Android Central's best of MWC 2022

Believe it or not, Mobile World Congress 2022 has already come and gone! While the Android Central team didn't attend the conference in person this year, we were all over all of the exciting announcements and product unveilings.

Even though MWC is now over, we wanted to share our picks of the products, partnerships, and companies that managed to captivate us and capture our attention. Following are our MWC 2022 award winners, as chosen by the Android Central staff.

Best Chromebook — Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 3

Ever since the failure of the Google Pixel Slate, we've been told that Chrome OS on tablets was dead in the water. However, thanks to better mobile processors, inventive designs, and under-the-hood work by Google and OEMs, Chrome OS on tablets is better than ever. 

We were enamored by the original Lenovo Chromebook Duet, even though it was a bit small and underpowered, and we absolutely loved the Chromebook Duet 5 follow-up. Lenovo has taken what made those two devices great and improved upon them with its latest Chrome OS tablet, the IdeaPad Chromebook Duet 3. 

Powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 Compute Platform, this device is going to offer users more power to blaze through emails or web browsing and promises up to 12 hours of streaming video.  The display is now 11 inches and features upgraded speakers, a second USB-C port, and an improved keyboard. We can't wait to get our hands on one for a full review!

Best phone design — Oppo Find X5 Pro

Oppo's new Find X5 Pro flagship refines the "impossible" curved back panel design of its predecessor, the Find X3 Pro, with a new ceramic-backed chassis that looks super slick. The ceramic surface of the back panel is curved to meet the surface of the camera module, giving the Find X5 Pro a unique appearance as it tilts through the light. Whether you're picking up Oppo's new flagship in shimmering mirrored black or brilliant white, there's no denying that this is one of the best-looking smartphones available right now.

Best phone camera — Honor Magic 4 Pro

The Honor Magic 4 Pro fields a strong camera arrangement that goes up against the best that Samsung, Google, and OPPO offer at the moment. The dual 50MP lenses take fabulous photos in challenging conditions, there's a Samsung-rivaling telephoto lens, and you can shoot 10-bit video. You'll want to pay attention to this phone once it launches globally later this year.

Best phone update — Moto Edge+ (2022)

2021 wasn’t Motorola’s best or most exciting year. The company only had one semi-flagship device — that’s last Fall’s Motorola edge (2021) — but that phone was overshadowed by phones like the Pixel 5a, which was both less expensive and better overall. But 2022 is off to a good start with the Motorola Edge+ (2022), a phone that’s flagship-level at every turn.

Motorola swapped out the mid-range Snapdragon 778G with a brand new high-end Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor and upgraded the 144Hz LCD display to a 144Hz OLED panel. They’re even promising a brand new camera experience with new sensors, improved software, and an invigorated focus on AI-powered computational photography.

Best yet, Motorola will be selling a separate folio case that comes with an active stylus, complete with a suite of software that’s aimed at challenging Samsung’s S Pen-enabled phones. The $999 MSRP might be a tough sell for a company that’s historically been behind the times with software updates, but carrier deals are sure to sweeten the pot and make this a memorable release.

Best foldable — Honor Magic V

Honor addressed a lot of foldable pain points with the Magic V: the hinge closes completely, you can barely make out the crease in the middle, and the outer 120Hz screen is the same size as a normal phone. In short, it has the potential to be one of the best foldable phones of 2022.

Best overall phone — Oppo Find X5 Pro

Oppo continues to refine the Find X formula, with a bigger battery, even faster quick charging, and the impressive new MariSilicon X chip to improve camera performance. The Find X5 Pro is a fantastic handset overall, delivering longer battery life than its predecessors, and refills from dead to 50% in as little as 12 minutes. The triple-camera setup features improved video performance and excellent low-light capabilities. And Oppo's ColorOS 12 boasts handy neat like wallpaper color theming and floating window multitasking. It's not hard to picture this device earning a spot among the best Android phones of 2022.

Best networking announcement — Qualcomm Snapdragon X70 modem with 5G AI

The Snapdragon X70 5G modem may not arrive in smartphones until later this year, but we already have high hopes for the new Qualcomm chip. Thanks to the built-in AI processor, the Snapdragon X70 is poised to greatly enhance 5G connections, particularly with mmWave, which can be hard to access, even in urban environments where it's more commonly available. This means more people will have greater access to blazing-fast Gigabit speeds, and 5G can truly start living up to its potential.

Best XR announcement — Qualcomm/ByteDance

While we didn’t see any exciting new Quest 2 challengers appear at MWC this year, Qualcomm’s new partnership with ByteDance was more than we expected. ByteDance, who previously bought VR headset maker Pico back in August 2021, is also the same company that makes the ever-popular TikTok app, and its coffers are ready to challenge Meta in the AR/VR space.

The announcement was rather brief, but it shows just how far Qualcomm is willing to go to ensure that its chips are found in every popular XR headset across the globe. Whether it’s AR smart glasses or VR headsets, Qualcomm wants to be the one powering the experience.

Right now, the Pico Neo 3 is, essentially, the Quest 2 for the China market. It uses the same chipset and can play the same games thanks to universal development platforms like OpenXR. While we’re not expecting the Neo 3 to make its way to the U.S. to challenge the Quest 2 anytime soon, this partnership could ensure that the Neo 4 becomes the standalone VR challenger we’ve been waiting for.