MWC 2025 Live: All the Phones, Concepts, Gadgets and AI We Saw in Barcelona
After four days, Mobile World Congress has come to an end. During our time in Barcelona, we saw countless phones, wearables, AI implementations and gadgets on display.
This year's edition of Mobile World Congress, the annual conference all about phones and mobile gadgets, has come to an end. After walking miles around the Fira Gran Via in Barcelona and eating too many tapas to remember, CNET's ground team is headed home to their families. Over the course of several days, they saw numerous phones, a ridiculous amount of concept devices and more AI than you can imagine.
Several themes emerged from this year's MWC 2025. Slim phones like the Galaxy S25 Edge and Tecno Spark Slim are just the start of a trend we'll see play out for the rest of the year. AI is going to become more helpful, as we saw with Deutsche Telekom's AI Phone, which prioritizes Perplexity's AI over a normal OS. Lastly, gadgets can still be cool and fun -- I'm looking at you, Aurzen Zip Projector and your Anker Solix solar-powered cloak.
Below is everything we covered at MWC 2025, along with the live blog posts we wrote during our five days covering Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Everything we covered at MWC 2025
MWC phone Highlight
- Xiaomi 15 Ultra First Take
- Honor Offers 7 Years of Android Updates
- HMD Fusion X1 Phone For Teens
- Oppo Find N5 Review
- HMD's New Phones Cater to Many a Niche
- Honor Teases Agentic AI Phone
- Xiaomi's 15 Ultra Is a Photo Powerhouse
- Google March Feature Drop For Pixel Phones
- Nothing Phone 3A and 3A Pro First Take
- ZTE's Nubia Phones Go Wild at MWC
- The Coolest Phones We've Seen at MWC 2025
- TCL's 60 Phone Line
- RealMe's Pro 14 Color-Changing Phone
- Infinix's Solar-Powered Phone
- Newnal AI Phone
- RedMagic 10 Pro's Golden Saga Phone
- Deutsche Telekom's Perplexity AI Phone
- Unboxing the Nothing Phone 3A Pro
- Tecno's Spark Slim Phone
- Samsung's New Galaxy A Phones
- Photos the Xiaomi 15 Ultra
- Thin Phones Are a New Trend
MWC concept device highlights
- Lenovo's Wild Concept Devices
- Samsung Display's Madcap Concepts
- Xiaomi's Modular Camera Concept Phone
- Lenovo's AI Ring Controls PCs
- RealMe Phone Full-Size Camera Lens Concept
- Samsung Display Wowed Us With Its Concept Devices
- Samsung's Stretchable, Rollable and Foldable Screens
MWC gadget highlights
¡Adios MWC 2025!
CNET's Tara Brown and Abrar Al-Heeti, two of our five person ground team, pose in front of an MWC sign in Barcelona.
Thanks for the memories, the phones, the gadgets and the tapas -- until next year!
The Ulefone 28 Ultra has a battery that's twice as big as the ones in most phones
The Ulefone 28 Ultra (Thermal Version) lives up to the ultra in its name.
The Ulefone 28 Ultra (Thermal Version) has ridiculous specs: it's got a bulked up durable design, a main camera with a similar sensor as the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, a thermal imaging camera, a 10,600mAh battery, a second display on the back that's a circle and comes with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. What more could you want, right? For perspective most top Android phones come with a 5,000mAh battery.
Notice the phone's circular display in the camera bump showing a clock.
The back of this Tecno phone can change into any color or graphic you want
The back of the phone can transform into any graphic, color or pattern you want.
While the Tecno Spark Slim is capturing all the headlines from MWC, it's this phone that is truly futuristic. It's called the Tecno Display Electronic Slurry (DES) phone concept. It's a prototype nicknamed Provo 07, hence why you see that so prominently on the phone's rear. The back of the phone can change on the fly into any color, pattern or graphic you can imagine.
The Tecno DES phone has pixels made up of pigment embedded in plasma that's connected to electrodes. The resolution of the back is 600DPI and can display a graphic for over 500 hours without fading. Below is a photo of the same phone with a different graphic -- taken seconds after the image above.
Notice anything different from the photo above?
