We’re here at Mobile World Congress 2022 in Barcelona, where a raft of new devices have been unveiled. It certainly isn’t the biggest year for mobile phones at the event, particularly for products coming to the US. Notably missing are the splashy releases by Samsung we’ve seen in years past.
Nevertheless, HMD Global (maker of Nokia phones), TCL, and Motorola have done their best to keep the gadget-reveal hype going. Meanwhile, a brand like Oppo (in the absence of a major new model from sister brand OnePlus) is highlighting what’s on offer for a global audience, with the US sadly missing out on a heavy hitter.
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TCL Has Too Many Phones
TCL and HMD are two brands without the strongest showing in Barcelona, with a wide range of tech being launched. As such, TCL takes pride of place in this roundup with two dedicated entries.
The straightforward phone launches from TCL come in the form of a new TCL 30 5G, TCL 30+, TCL 30, TCL 30 SE, and TCL 30 E. (That’s not confusing at all.) They’re successors to the 20 series from 2021. The big news here are the prices—the most expensive is the 30 5G at €249 (roughly $280 in US dollars), and the price drops in a sliding scale down to the 30 E (€139). US pricing and availability have yet to be confirmed, but the 30+, 30, and 30 SE are all available to buy now in Europe, and the other two models are set for release in April.
And the specs offer good value for the money. Each phone gets a 50-MP triple-camera setup, except for the TCL 30 E, which settles for a 50-MP dual camera team-up. The displays and big batteries are likely to appeal to many. The TCL 30 5G, TCL 30+, and TCL 30 all get 6.7-inch FHD+ AMOLED panels. The full range is sporting roughly a 5,000-mAh cell, which should offer battery life well into a second day.
The one obvious downside is that only some of these devices are guaranteed to get one Android OS upgrade (to Android 13) and two years of security updates.
TCL Has More Weird Concept Phones
It wasn’t all about quantity for TCL though, with some quality inbound in the form of interesting concept devices. First, there’s the TCL Fold ‘n Roll. The name says it all here: This phone is both foldable and rollable, allowing you to both extend the display and shrink it down to size, then close it shut.
