MWC 2024 was full of weird and wonderful concepts and production-ready products, showing the trends for mobile this year are going to be anything but boring.
The industry returned to Mobile World Congress this year like it was 2019, reinvigorating a trade show that had lost its mojo since those halcyon days. And to celebrate, they brought with them as many mad, crazy, and unexpectedly innovative devices as they could cram in their suitcases. The result is one of the most entertaining MWC events of the recent years, and evidence that mobile companies aren’t listening at all when they’re told mobile tech is boring in 2024.Concepts galore
Concept phones and devices have always been around at MWC, but there seemed to be even more than usual on display this year — and they were all doing something different. Probably the concept phone that received the most attention is Motorola’s Adaptive Display Concept, which uses its innocent-sounding name to conceal a crazy product. It’s half smartphone and half smartwatch, wrapping partially around your wrist through the use of a bendable screen and a clever hinge system.
It looks ridiculous, and anyone who thinks watches like the G-Shock Rangeman are too big will have quite a shock. It’s the opposite of the dainty Google Pixel Watch 2, and should it ever make it into production looking like this, no one in their right mind should ever wear it on their wrist. But the fact it actually exists, and in working form, is fantastic. More importantly, it’s likely to be paving the way for a far more sensible-looking version of the concept in the future.
Tecno, a brand that will be new to many, but is no stranger to crazy phones, made a big splash at MWC with the Phantom Ultimate rollable concept phone, a robot dog that sadly isn’t as cute as I wanted it to be, and a concept phone with a 3D effect rear panel. Oh, and it also made the Pocket Go, which combines smart glasses with a game controller, runs Windows, and has a high-performance AMD Ryzen processor inside — making it a Steam Deck you wear on your face.
It doesn’t stop there. Deutsche Telekom and a company called Brain.