We tried sending files and sharing the screen from a Motorola phone to a PC
Casting your Motorola phone screen to your laptop is easier than ever now with Smart Connect.
Since Motorola debuted its Smart Connect tool in 2024, it's acquired nine million monthly users, but it could be about to gain a whole lot more thanks to upgrades announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week.
Until now, Smart Connect has allowed cross-device integration between select Motorola and Lenovo products in much the same way Apple makes it easy to transfer tasks, apps and files between devices in its own ecosystem. But Motorola announced at MWC that it's opening up Smart Connect so that it's available on all Windows 10 and 11 PCs and will also allow for more integration for other Android devices, creating an easy and seamless way for you to cast, share and search across your phone, tablet and PC.
Read more: AI Upgrades to Motorola's Smart Connect at MWC Make It More Essential Than Ever
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge's durability gets teased
At Samsung Unpacked in January 2025, the company revealed the slim Galaxy S25 Edge phone.
While thin phones are taking the spotlight at MWC 2025, Samsung's Galaxy S25 Edge is not at the show. However, the phone's durability did get a tease over the course of the event, with Samsung UK Marketing Director Annika Bizon telling TechRadar that the Edge's durability is "exciting" after first discussing the phone's design.
"With anything slim, durability [has to come as part of the package]. Those are the two features [of the Edge] that are exciting [for us]. Well, I know durability isn't exciting – but it's really important. So watch this space, because there are some exciting things to come regarding this phone." Bizon told TechRadar.
While MWC otherwise did not reveal any other specs or details about the S25 Edge, you can find everything we know so far about the slimmer phone in our Galaxy S25 Edge rumor roundup.
Google's MWC 2025 limited edition Android pins
Google's exhibit at MWC was Android Avenue.
It wouldn't be a Google exhibit at MWC without a limited edition Android pin set. Take a look at the pins for MWC 2025.
I found proof that AI will be taking more control over our phone's software
The Magenta AI logo in the center of the lock screen activates Perplexity.
With every passing tech launch it feels like generative AI is invading more and more devices, especially as companies position their AI features front and center as the primary reason we should consider buying their products. There's no better example of this than the AI Phone (the clue's in the name, really), a smartphone designed by carrier Deutsche Telekom (DT) together with OpenAI competitor Perplexity and announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week.
I got a first-hand look at an early version of the AI phone in DT's hot pink booth at MWC and was shown a demo of how Perplexity has been integrated into the device. The one thing that struck me immediately was the extent to which DT has chosen to push AI into the foreground. It's something that I expect we'll only see more of in the coming year, most likely in partnerships between specialist AI companies and phone makers.
The AI assistant is activated by either the pink button on the side of the phone or by a dedicated icon on the lock screen that sits where a home button would have lived once upon a time. The default input is to give Perplexity a task or ask it a question as a voice command, but you can also switch to typing if that's your preference.
Read more: AI Takes Center Stage on Deutsche Telekom's Perplexity Phone and I Tried It Out
At MWC, there's a phone that can make an AI clone of you
This phone builds a personalized AI assistant based on your data.
A quirky new mobile operating system, claiming to tease the future of AI on smartphones, popped up at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week. South Korea-based startup Newnal showed off mobile software that uses both your past and current data to create a personalized AI assistant. But here's the twist: The AI intends to be… you. It looks like you, acts like you, learns from you, and even grows old like you.
The blockchain-based operating system accesses apps and personal accounts, such as Instagram and Gmail, to create a personalized knowledge graph, essentially learning everything about you. According to the company, this is then used to create a personalized AI avatar that can respond and act just like you would.
Super thin phones were everywhere at MWC 2025
On the left is the 5.75mm thick Tecno Spark Slim phone and on the right is Samsung's Galaxy S25 Edge.
On display at MWC 2025 is Tecno's Spark Slim phone concept, which measures just 5.75mm thick (skinnier than a standard pencil) and weighs only 146 grams, according to the company. After waiting about 15 minutes for my turn, I pick up the coveted phone and am instantly amazed. It's light as a feather and yet doesn't feel like something I can snap in half. I do my own visual thickness test by pulling a pen out of my backpack and comparing it: the Spark Slim is in fact notably thinner.
