year. With the look of things, the M10 might perform better than the One M9 and maybe bring the company some traction. Therefore, you should be on the look of for this one. 

While HTC will not be making any announcement on its latest smartphone, it will be at the MWC event. We expect to see the something new with the cooperation of HTC Vive booth and the Under Armor Fitness Tracker with something along the line of heart rate monitors and scales. Moreover, we anticipate one or two HTC desire series smartphones at the event. 

Sony Xperia Z5 Tablet and Z6 smartphone 

Sony has already issued invites for a press conference that it plans to hold at the MWC. The conference is slated at 07:30 GMT in February 22 at the Mobile World Congress event. 

We can’t make any speculation other than what the company is planning – which could be a big one. Last year, the company never called for any conference but still announced two smartphones at the event. Maybe the company is planning to announce multiple phones this year or something more interesting than that. 

Sony outed the M4 Aqua and the Xperia Z4 Tablet at the 2015 MWC. Could it be that the company will release another Xperia Z6 smartphone this year? Is the announcement of a smart watch likely? Or can we be expecting another Z5 Tablet in this year event? Stay tuned as we anticipate what the company has in store for the 2016 MWC. 

Blackberry 

Blackberry has confirmed that it will not be present at the MWC this year. As a result, we would not be seeing the new Android device from Blackberry, codename Vienna, in this year event. In the last year event, Blackberry gave a surprised announcement for the Priv; so this year, we hope the company have something to surprise us with even though it wouldn’t be present at the Mobile World Congress 2016. 

SmartWatches 

We are not sure if any new smartwatch will be announced at the 2016 MWC. In the IFA 2015, we saw the Moto 360 (2nd generation) from Motorola, the Gear S2 from Samsung, the Asus ZenWatch 2, and the Huawei Watch. This year, according to rumor, we expect to see an HTC smartwatch among the list. 

Project Ara

Since the Project Ara has been deferred till 2016, we might be seeing the release of Google’s first consumer-ready modular smartphone. We are also expecting some other replaceable modules in the MWC event this year. 

Virtual reality 

Today, Virtual reality is a force to reckon with in the mobile technology space. There are many projects already in full swing, such as the Oculus Rift, which is nearing completion, the Gear VR headset from Samsung is already out in different versions, Project Tango is in action, and HTC Vine is already out there. What should we be expecting in 2016? According to SamMobile, we should be expecting a new version of Gear VR (to be equipped with 360⁰ VR camera) at the MWC 

Conclusion 

What are you looking forward to at the MWC 2016 event? What do you think will be announced at that time?