Mobile World Congress 2015 (MWC 2015) will be kicking off in Barcelona on March 2 and running through March 5. MWC is one of the biggest consumer electronics shows, and many manufacturers take the annual opportunity to launch their flagship devices for the year, setting the bar high for their competitors.

We previously featured which smartphones might appear at MWC 2015, such as the HTC M9 and the Samsung Galaxy S6, which feature faster processors, better cameras and bigger displays. But smartphones may not be the stars at this year’s event, as device manufacturers are said to be gearing up to release their own smartwatches to rival Apple’s much-talked-about Apple Watch.

So what smartwatches will debut this year? And what features will they have to impress you?

LG Watch Urbane

LG Electronics, Inc. recently announced it will unveil its LG Watch Urbane at MCW 2015. The device features a 1.3-inch round P-OLED display, polished silver or gold steel casing, stitched leather strap, 512MB of DDR2 RAM, 4GB of internal storage, a photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor that measures heart rate and average pulse rate during exercise, and an always-on ambient mode that shows the time in dimmed mode to preserve battery life. The smartwatch is compatible with devices running Android 4.3 or higher.

HTC Petra

Last year, HTC Corp. was rumored to have abandoned the smartwatch market. But in January, another set of rumors surfaced stating that along with the HTC M9, the company will bring a smartwatch to MWC 2015. HTC announced a partnership with Under Armour, so we can expect its wearable devices to be on the fitness tracking side.

The device to be launched at MWC is codenamed HTC Petra, which features a 1.8-inch 32×160 PMOLED display, is IP57-certified dustproof and waterproof and weighs 23g. It also comes with an ST Micro STM32L151 chipset, Bluetooth and GPS support, a three-day battery and USB or POGO pin charging. The HTC Petra will come with a footpod that tracks steps taken.

Samsung Orbis

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is said to be joining the circular-faced smartwatch revolution. The device, called the Samsung Orbis, will feature a rotating bezel ring, which can be used to navigate through menus; scroll apps, widgets and notifications; dismiss and snooze alarms; change music; and even accept or reject calls.

Instead of Android, Orbis is said to run on Tizen OS and have the display divided into three parts, like a pie chart, to show different information simultaneously. No word yet from Samsung on hardware specifications.

Huawei’s first smartwatch

Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. unveiled its smart fitness band at last year’s MWC. The device is similar in design to Samsung’s Gear Fit and functions as a sleep and fitness tracker, but also as a Bluetooth headset.

This year, reports state that Huawei will announce its first smartwatch at MWC, which could be unveiled during a press conference before the event proper, alongside a smartphone and tablet. Not much is known about the Huawei smartwatch, but it could be a standalone device if the 4G LTE logo on the teaser ad is taken as a hint.

Main image source: http://www.lgnewsroom.com/newsroom/contents/64948