BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS — HTC hasn’t announced any new devices here at Mobile World Congress, but that’s because it chose to give its latest Android flagship, the HTC One, its own press event earlier this month. It is here to show off that device, however, and it’s easy to see why the Taiwanese company wants everyone to get their hands on it.

Android smartphone vendors are often criticized for using too much plastic, and making devices that feel cheap — especially in comparison with Apple’s premium iPhone. But the HTC One is very different. Made from a block of aluminum, the device actually has a lot in common with the iPhone, and it looks and feels exactly how a high-end smartphone should.

BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS — HP famously bowed out of the tablet game when it gave up on the TouchPad and its webOS operating system, but here at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the company has jumped right back into it. Its new tablet, the Slate 7, is an entry-level device that’s powered by Android, and it costs just $169. We went hands-on to find out whether it’s worth it.

BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS — After ZTE unveiled the ZTE Open, the world’s first commercially available Firefox OS smartphone at Mobile World Congress on Monday, other manufacturers are pledging their support for Mozilla’s new open platform. Sony Mobile has now confirmed that it has “an ambition” to launch its first Firefox OS smartphones in 2014 under a new partnership with Telefonica.

BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS — I’ve used both the original Galaxy Note and the Galaxy Note II for fairly lengthy periods, and although I’ve quickly gotten used to their super-sized displays, there was one thing that never failed to frustrate me. Samsung didn’t make the capacitive buttons beneath the display compatible with the S Pen, so when you’re working with the stylus, you have to move it out of the way and use your fingers to go back or access a menu.

Sure, it’s only a small flaw, but it’s still a frustrating one — as I’m sure anyone who’s ever owned a Galaxy Note will tell you. Thankfully, Samsung has fixed this with the new Galaxy Note 8.0.

BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS — Thanks to the original PadFone’s rather disappointing start, we thought the probability of seeing a successor at Mobile World Congress was slim at best. But we couldn’t be more wrong. Asus has just unveiled the PadFone Infinity, a 5-inch smartphone that transforms into a 10.1-inch tablet with the help of a clever docking station.

The device has some impressive specifications, including a 1080p display, a quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor, and a 13-megapixel camera. But do you really want a smartphone that transforms into a tablet? We went hands-on with the device to find out.