The Mobile World Congress, hosted by the Groupe Spéciale Mobile Association (GSMA) in Barcelona, is the biggest trade show for the mobile electronics industry in the world. It is in this yearly event that the world's mobile device makers unveil their newest gadgets and flagship products. Although Apple is not present at the event, the influence of its iPhone X design will be palpable in the phones produced by other brands.
This year, Samsung started off the congress with what may be the event's biggest revelation: the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus, both of which will be the brand's flagship phones. Both the S9 and S9 Plus have a full-screen display like the iPhone X. They also have Android 8 (Oreo) as their operating system, as well as a range of specs better than most of Samsung's other phones.
However, Samsung is not the only big player this year. Sony also launched the Xperia XZ2 on Monday, Feb. 26, the first day of the congress. The Xperia XZ2 uses Google Android™ O2 as its OS, and boasts 64 GB UFS internal memory, 4K HDR Movie recording, and many other remarkable specifications.
ASUS chose the second day of the congress to launch a total of three new smartphones: the flagship phone ZenFone 5Z, the ZenFone 5, and the ZenFone 5Q, which also goes by ZenFone 5 Lite. All three phones are similar in design to Apple's iPhone X, bearing the same full-screen display with a notch at the top. The three ASUS devices also come with thin bezels like the iPhone X, although they use Android 8 (Oreo) as their OS as well as the Snapdragon 845 as their processor.
However, the Samsung Galaxy s9 and the ASUS ZenFones were not the only iPhone X clones at the event. Many brands have sought to replicate the iPhone X design for their phones, and Leagoo was one of them. The Chinese company called its device, named the Leagoo S9 Pro, "the world's first Android iPhone X."
Apple does not commonly attend trade shows. This year, unsurprisingly, the electronics juggernaut is also notably absent from the gathering. Even so, the brand's presence is still palpable, with the design for its 10th generation iPhone duplicated by other brands.
This year's MWC is scheduled to run from Feb. 26 to Thursday, March 1.
