MWC 2020: what we want to see

MWC 2020 – or to give it its full name, Mobile World Congress 2020 – runs from February 24-27 and it’s set to be the biggest mobile tradeshow of next year, just as MWC 2019 was the biggest this year.

As such we’re expecting all sorts of major phone announcements, potentially including the Samsung Galaxy S11 and Sony Xperia 2.

Those are just two of the more likely things we might see. While there aren’t really any rumors yet, we can take a good guess at what could appear based on past shows – and that’s exactly what we’ve done.

So below you’ll find a list of the things we most want to see at MWC 2020 – but we’ve kept our estimates realistic and only included things we believe may actually show up.

Once specific news and rumors about the show do start rolling in we’ll round them up for you, so make sure to check back here regularly.

Samsung Galaxy S11

Samsung always unveils its new Galaxy S range near the beginning of the year and it sometimes uses MWC as the venue to show them off to the world. As such there’s a chance the Samsung Galaxy S11 range will land at MWC 2020 – though given that the Galaxy S10 range was unveiled just before MWC 2019, there’s no guarantee the company's next flagship series will stay under wraps til the show.

Still, if it is in attendance, the Galaxy S11 is sure to be one of the highlights of the show. We don't know much about the Galaxy S11 yet, but rumors point to new cameras, with the potential for a lens of up to 108MP. Plus it’s likely – at least in the US – to use a Snapdragon 865 chipset. An early benchmark suggests this should outmatch current Android chipsets, as we’d expect.

Unlikely though it might be, there’s also a chance the Galaxy S11 won’t be called the Galaxy S11. It might instead launch as the Galaxy One, or something else entirely, and come with an S Pen stylus, with this new phone taking the place of both the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note ranges.

Samsung Galaxy A series

While the Galaxy S11 might land at MWC 2020, what we’re probably more likely to see are one or more new entries in the Galaxy A range, similar to the Samsung Galaxy A50 and Samsung Galaxy A30 that were launched at MWC 2019.

Which models and what they might be capable of is unknown for now, but some entries in the range have proved impressive, with the Galaxy A80 for example sporting a rotatable rear-to-front camera, and the Galaxy A90 5G packing near flagship specs – including 5G.

Sony Xperia 2

Sony often announces flagship phones at MWC, including the Sony Xperia 1 at MWC 2019, so we’re hoping and somewhat expecting to see the Sony Xperia 2 (or whatever it ends up being called) at MWC 2020.

We haven’t heard much of anything about it yet, but expect high-end specs and likely a 21:9 display. It may also land alongside some lower end Xperia handsets.

Huawei P40

Huawei often announces major handsets at MWC, with the foldable Huawei Mate X being unveiled at MWC 2019 and the flagship Huawei P10 landing at the show a couple of years earlier, for example.

What it doesn’t always do is use the venue to launch phones in its main flagship range, so it’s far from guaranteed that we’ll see the Huawei P40 there. It’s always possible, and we’d certainly like to see the next edition of the photography-focused line get a new edition teased early in the year.

Unless things change, the Huawei P40 will land without access to Google services, which is sure to hurt it, but the core specs and other hardware are likely to impress. In particular, we’d expect a very good camera with lots of lenses, given Huawei’s past form, but beyond that we’re not yet sure what the P40 will offer.

Nokia 9.1 PureView

The Nokia 9 PureView was unveiled at MWC 2019 and we’re hoping to see its successor at MWC 2020. There is some question over what the next phone will actually be called though. We’ve heard rumors of a Nokia 9.1 PureView with added 5G support, but that doesn’t sound like a huge upgrade and might land ahead of MWC.

In which case we could see the Nokia 9.2 PureView or the Nokia 10 PureView – whichever they end up going with – carrying forward the leading flagship position in Nokia's lineup. That new phone will likely have high-end specs and focus on photography. The Nokia 9 PureView has five rear lenses, but we’re hoping for improvements rather than simply tacking on more lenses.

LG G9

LG announced not one but two flagships at MWC 2019, so we’re expecting at least one to drop at MWC 2020, and it could be the LG G9.

We don’t really know anything about the LG G9 yet and LG likes to put unusual features in its phones, so this one might have some surprises.

It may also inherit some features from other recent LG flagships, such as a second screen attachment like the LG G8X ThinQ, and a hole-less vibrating speaker like the LG G8.

LG V60

The other LG flagship that we might get as well as or instead of the LG G9 is a new V-series entry, likely to be called the LG V60.

This is another phone that we don’t know much about, but it’s likely to offer 5G, given that the LG V50 ThinQ 5G does, and will probably have an even more premium assortment of specs and features than the LG G9. 

We're hoping the phonemaker introduces new features this time around: the V40 was the first mainstream handset to sport three rear cameras, ushering in the era of the ultrawide lens, but the V50 was a bare upgrade sped along to be one of the first 5G phones.

Xiaomi Mi 10

Xiaomi has recently started making more of a push into western markets and that’s a good thing, as its phones are often brilliant value, even at the top end.

So at MWC 2020 we’re hoping to see the Xiaomi Mi 10. The timing would make sense for it to be there and it could end up quietly being one of the most exciting phones on show if the Xiaomi Mi 9 is anything to go by.

That phone wasn’t exactly innovative, but it did include a top-end chipset, good cameras and little in the way of actual weak points, all for around half the price of big-name flagships, so the Xiaomi Mi 10 is likely to pull off a similar trick.

Moto G8

We’re expecting the Moto G8 in early 2020 so that might land at MWC 2020, though the Moto G7 was announced just before MWC 2019, so we’re far from certain.

We hope to see something from Motorola though, whether it’s the Moto G8, a new entry in the varied Motorola One range, or something else entirely. The company is expanding its lineup below the Z-series, and we're eager to see it try new things now that it's introducing new phones that aren't reliant on Moto Mods.

Leaks suggest the Moto G8 might have a pop-up selfie camera, and it’s sure to be a great value affordable handset, making for one of the more exciting non-flagships at the show.

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