For the past week, we've been spending time with the world's newest smartphones and tablets at Mobile World Congress 2013. While there were a good deal of new devices, not everyone was a winner. But the ones that did stick out from the crowd were impressive for myriad reasons. Read on to check out the best smartphones and tablets of MWC 2013.
LG's Optimus G Pro was the standout smartphone of the show. With its 5.5-inch 1080p display, users have plenty of space to take advantage of LG's QSlide multitasking app, which lets you run two apps in windows on top of your work.
A quad-core processor and a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera add to to the fun, while a 3,140mAh battery pack helps keep it running all day long. And when it's time to kick off your shoes and relax, you can use the G Pro's IR blaster and QRemote app to control your home entertainment system.
More: LG Optimus G Pro Pairs 1080p Screen with Powerful Multitasking Features (VIDEO)
Sony's latest tablet, the Xperia Z, is a large departure from the company's previous slates, and that's a good thing. This 10.1-inch slate takes a gorgeous 1920 x 1080-pixel display and a powerful quad-core processor and crams it into the thinnest chassis of any tablet on the market.
Want to take control of your TV? The Xperia Z has you covered thanks to its IR Blaster and Sony's Side View app. Best of all, this all comes together in a package that's not only beautiful, but can also take a swim in up to 6 inches of water for 30 minutes.
More: Sony Xperia Tablet Z is World's Thinnest Tablet, Goes Underwater (VIDEO)
With the PadFone Infinity, ASUS wants you to have your cake and eat it too. The device takes a 5.5-inch quad-core-powered smartphone with a 1080p display and marries it to a 10.1-inch tablet to create one super device. The PadFone's smartphone serves as the quad-core-powered brains of the system and slides into the rear of the tablet portion, bringing the larger of the two devices to life and giving new meaning to the phrase "2-for-1 special."
More: Sony Xperia Tablet Z is World's Thinnest Tablet, Goes Underwater (VIDEO)
The latest member of Samsung's Galaxy Note family combines the best of the tablet and smartphone worlds. Users get 8 inches of screen real estate and telephone capabilities, making this the biggest phablet on the market.
An included IR Blaster and Peel's TV app let users control their TVs without ever having to put down the Note 8.0. Throw in the included S Pen stylus with Air View mode and Dual View multiple window capabilities, and you've got a phablet that truly delivers.
More: Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 Hands-On: The Pen Tablet You've Been Waiting For
Huawei made quite an impression at this year's Mobile World Congress with the unveiling of its Ascend P2 smartphone. Not only is the P2 the first smartphone in the world to sport a 4.7-inch in-cell HD display, but it also offers the fastest Web speeds of any smartphone on the planet, thanks to its 150 Mbps 4G LTE CAT 4 connectivity.
Want to use the P2 but don't want to take off your gloves? No problem. The phone's Magic Touch display technology lets you interact its touch screen even with a pair of gloves on.
More: Huawei Ascend P2 Hands-On: A Super Phone with Super Speed
Lenovo unveiled a trio of new tablets at Mobile World Congress 2013, but the one that really caught our eye was the S6000. It offers a 10-inch, 1280 x 720-pixel IPS display and quad-core power in a shell that's just 0.3 inches thick. Running Android 4.2, the slate's features a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera and a VGA front-facing shooter. Rounding out the S6000's features is a set of dual rear-mounted speakers that is sure to make media lovers happy.
More: Lenovo Unveilrs Three New Tablets, A1000, A30000 and S6000
LG's new mid-range F7 is being marketed as the 4G LTE phone for the masses. At 4.5 inches, this phone's dual-core processor may not have the power of its big brother, the Optimus G Pro, but it still includes all of the great software options including QSlide, QRemote and QTranslator. What's more, the Optimus F7's gorgeous 1280 x 720-pixel True IPS display produces bright, vibrant colors that looked incredible even under the harsh lighting in LG's booth.
More: LG Brings 4G LTE to the Masses with Optimus F Series Smartphones
With its Lumia 520, Nokia is bringing the premium features found on the Lumia 920 to the budget phone market. For what is expected to be a relatively low price, the Lumia 520 will include a 1-GHz dual-core processor and 512MB of RAM. Its 4-inch screen won't be the sharpest on the planet, but hardware isn't the point of this phone. What makes this smartphone a hit is that it will be the cheapest Windows Phone 8 device around.
More: LG Brings 4G LTE to the Masses with Optimus F Series Smartphones
Is Huawei's 6.1-inch Ascend Mate phablet too small for you? Well guess what, Andre the Giant, there's an even bigger phone out there for you. Say hello to ASUS' FonePad. At 7 inches, the FonePad may be the size of a small tablet, but ASUS is openly marketing it as a phone with tablet capabilities.
Inside, the FonePad has an Intel Atom processor, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of onboard storage. ASUS also packs the FonePad with software including the company's Floating App, which allows users to manage multitasking and running apps, SuperNote Lite and ASUS WebStorage with 5GB of free storage.
More: Calling From a 7.0-inch Phone: Hands-on with The ASUS Padfone.
The ZTE Open is a smartphone meant for the developing world. It includes a 3.5-inch HVGA screen, 256MB of RAM and a 800-MHz Qualcomm 7225A CPU, meaning it won't be the best performing smartphone on the market, but what makes the Open a winner in our book is the fact that it will be one of the first phones in the world to launch with Mozilla's Firefox OS. We were very impressed with the operating system's Web-based apps and unique dynamic search feature that allows you to search for things across both the Web and your apps, something that's not possible on other platforms.