Tecno isn't the only company that seems to believe slim is in. A few halls down, Samsung is displaying its Galaxy S25 Edge, which are just out of reach behind a barricade, surrounded by a similarly impenetrable crowd of eager spectators. Details on that phone, from specs to release date, are just as slim as its appearance. But reports suggest we'll see it sometime this year.
But a thinner phone, while a cool flex, can lead to drawbacks. Less space often means a smaller battery, and therefore shorter battery life. Camera hardware can be scaled back, too, leading to lower image quality. Storage space can similarly take a hit. These are all major concessions for phone buyers, who still rank battery life, camera quality and storage space among their top priorities.
Read more: Slim Phones Are on the Way, but Do People Really Want Them?
We saw many strange, bizarre and wonderful gadgets and concepts at MWC
A stripe of blue LEDs gives the solar-powered jacket a cyber-Jedi look.
MWC 2025 has its collection of weird phones, but they're generally variations on the standardized flat rectangle. Other gadgets are more freeform, and those we've seen at the show span a range of categories, from smart rings to street wear to, um, projectors that fit in your pocket.
Like the phones at the show, some of the more outlandish gadgets are concept devices meant to be proof-of-concept products rather than prototypes ahead of later production. Some of these gadgets are coming soon, some might never reach store shelves, but they all push the industry to ask what's possible for the tech we carry and wear.
Take a look at Samsung Display's stretchable, rollable and foldable screens
Samsung Display always comes to MWC with interesting concepts exploring new ways to use phone and device screens.
CNET's Andrew Lanxon got a tour of Samsung Display's booth at Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona. He got a peek at a bunch of concept devices that Samsung Display has been working on, making screens stretchable, rollable and even foldable. It's unclear if any of these concepts will ever go on sale. But it's exciting to think about what would happen if they did. Watch Andy's video tour of Samsung Display at MWC.
Nothing 3A Pro cameras vs. iPhone 16 Pro Max at MWC 2025
The Nothing Phone 3A Pro's camera bump has lights in it.
CNET's Tara Brown took the $459 Nothing Phone 3A Pro and the $1,099 iPhone 16 Pro Max around Barcelona during MWC to compare their cameras and the photos each took. Take a look.
ZTE's Nubia phone lineup is one of the most diverse we've seen
ZTE's Nubia Music 2 has a large speaker next to its cameras.
ZTE's slate of Nubia phones that debuted at Mobile World Congress 2025 score high on personality, including a device that has a large music speaker, one that has a big camera with a rotating lens ring, and one that's a sequel to ZTE's lower-cost flip-style foldable phone.
Read more: ZTE's Nubia Phones Go Wild at MWC 2025: From a Flip Phone to One for Music Fans
These are the coolest phones we saw at MWC 2025
The Xiaomi modular camera concept.
Xiaomi, Nothing, Samsung and more all debuted phones at Mobile World Congress. Some will go on sale soon. Others are concepts that may never see the light of day. See our picks for the coolest phones at MWC 2025 here.
I took hundreds of photos with the Xiaomi 15 Ultra. Check out my faves
Here's the Xiaomi 15 Ultra in the optional Photographer's Kit grip/case.
The Xiaomi 15 Ultra, which launched globally at MWC 2025, has a triple-camera setup with a large 1-inch type camera sensor at its heart. It's a potent setup, and so far I've taken hundreds of images during my testing time, across multiple countries and even in the Arctic. Check out these example images.
Taken with the main camera, this image is colorful and sharp.
I shot this in Pro mode so I had the DNG raw file to work with. After a bit of Lightroom work, I've been able to craft a pleasing image that shows off the lovely sunset colors. The 15 Ultra's files capture a lot of information.
Using the telephoto zoom lens, I've been able to fill the frame with the awkwardness of this street performer forcing two strangers to hold hands for an extended period.
I tried TCL's RayNeo X3 Pro AR glasses at MWC
The RayNeo X3 Pro AR glasses are a tad big for my very average head.
When it comes to face-worn tech apparatus, competition is really heating up. TCL's RayNeo X3 Pro AR glasses, first announced at CES, provide a compelling alternative to more basic smart glasses, such as the Meta Ray-Bans. Meta's smart glasses don't have displays in the lenses, but the X3 Pro glasses do -- they're projected onto the glass using wave guides.
