The futuristic handsets and gadgets to look forward to at next week's MWC

Tech firms from across the world gather together in Barcelona from Monday to announce their latest mobile wares.

As Samsung skipped the Mobile World Congress (MWC) this year, instead choosing to unveil its new Galaxy S10 range in London instead.

But there’ll be more than enough devices and developments at the Barcelona convention to keep tech fans busy. Here’s what is going to be hitting the headlines at MWC....

Faster downloads

The conversation this year is going to be dominated by 5G, the next generation of mobile technology.

Think faster downloads, zero lag during gaming and the end of wi-fi as we know it.

Companies will be showing off the infrastructure tech that will make this possible, as well as phone manufacturers such as OnePlus and Xiaomi revealing more details about their 5G devices, including potential release dates.

It’s still going to be a while until the UK gets full 5G coverage — late 2020 at the moment, so don’t get your hopes up.

Foldable devices

The other big chat is about folding smartphones. Huawei and Xiaomi are both rumoured to be revealing their dual-screen folding devices, the Mate Flex and Dual Flex respectively, while the maker of the first folding smartphone, Royole, will have its FlexPai on show too.

Early reports of the FlexPai point to it being bulky, slow to launch apps and having a camera that isn’t brilliant.

Yet the innovation is exciting and it’ll be interesting to see how the other companies are tackling the folding challenge.

Showstopper smartphones

Though no Samsung appearance is on the agenda, that doesn’t mean other phones won’t be revealed.

Xiaomi is set to announce its Mi 9 device, Nokia will break ground with its rumoured five-camera smartphone, the Nokia 9 PureView, and Sony will showcase its new Xperia XZ3 follow-up.

Next-gen wearables

MWC isn’t just about phones. The wearables schedule includes a new HoloLens — Microsoft’s mixed-reality headset — which looks to be getting a new processor and a design upgrade.

Huawei and LG could release new smartwatches featuring Qualcomm’s latest Wear 3100 processor too.

There also appears to be an intriguing smartphone/wearable hybrid from Chinese company Nubia, which from the images looks like a phone with a flexible display that you can wear on your wrist.

Nobody said innovation wasn’t a little strange sometimes.