The big phones to look out for at MWC

Let's face it, when it came to phone announcements this year's CES was a little... underwhelming. But MWC 2014 is just around the corner and it's looking a lot more promising.

It all kicks of on February 24, but to tide you over till then here's a rundown of the biggest and best phones that we're expecting (or hoping) to see on the show floor.

• MWC 2014: what to expect

Sony Xperia Z2

The Sony Xperia Z1 Compact was one of the biggest phone announcements at CES and it looks like the Japanese firm plans to top it in Barcelona with the launch of its new flagship, the Sony Xperia Z2.

A tweet from @evleaks claimed the Xperia Z2 was 'tipped' for an MWC debut. That's not quite a confirmation and as the Sony Xperia Z1 only launched at the tail end of last year it would seem rather soon for a new flagship, but then there was less than a year between the Sony Xperia Z and the Z1 so it's not impossible.

So what can you expect from the Xperia Z2? Rumours point to a 5.2-inch 1080p display with a 506ppi, a 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, 3GB of RAM, 20.7MP camera with Xenon flash and Android 4.4.

It seems a fairly safe bet that the Xperia Z2 will also be water and dust proof, given that its predecessors are.

• Sony Xperia Z2 release date, news and rumours

HTC One 2

The HTC One was one of the best phones of last year and really put HTC back on the map, so expectations for the HTC One 2 (Or M8 or Two or whatever it ends up being called) are high.

There's been no confirmation that we'll see the HTC One 2 at MWC, but @evleaks has hinted the handset will be with US carriers by the end of Q1 2014, while court documents from a patent trial claim that the handset will also be out in the first quarter of 2014.

None of that means MWC of course, and it gives HTC until the end of March to hit that Q1 prediction - and we reckon it'll favour a stand alone launch rather than battling for attention at .

So what do we know about the handset so far? Well, rumours point to a 2.26GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, either 2 or 3GB of RAM, an UltraPixel camera, Android 4.4 and Sense 6. Of course it will also keep the metal body which was such a big selling point of the One.

Those are certainly some good specs but for our money they're maybe not that big of an upgrade, particularly if it ends up with just 2GB of RAM. Still, if it launches at MWC it could be the star of the show.

• HTC One 2 release date, news and rumours

Samsung Galaxy S5

Short of a new iPhone the only handset which stands much chance of overshadowing the HTC One 2 is the Samsung Galaxy S5 and there's a chance that it might make an appearance at MWC.

There were conflicting rumours on whether the Galaxy S5 would actually be unveiled at MWC 2014, but after Samsung sent out a teasing invite headlined "Unpacked 5" there seems to be little doubt over the arrival of the firm's next flagship device.

On the other hand some rumours suggest that the Galaxy S5 will launch in either March or April at a dedicated launch event.

This makes more sense as Samsung has a history of shunning MWC and instead holding its own launch events - but that invite is very, very hard to ignore.

When it does launch we're expecting a 2560 x 1440 AMOLED display, Android 4.4, a 16MP camera and either an Exynos 6 or Snapdragon 805 processor.

It's also looking likely that a metal version of the handset may be offered and there's a possibility that it could have a 64-bit processor, a fingerprint scanner and even an eye scanner.