Here’s what to expect from Samsung, LG and others at MWC 2018

The annual Mobile World Congress expo is nearly upon us, and that means we’re in for a bevy of phone launches next week. Here’s a quick rundown of everything we’re excited to see there from major brands in just a couple of days.

Samsung

Everything you need to know about Samsung’s next flagship has already been doing the rounds: the Galaxy S9 and S9+ will share much of their design thinking with their predecessors, while moving the fingerprint sensor below the camera on the rear panel (seen above).

Speaking of cameras, the larger S9+ is slated to get a dual primary shooter, while both will likely benefit from Samsung’s new ISOCELL image sensors that promise better low-light shots, fast autofocus and super-slo-mo video. Those should give the duo a chance to compete with handsets preferred for photography like the Google Pixel 2, the current crop of iPhones, and Huawei’s Mate 10 series.

You can also expect to see a Snapdragon 845 processor powering both models in some countries, while others will get Samsung’s own new Exynos 9810 octa-core chip. Water resistance, wireless charging, as well as iris scanning or facial recognition-based security features will likely be included too.

LG

LG has confirmed that it’s bringing a revamped version of its nearly bezel-less 6-inch V30, which came with top-of-the-line hardware, an OLED screen, high-fidelity audio, and an extra-wide lens on the primary camera. While the company hasn’t shared a lot about what it has in store, it’s been talking up its AI-powered camera, which will “analyze objects (in your frame) and recommend the best shooting mode.” That’s similar to what the Huawei Mate 10 does, only without a dedicated chip to handle AI tasks.