Based on the smallest micro-LED light engine, the 2,500-nit, full-color display is visible while you're wearing the glasses even in bright sunlight. I tried the X3 Pros on at MWC, but unfortunately it was inside a dark convention center hall. As such, I couldn't test out the screens in different conditions -- but I could see them clearly and they seemed to sit just at the right height to provide me with an easy viewing experience without obscuring my view.
Read more: Wearing the TCL RayNeo X3 Pros, I Saw a Vision of What AR Smart Glasses Should Be
I met the world's thinnest smartphone at MWC
The Tecno Spark Slim is a phone concept that is 5.35mm thick but still manages to house a large 5,200mAh battery.
Amid rumors about a thinner iPhone, Tecno has unveiled a phone concept, called the Spark Slim, that's skinnier than a pencil. I got to hold it at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and it's certainly the lightest and thinnest phone I've ever encountered (the company says it's just 146 grams).
A narrower phone typically means compromising on things like battery life and camera, both of which phone buyers still rank among their highest priorities. But Tecno says the Spark Slim has a 5,200-mAh battery and two 50-megapixel cameras, one wide and one ultrawide.
And if you're nervous about sitting on your phone and inadvertently turning it into a foldable, the company said not to worry. The Spark Slim will use Corning's Gorilla Glass on the display and have options for a ceramic or stainless steel backing. Storage has yet to be determined, Tecno said, since this is still just a concept.
Read more: Tecno's Spark Slim Phone Concept at MWC 2025 Is Nothing Short of a Marvel
This phone changes color depending on the temperature
Splish, splash, all change!
Mobile World Congress 2025 has been full of weird and wacky phones -- some available to buy and some not. The RealMe 14 Pro is in the former category, and has been available since the end of last year, but the Barcelona phone show was the first time we'd witnessed the phone perform its crowd-pleasing party trick in person.
What makes the RealMe 14 Pro special is that the backside of the phone can change color when exposed to the cold thanks to thermochromic pigments in the casing which react to temperature fluctuations. The effect is that vivid blue marbling appears across the pearlescent back when the phone reaches less than 16 degrees Celsius.
Read more: RealMe's Color-Changing Chameleon Phone Takes A Bath At MWC 2025
The weirdest phones we've seen at MWC
RealMe's phone that lets you mount a full-frame camera lens to it.
Every year, phonemakers flock to Mobile World Congress to reveal their latest and greatest devices. At MWC 2025 in Barcelona, we've already seen some incredible new handsets headed to stores later this year, as well as concept devices we could see in the years to come.
MWC occurs at a prime position: While Samsung always jumps the gun by announcing its phones in January, as seen with the Samsung Galaxy S25 series, other phonemakers wait to tease their upcoming devices in late February or early March at the mobile industry's biggest event of the year.
Many of these phones are cutting-edge but still conventional enough to compete with the Galaxy S25 for mainstream consumers. But in Barcelona, we also get to see the strange, inventive designs that phonemakers are showing off. These have more specialty customers in mind, so not all will get wide releases.
CNET's Best of MWC
The Xiaomi modular camera concept made waves during MWC in Barcelona.
2025's Mobile World Congress has once again witnessed the tech world flock to the busy streets of Barcelona to tout their latest, greatest innovations. And we've seen plenty in our time here, from quirky concepts through to products you can actually buy. Of course, we've also eaten our weight in tapas and maybe tried a few local beers.
But as the show draws to a close, we wanted to take a look at our top products we saw. While not all of them are things you can go and spend your money on, they're all innovative in their own way, offering a design, an idea or even just a price that makes them stand out from the crowd.
Read on to see CNET's top picks from Mobile World Congress 2025.
Li-Fi shines bright at MWC
Li-Fi uses light to transmit data.
At the 2025 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, pureLiFi and Solace Power on Monday announced a new and innovative product: the LINXC Bridge System. The goal of the LINXC Bridge is to enable fixed wireless access providers -- including 5G home internet, other cellular broadband providers and satellite internet -- to more quickly and easily deploy broadband service to customers.
