Everything Android from the show in Barcelona.
[/URL]
This year's was the most eventful in years, with major flagship announcements from some of the biggest names in Android. The weeklong show gave us newer and faster phones with more beautiful hardware than ever, along with some surprises from the biggest players in the smartphone space.
There's been a lot of news to keep track of, so we've done the legwork for you, condensing all the major MWC 2016 developments into one place. So what are you waiting for? Head past the break to get up to speed on everything from the biggest show in mobile.
Samsung
As much as MWC 2016 was one of the busiest single events in years for Android, it was once again Samsung's show. The and S7 edge are undoubtedly going to be among the best-selling Android phones of the year, and deservedly so.
You can argue that Samsung didn't give us any revolutionary changes this time around. Instead, it did something much more important: taking three good phones — the Galaxy S6, S6 edge and S6 edge+ — and condensing them into two awesome phones. Water resistance and improvements in battery capacity are important advancements. Meanwhile an improved low-light camera should keep the Korean firm at the top of the pile (or at least near its summit) when it comes to imaging. All three are areas in which smartphone hardware has yet to plateau, and thus important spaces for Samsung to differentiate its products.
The Unpacked event itself also bears mentioning. For the third year running, Samsung did its thing at the CCIB (Centre de Convencions Internacional de Barcelona), located away from the bustle of the main MWC venue, and a stone's throw from the beach. Unpacked 2016 was a mix of virtual reality showboating and real-life spectacle, with Gear VR-equipped attendees arranged around a central stage.
Samsung Unpacked 2016 was bombastic and showy, but not weird.
New Samsung Mobile boss DJ Koh put in a strong performance, tying together a presentation that managed to be bombastic and showy, but not weird — a balance Samsung hasn't always managed to pull off. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, already in town for his MWC keynote, talked up VR as a platform for sharing important moments, giving us a glimpse of something beyond the relatively crude stereoscopic experience of the current Gear VR. Also a big deal: A brief cameo from Epic Games co-founder Tim Sweeney — who's previously made appearances at Apple launch events — to talk up the GS7's gaming prowess.