#MWC19 – This is what caught our eyes in Barcelona

After a very hectic time in Barcelona last week, we have finally had some time to reflect on the Mobile World Congress 2019. As always, we traveled to this vibrant city with high expectations of the innovations we would see and the number of interesting people we would meet.

And we were not disappointed.Sadly, at major events and tradeshows like these (MWC is like it’s own tech universe), you probably only have time to see a fraction of all the amazing technologies. But we had our radar set on a few specific ones. You might have heard of some of them on social media and we even covered the most noteworthy MWC launches in a previous blog post. The big buzz would be 5G and the latest innovation in mobile devices would be foldable.

Huawei Mate X

One of the most talked about devices was the Huawei Mate X. Before seeing it live we were considering if it would only be one of those cool technologies that were trying to offer a solution to a problem that you did not have. But after having a quick look at the product, we realized that the foldable functionality actually made a lot of sense from an end-users perspective. The device genuinely acts as a smartphone and a tablet at the same time and you can truly sense the technical craftsmanship of the device. So the only question is: Do you have $2299 to spare? Then this product might be for you. At least, we at Testbirds are hoping to see our crowdtesters adding this to their device list in the near future.

Connected transportation

But there are not only new smartphones that you will find at MWC. We spotted several examples of how the future of transportation might look like. Just have a look at this convertible drone, 5G supported helicopter or connected car (which almost looks as foldable as a Mate X).

Testbirds Party Bus Tour

Speaking of transportation. As MWC is one of the most visited tradeshows in the world, we know how difficult it can be to get to the city center from the exhibition hall. At Testbirds we are all about crowdsourcing. That is why we, for the third year in a row, hosted our Testbirds Party Bus Tour, where we took 30 people around the city of Barcelona for an evening of sightseeing, music, and drinks – with a final stop at Plaça de Catalunya. Like previous years, this was the highlight of our MWC and a great event with both new and familiar faces from our network.