Harnessing the power of Li-Fi technology, which uses light signals to transmit data, the LINXC Bridge promises low latency and the potential of speeds up to 5,000 megabits per second.
Read more: Li-Fi Technology Makes a Splash at MWC, Promises to Be Big for Broadband
I fell in love with this tiny pocket projector at MWC
This little foldable projector can make up to an 80-inch image.
If watching movies on your phone's small display just isn't cutting it, Aurzen has developed a tri-fold mini projector you can slip right into your pocket or bag. I got to check it out at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and am now convinced a tiny projector could be just the thing I need to level up my viewing experience, whether at home or traveling.
The Zip Projector is a square-shaped device that's 1-inch thick and about 3 inches tall and wide -- making it resemble a bulkier Galaxy Z Flip 6 or Motorola Razr. Unfolding the device lets you project content at a good level and a straight angle, allowing the projector to serve as its own stand, too. It weighs about the same as an iPhone 16 Pro Max, Aurzen says. Weighing it in my hand, I felt like I could throw it in my bag and barely notice it.
The Zip can project movies, photos and social media apps to up to 80 inches in size. You can either mirror your phone's screen or connect an HDMI dongle into a TV, laptop or gaming system to project what's on there. The Zip works across iOS, Android, Windows and macOS. Currently, resolution tops out at just 720p, but Aurzen says it hopes to bump that to 1080p in its next version. Colors looked vibrant and clear enough when I saw a demo projection of stained glass windows, but bumping that resolution definitely wouldn't hurt. The Zip also has a 100 ANSI lumen brightness and two 1-watt speakers.
Read more: This Tiny Foldable Projector Fits in Your Pocket. I Fell in Love at MWC 2025
Nothing's flashy new phones light up MWC
London-based tech firm Nothing has delighted us before with its light-up Android phones that provide some much-needed frivolity in a world of plain, gray devices. The Nothing Phone 3A and 3A Pro are as dazzling as their predecessors, with solid all-round specs, affordable price tags and an eye-catching LED-infused design.
CNET's Andrew Lanxon has been testing the Nothing Phone 3A Pro in Barcelona. He's impressed by the phone's balance of price and performance, and he's looking forward to seeing how it stacks up against affordable phones like the new Samsung Galaxy A series, the Google Pixel 8A and even the pricier iPhone 16E.
Read more: The Nothing Phone 3A and 3A Pro Are Fun, Flashy and Affordable
Huawei's tri-fold phone is at MWC
The Huawei's Mate XT Ultimate Design is unlike any other phone you can buy.
First, let us acknowledge that it only folds twice, but the screen has three segments. Next, CNET is no stranger to the Huawei's Mate XT Ultimate Design, as our reviewer Sareena Dayaram got her hands on it back in October. But it was a delight to see it at MWC 2025. Take a look.
Look at the size of that lens! This phone concept lets you add camera lenses
The idea of mount a full-size lens on a phones isn't new. We saw Xiaomi show off a similar concept in 2022.
For many people, buying a phone is equivalent to buying a personal camera. But Chinese phonemaker RealMe is blurring that line with a concept device that lets you change the lens on the phone, much like on a high-end mirrorless camera.
RealMe's Interchangeable-lens concept phone does exactly what the name implies and is on display at Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona. You can essentially attach a full-frame mirrorless lens directly onto the phone, letting you enhance the zoom or use different lenses for creative shots. The RealMe phone has an adapter that allows you to mount professional-level lenses that attach to much more expensive standalone cameras like a Leica M11 or Canon R6. You could even use some old DSLR lenses if you have any still around.
Read more: This Wild Phone Concept Lets You Add a Full-Size Camera Lens to Take Photos
Asking Gemini for help using your camera, screenshare
Google's showing off new ways to use the Gemini assistant while using your camera or screen sharing. The company's new demo videos show how you can point your camera at objects to ask Gemini to analyze them, as well as asking Gemini questions about what you're looking at onscreen.
This video shows off while Gemini can analyze live video taken by your camera.
And this one shows Gemini in use while screen sharing a web browser to the assistant.
Samsung's showing off its Vision Pro-alike in Barcelona
Samsung's Project Moohan headset shows up again.
