MWC 2016: what we want to see

MWC 2015 has been and gone, but the products which were announced there aren't likely to be forgotten any time soon, from the flagship HTC One M9 and Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphones, to the stylish Huawei Watch and the innovative Galaxy S6 Edge - and those are just some of the highlights.

But we're now looking towards next year's show, MWC 2016, and thinking of all the things we want to see.
Whether it's improvements on this year's offerings or completely new ideas, there's a lot we're hoping for and as the year creeps towards a close we're starting to hear a lot of rumors about possible announcements too.

What is MWC 2016?

MWC, or Mobile World Congress to give it its full title, is one of the biggest events in the smartphone calendar. It's right up there with Apple's iPhone launches and Samsung's Unpacked events.
It takes place in Barcelona towards the end of February/beginning of March and it sees the world's manufacturers (minus Apple) descend on the Fira Gran Via for four days of mobile madness. MWC 2016 runs from February 22 to February 25.
Every year techradar travels in force to cover the event live and bring you all the latest news from the show. Mark it in your diary, submit your wish list in the comments and brace yourself for everything mobile. In the meantime, here's what we want to see.

A truly bendable phone

Samsung and LG have teased us with the likes of the Galaxy S6 Edge, S6 Edge+ and the LG G Flex 2, but we want someone to take these ideas to the next step, with a bendable phone or at the very least a phone which makes good use of its curves.
Hopefully something will manage that at MWC 2016 and hopefully it will be a flagship, rather than being designed as a niche device.

HTC One M10

The HTC One M9 launched at MWC 2015 and there's a good chance we'll see the HTC One M10 at MWC 2016. But what specifically do we want? A better battery would be a good start, but beyond that it needs to be substantially different to and better than the M9.
That might mean changing the admittedly brilliant design, or maybe HTC will achieve it by adding new features to the phone, like a fingerprint or iris scanner, but the company needs to do something, because as great as the M9 is it feels like HTC is treading water.
We wouldn't be surprised if the M10 takes some design cues from the One A9.
Early rumors suggest we might see wireless charging, a powerful processor and perhaps a new camera, but there's still surprisingly little to go on.

Samsung Galaxy S7

There's also a good chance we'll see the Samsung Galaxy S7 at MWC 2016 and we hope so too, especially after how impressive the S6 was.
Battery life is a key concern again and it would be good if Samsung could return some of the features it cut from the S6, like a microSD card slot and a water resistant build.
Early rumors suggest it might do just that, or at least the microSD card bit. There's also talk of either a Snapdragon 820 or Exynos M1 processor, a 16MP rear camera, a 5MP front-facing one, a strong magnesium alloy build, a durable Turtle Glass display and a pressure-sensitive 3D Touch-like technology.
We have seen reports suggesting that Samsung may jump the gun with the Galaxy S7 launch though, with a January unveiling being touted. We'd say that sounds unlikely - but stranger things have happened.

Every new flagship smartphone

How about the Samsung Galaxy S7, HTC One M10, LG G5, Sony Xperia Z6 and Motorola Moto X (2016) all launching in Barcelona together? It would be the mobile holy grail.
It's nothing more than a pipe dream, but seeing every major Android manufacturer drop a new flagship in Barcelona would cement MWC's title as the most important technology conference of the year.
We'd be in dreamland, the crowds would love it and consumers will get to select from a bunch of top notch handsets at the same time, rather than having to wait weeks, or even months, for all the top players to show their hand.
Come on guys, one for all and all for one.

More Windows phones

Windows Phone has had a tough time up against the might of Android and iOS, but Windows 10 Mobile is finally here and it's accompanied by the impressive Microsoft Lumia 950 and Microsoft Lumia 950 XL.
We probably won't see any more new Microsoft flagships at the show, but hopefully a new OS will lead to a boost in popularity and with it a slew of new Windows Phone devices from other manufacturers at MWC 2016.

A brilliant Lumia camera phone

Remember the Nokia Lumia 1020? A solid smartphone with an absolutely stonking 41MP camera bolted on the rear. It's about time the Lumia brand treated us to another super smartphone camera, and MWC 2016 would be the perfect venue.
With Microsoft now at the Lumia helm, there's enough drive (and money) to push Windows Phone to the fore - and a cracking cameraphone will have everyone talking.

A stronger Chinese presence

Huawei and ZTE always have big stands at MWC, and MWC 2016 won't be any different - but the devices they're peddling are usually less eye-catching than the more established names.
We'd like to see a real flagship contender from each firm, which will actually launch in a timely fashion around the world (with prices revealed up front) and minus the weirdness the brands can sometimes suffer from.
We also want a solid presence from the likes of OnePlus, Oppo, Honor, Meizu and Xiaomi. These Chinese firms are producing high quality, low cost handsets which could give Samsung and co. some serious headaches if they manage to crack the Western market. Show us what you're made of!