The 2018 Mobile World Congress is almost upon us. The biggest tech show of the year is expected to bring with it new smartphones from leading names in the industry such as Samsung, Nokia (HMD Global), LG, Asus and so on.

Xiaomi, which just launched the Redmi Note 5 Pro and Redmi Note 5 in India a few days ago, is not expected to announce any new smartphone at MWC, with the Mi Mix 2S and Mi 7 expected later on in the year.

Here are the top 5 smartphones expected at MWC 2018:

Samsung Galaxy S9/Galaxy S9+: Incremental updates

Samsung will be showing off the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ at their Unpacked event on February 25 – a day ahead of MWC. The S9 and S9+ are expected to carry forward the design language and WQHD+ Super AMOLED ‘Infinity’ display of their predecessors – with a 5.8-inch panel on the former and a 6.2-inch panel on the latter.

Both smartphones are set to be powered by either Samsung’s own Exynos 9810 chipset or Qualcomm’s latest high-end Snapdragon 845 processor. While the S9+ is expected to come with 6GB of RAM, a dual 12MP rear camera setup and 128GB of internal storage, the S9 is likely to have 4GB of RAM, a solitary dual-pixel 12MP rear camera and 64GB of internal storage.

Both smartphones will run on Android 8.0 Oreo with Samsung’s ‘Experience UI’ on top and come with microSD storage expansion, an 8MP front camera and a dual glass design. Rumours claim that the smartphones could also come with an iPhone X-like Animoji feature called 3D Emoji.

Nokia 9/Nokia 8 Pro: Nokia finally goes bezel-less

Nokia is expected to announce a slew of new phones at their MWC event on February 25 such as the Nokia 7 Plus, Nokia 4 and the Android Go powered Nokia 1. The company is also expected to announce their first high-end flagship capable of competing with the iPhones and Samsung Galaxy Notes of the world.

Rumours about as many as three different high-end smartphones – the Nokia 10, Nokia 9 and Nokia 8 Pro – have been doing the rounds of the internet lately.

The Nokia 9 is expected to be powered by Qualcomm’s latest high-end chipset, the Snapdragon 845, and come with 128GB of internal storage expandable via a microSD card slot, ZEISS branded dual cameras on the front as well as the back, minimal bezels up front, OZO audio, Bothie and an 18:9 edge-to-edge display.

The Nokia 8 Pro, which might be launched as the Nokia 10, is expected to have similar specifications as the Nokia 9 with one major exception – the rear camera setup. The Nokia 8 Pro is rumoured to come with a ZEISS branded penta-lens camera setup at the rear which involves 5 lenses arranged in a circular manner.

There appears to be a single sensor with a primary fixed lens over which an assembly of multiple lenses can rotate. The arrangement is such that it allows for lenses of different focal lengths to add to the primary setup and provide for multiple shooting situations such as zoom, wide-angle and so on.

Sony Xperia XZ2: RIP bezels, finally

After years of sticking with the same elegant yet dated ‘OmniBalance’ design with substantial top and bottom bezels, Sony is set to finally embrace the bezel-less mania with their new set of Xperia smartphones.

While there is no official confirmation as of now, Sony is expected to launch the Xperia XZ2 flagship smartphone at their February 26 MWC event. The company has been posting various teasers on social media hinting at a drastic redesign that could see the removal of the massive top and and bottom bezels the company has now become infamous for.

Additionally, the Xperia XZ2 is tipped to be powered by the Qualcomm 845 chipset paired with the Adreno 630 GPU and come with a FHD+ 18:9 display, a 15MP rear camera, Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box and a 12MP selfie shooter. Rumours also claim that Sony might ditch the 3.5mm headphone jack in their new flagship smartphone.

Asus ZenFone 5: Android’s answer to the iPhone X

Asus is expected to release a new smartphone at MWC 2018 that stretches the definition of the word inspiration ever so slightly. If leaks and rumours are anything to go by, the Asus ZenFone 5 is set to be Android’s answer to the iPhone X – literally.

Early renders of the ZenFone 5 point towards the smartphone looking almost exactly like Apple’s tenth anniversary iPhone – down to the notch at the top of the display and the vertically oriented dual camera setup at the rear. The only distinction comes in the form of the fingerprint sensor located centrally in the top half of the rear panel.

Similarities to the iPhone X aside, the ZenFone 5 is expected to come with a Snapdragon 845 chipset, an 18:9 display, 6GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box and dual cameras. Asus is also expected to announce a cheaper variant in the form of the ZenFone 5 Lite with a different design, dual cameras on the front as well as the back and a FullHD+ display with an aspect ratio of 18:9.

LG V30 (2018): All about artificial Intelligence

LG has been struggling as of late with its mobile division. Both the LG G6 and LG V30 failed to set the market charts on fire and give flagships from Samsung and Apple a run for their money. LG’s beleaguered mobile division is expected to announce the 2018 version of last year’s V30 flagship at MWC 2018 along with a suite of AI technologies for its smartphones.

The LG V30 (2018) is expected have more or less the same design and specifications as its predecessors but with advanced artificial intelligence features. LG has also confirmed that the new V30 version will have a new dual camera setup with wide-angle, low-distortion lenses.

Dubbed Vision AI and Voice AI, the enhanced AI camera and voice features will be featured in the LG V30 (2018). Vision AI will bring advanced image recognition capabilities to the V30’s camera while Voice AI will add many Google Assistant voice commands to the smartphone.

Similar to the AI camera features found in the Honor View 10, Vision AI can analyse objects and recommend the best shooting mode from a choice of portrait, food, pet, landscape, city, flower, sunrise, and sunset. Voice AI will work in tandem with Google Assistant and allow users to change settings and run applications via voice commands. It will come with 32 exclusive voice commands.