Google and Samsung are entering the VR/AR market again with Android XR and a high-end headset code-named Project Moohan that can run Google Gemini and Google Play apps. I got to try the headset out last December, and Google and Samsung should be fully unveiling the device and Android XR later this year. In the meantime, Samsung's been showing the hardware off on the road: the headset was at Samsung Unpacked, and it's also at MWC.
Price? Release date? No idea yet, but the headset does look sleek.
What if the Nintendo Switch folded in half? Samsung Display has ideas
A more travel-friendly Switch would be appreciated.
The idea of a folding Switch that has a smaller footprint is appealing to me -- a person who has on occasion decided not to travel with my Switch due to its size. I wasn't allowed to play with the concept due to its fragility, but I watched a Samsung Display employee handle it at MWC, and I particularly liked the little holes that had been carved out to accommodate the joysticks when the device was folded shut.
Take a look at it in action.
RedMagic's $1,499 phone is made with silver, gold and sapphire
The RedMagic 10 Pro Golden Saga edition.
The $649 RedMagic 10 Pro gaming phone already has many of the latest features, including Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, but at Mobile World Congress 2025 the company is showing how high-end it can go.
The $1,499 Golden Saga phone's cooling system has elements made with gold and silver plating, along with carbon fiber. It also has a sapphire glass rear cover. RedMagic is showing it off alongside a new Mora Pink edition of the RedMagic 10 Pro.
Read more: RedMagic 10 Pro's $1,499 Golden Saga Phone Is Coming to MWC 2025
It made me feel like a wizard: Lenovo's smart ring can control a 3D PC
And for my next trick...
You might think you understand the purpose of a smart ring by now. It measures your steps, your stress levels, your sleep -- you get it. But wait! Lenovo's concept AI smart ring is whole different kettle of fish.
I'll admit that when I tried it on at MWC in Barcelona, it looked and felt much like the smart rings I've worn before. It had the profile of a man's wedding ring, with slightly too much bulk around the sides. Form is one thing though, function another entirely.
The whole point of this ring is to allow for gesture-based control of Lenovo's ThinkBook 3D Laptop (also currently a concept). The laptop itself has a directional 3D backlight that allows 2D and 3D content to appear next to each other simultaneously on the same screen. The ring allows you to manipulate that 3D content, spinning it around and upside down.
Read more: Lenovo's AI Ring Let Me Control a 3D PC With a Click of My Fingers Like a Wizard
This slim Oppo foldable isn't launching at MWC, but we tested it on the ground
Oppo may have technically launched its Find N5 foldable just before this year's Mobile World Congress, but it proved to be the perfect opportunity for CNET's Abrar Al-Heeti to test out and review the super-thin phone on the ground in Barcelona. She says the cover screen of this book-style foldable feels "wonderfully normal" to use, unlike early foldables. And it's impressively slim and light -- thinner than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold and the Honor Magic V3. It weighs 229 grams, making it lighter than foldables from Samsung and Google.
Read Abrar's full review of the Oppo Find N5 by following the link below. If you've been eyeing a foldable but aren't quite sold yet, it may be exactly what you're looking for.
Read more: Oppo Find N5 Review: A Remarkable Thin Foldable Phone That's Surprisingly Practical
Samsung's foldable concepts include a space-saving Switch lookalike
Samsung Display always comes to MWC with interesting concepts.
At the Samsung Display booth, CNET's Katie Collins checked out cutting-edge developments in display technology, deployed in the coolest and quirkiest of concept devices. Several new concepts caught her eye, along with some more familiar tech, like the stretchable display we saw at CES in January.
Katie was impressed by a candybar-style concept phone that folds twice -- once from the top and once from the bottom. The pincer movement is reminiscent of a crab claw closing in on itself, or a book fold used to laminate dough. It's not unlike the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, but with two folds rather than one.
Read more: Samsung Shows Off Quirky Pincer Phone, Folding Console and Flexi Briefcase Concepts
TCL's e-reader style screens come to more phones
The TCL 60 NxtPaper includes a 108-megapixel main camera.
The TCL 60 series of phones is expanding. The company showed off a range of new lower-cost phone models today at Mobile World Congress, aimed at international markets. The expanded lineup includes devices with NxtPaper displays, which mimic e-readers, and others with traditional phone screens.
