MWC 2022: All The Biggest Announcements

MWC or Mobile World Congress 2022 is in full swapping and it’s brought a flurry of new mobile-focused products. Though the show is more commonly known for introducing more smartphones, this year the focus seems to have shifted towards laptops. With OnePlus announcing its flagship at CES 2022 and Samsung running its own show to debut the Galaxy S22 family, there were just fewer flagship phones to headline the show. 

Still, there’s plenty to get excited about from MWC 2022. We’ve highlighted only the biggest announcements from the show including new gaming laptops, the return of ports to Ultrabooks, and the most affordable 5G phones around.

Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3

Lenovo’s entry-level gaming laptop has gotten a full-redesign and new specs to boot. This new model features a hinge-forward design that basically extends the rear of the notebook an inch out from behind the display. The laptop’s extended backside allows for better cooling and also rear-mounted ports, plus a thinner overall profile.

The new Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 and 3i comes in two Intel and AMD flavored variants as well as two 15- and 16-inch sizes. Intel versions can be loaded up with up to a hexa-core Intel Core i7-12700H, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD. The AMD models on the other hand feature up to an octa-core AMD Ryzen 7 6800H, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB SSD.

The Intel-powered arrives earliest in April 2022 for $989 to start. Following that, the AMD-powered 15-inch IdeaPad Gaming 3i comes in May 2022 for $929 to start. The 16-inch IdeaPad Gaming 3i arrives in June 2022 with Intel and AMD models starting at $1,489 and $1,139, respectively.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 5

The ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 5 was practically the second gaming laptop Lenovo had on for show. Although it’s marketed as a workstation machine, it can be configured with up to an Intel i9-12900H and Nvidia GeForce 3080 Ti running at 110W and a 16-inch, 2,560 x 1,600 resolution display running at 165Hz. Up to 64GB of RAM and 8TB of SSD storage round out this extreme laptop’s potential configurations. That said, the ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 5 base spec is reasonably priced at $2,049 and it launches in June 2022.

Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 3 Chromebook

The Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook was the most exciting Chromebook we’ve seen in a long time, and the Duet 3 is essentially its smaller 11-inch brother.  Featuring a 2K screen, Snapdragon 7c Gen 2, plus a base of 4GB of memory and 64GB eMMC storage, this Chromebook should be particularly well suited for running all your Android apps on top of running the usual Google suite of web applications.

Just like its bigger brother, this Chromebook tablet comes with a magnetic back cover that doubles as a kickstand. It also clips to an included magnetic keyboard to give you a full 2-in-1 laptop experience. The IdeaPad Duet 3 Chromebook starts at $399 and is expected to arrive by May 2022.

IdeaPad Duet 5i

The IdeaPad Duet 5i essentially takes the design of the Duet 3 Chromebook we just mentioned above and blows it up into a 12-inch device while also slapping Windows 11 on. This is essentially Lenovo’s take on the Microsoft Surface Pro 8. It features a 12-inch, 2,560 x 1,600 resolution display along with 12th Gen Intel processors up to an Intel Core i7-1255U, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD for storage.

Unlike the rest of Lenovo’s 2-in-1 detachable series, the Duet 5i features an integrated kickstand that can lower itself to a much shallower angle for doodling and drafting. Interested readers will also be glad to hear the magnetic backlit keyboard comes included with the device, however, the optional Active Pen 3 is sold separately. The Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5i will be available starting July 2022 for a $749 starting price.

Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro (360)

After Apple’s new MacBook Pros it seems like all the ports are coming back to Ultrabooks. This is clearly the case across Samsung’s whole Galaxy Book2 Pro line as they all feature a full-sized HDMI port, Thunderbolt 4, USB-C, USB 3.2, Micro SD card slot, and headphone jack.

Ports aside, the Galaxy Book2 Pro series comes in four variants in 13- and 15-inch sizes as either a standard clamshell notebook or a 2-in-1 laptop with a 360-degree rotating screen. Samsung’s notebooks all feature a sleeker design and Super AMOLED Full HD displays that sing brightly with vibrant colors.

Internally, all the Galaxy Book2 Pro models can be configured with an Intel 12th Generation Core i5 or i7 processor. You also have a choice of either 8GB or 16GB of memory with 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB storage options.

You can preorder the Galaxy Book2 Pro for $1,049 and Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 for $1,249 starting March 18. Both laptops will be released on April 1.

TCL 30 5G

TCL announced its latest TCL 30 Series smartphones at MWC in a dazzling array of five different models but we’re going to focus on the biggest and best model, the TCL 30 5G. This 6.7-inch handset features an AMOLED display, 50MP AI triple camera system, and a big old 5,000mAh battery.

But before you get too excited about this new phone, it doesn’t have any planned availability in the US yet. Though with a price tag of €249 (about $280), it should be one of the cheapest 5G handsets around if and when it comes stateside.

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Kevin Lee is IGN’s SEO Updates Editor. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam.