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It’s only February and already we’re hearing about a range of devices set to take the world by storm come the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. What does this mean for the everyday consumer and how will it affect you? Well, if we consider how much of an impact smartphones have had on our lives for the better part of the decade, it’s easy to connect the dots.

Smartphone manufacturers around the world have been on a mission to capture our imaginations, hearts and most importantly our attention. At the moment we truly find ourselves in a world of tomorrow, where anything is seeming possible, and with each year that passes the technology that is being packed into these handheld devices is frankly mind-boggling.

So how will the latest chapter in this ongoing battle between the manufacturers and their flagship phones define the year? Simply put, the competition immediately adds even more variety, but it also means that we can expect more and more of these devices to contain the sort of features we’ve thought to be the stuff of movies and dreams.

One need not look further than the devices below to get a taste of what the year ahead holds.

Huawei P20

Late last year, Huawei brought us the Mate 10 Pro and it was quite a phone! But that was by no means a follow up to the wildly popular Huawei P10, which proved to be quite capable and quite affordable. This year however, we will get to see the release of the Huawei P20 in all its glory and three versions. That’s right the much anticipated P20 will be launched in the three variants namely the P20 which will be the standard version, the P20 Lite which needs no explanation and lastly the P20 Plus, which as rumours have it will break with tradition and be called the P20 Pro.

Sad news though is Huawei won’t be showcasing these at the Mobile World Congress this year, instead opting for a separate event in Paris at the end of March. So far what is known is that these phones will pack a punch with the Plus/Pro getting a Triple Rear Camera set up, while the Lite gets a Dual Camera set up. Up front will see a dual camera set up and an always on display. How might all these features not be a drain on the battery, well how about a massive 4,000mAh battery for the Plus, while the smaller P20 will probably settle for a 3,200mAh unit. The headphone jack has apparently been excluded in the P20 range, so just how wireless Huawei plans to go with these devices remains to be seen.

LG “Judy”

Secrecy leads to rumours, which leads to leaks and everything ultimately leads to articles like this. But Sony has done a much better job than most at keeping things under wraps. At first everyone expected the LG G7, the follow up to the G6, however the company has opted to instead go a different route with no launch of any new device at Mobile World Congress 2018, with a new “mystery” phone set to launch later in the year.

Codenamed “Judy”, all that’s known as yet is that it will come with a 6.1inch display that uses “a new kind” of LCD panel. Other indications point to the phone being water resistant, wireless charging capable and coming with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor. “Judy” is expected to be a revamped version of the V30 instead of the next in the G series line up and will have 64GB storage and 4GB RAM.

Samsung 9

As the most anticipated launch of the year so far, the Samsung Galaxy S9 will certainly have many people anxiously waiting. This will serve as the company’s response to Apple’s launch of the iPhone X towards the end of 2017. Rumour has it that the S9 will come with an in screen finger print scanner, however, most tech pundits have ruled this out citing a thicker screen as a major requirement which Samsung currently does not have.

Another talking point has been a new screen coating that will see liquid “bounce” off and add to the water resistant capability of the phone. In keeping with Samsung’s latest edition to their flagship devices, an Infinity Edge display is also expected on the new S9 range.