There were some pretty unconventional phones at MWC 2018
We picked out some of the more interesting handsets at the show
Walking around the Mobile World Congress can be an overwhelming experience. With hundreds of exhibitors spread out in eight giant exhibition halls, there’s an endless array of smartphones on show. But among the iPhone clones and Samsung Galaxy copycats, there were some unique handsets that stood out among the rest...
A phone that (kinda) floats!
In this age of smartphones, it’s easy to forget that there’s a sizeable number of people who still use feature phones: Cheap mobile devices that let you make calls and do basic web browsing... and not much else.
One of the most interesting ones we saw in Barcelona was the Vano V96, billed as a waterproof “floating” phone that also doubles as a power bank.
When I visited their booth, the team excitedly suggested that I throw the phone into a water tank. So I did.
As promised, the handset didn’t drop like a stone to the bottom... but neither did it float like raft. Instead the top of the phone stayed just above the water while the rest hit the bottom (like the ending of Titanic).
Still, it’s hard to beat the price: It sells for just US$18.