First debuted at CES 2025, the $200 TCL 60 XE NxtPaper 5G will head to the US later this year. It'll be joined by several variations of TCL's NxtPaper devices and phones with traditional displays, which are set for release in Asia, Europe and Latin America. All the devices in the lineup are getting 5,200-mAh batteries -- which is higher than the 5,000-mAh batteries we normally see -- and 18-watt wired charging. Meanwhile the TCL 60 NxtPaper gets a 108-megapixel main camera, another spec we don't normally see for phones in this price range.
Read more: TCL's 60 Phone Series Expands With 108-Megapixel Cameras, Bigger Batteries
Google kicks off Day 1 of MWC with a Gemini showcase
Google's Android Avenue at MWC 2025.
The CNET team has been on the ground in Barcelona for two days, but today is the first official day of MWC. We arrived bright and early at the Fira to get our first glimpse of Google's Android Avenue.
During our tour, Google said that a previously announced AI feature -- live video and screen sharing within Gemini Live -- would be available later this month. In a demo, we saw how you can ask Gemini questions about what you're looking at in real time.
In the example we were shown, an artist used her phone's camera to show Gemini a vase she'd made, before asking for advice on a range of colorful glazes. Gemini was able to identify the midcentury modern color options she asked for, and recommend which hues made the best pairing.
The feature will be available within the next few weeks for Gemini Advanced subscribers.
Watch everything Xiaomi announced at MWC in just 11 minutes
At MWC, Xiaomi announced everything from phones and a watch to an EV and electric scooter.
Xiaomi unveiled a plethora of updates at Mobile World Congress, from new phones with powerful video capabilities to an electric scooter. Xiaomi's keynote lasted nearly three and a half hours, but don't worry, we made an 11-minute video with all the highlights.
Make your teen's phone a family affair with the help of Drew Barrymore
Drew Barrymore appeared at MWC 2025 in Barcelona for HMD's launch of a the Fusion X1 which is designed for kids.
Whereas most phones with parental controls either rely on an app that can be deleted or bypassed, or a proprietary operating system that doesn't give kids access to the same apps their friends are using, HMD's Fusion X1 combines app-based controls baked deep into its version of Android OS. This creates a locked-down safe space, where kids can still have limited access to Snapchat, WhatsApp and TikTok -- if their parents agree.
The flexibility provided by Fusion X1 is to create options for families who know their children will need access to technology, but may want to do that at their own pace and according to their own rules. "The idea is to provide a device which is a stepping stone," HMD's Global Head of Product Adam Ferguson tells CNET. "Eventually a parent could cede control of this management to the device itself, so it's part of a gradual growing up."
It's an idea that's already making waves and catching the attention of many people, not least actor and talk show host Drew Barrymore, who spoke at HMD's event at Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona. "What is right for me may not be right for you," said Barrymore on parenting her two daughters who at 11 and 13 currently don't have smartphones.
Read more: Make Your Teen's Phone a Family Affair (Without Invading Their Privacy)
Take a look at Lenovo's laptop with a solar panel built into its lid
It's a laptop with solar cells built into its lid.
MWC is mainly about phones, mobile devices and services. So it was a surprise to see Lenovo announce multiple new ThinkPad and ThinkBook laptops. But, it was its proof-of-concept devices that really caught our attention -- especially the laptop that has a solar panel built into its lid.
Take a look at this video of CNET's Josh Goldman giving us a tour of Lenovo's concept PCs.
Xiaomi keeps the dream alive of attaching a camera lens to your phone
During it's MWC keynote, Xiaomi showed off a concept phone that you can attach camera lenses to.
Remember Sony's QX100? It looked like a lens, but had an image sensor on the back and was designed to clip onto the back of your phone. The sensor inside was much larger than the one in your phone and let you take photos that look like they came from a standalone camera. It's was an ingenious idea in 2013 and, on Sunday at MWC, Xiaomi showed off its take of a modular "camera in a lens" that attaches to the back of a phone magnetically. This was indeed a concept and may never become something you can buy. The company showed of a different concept years ago with a special Xiaomi 12S Ultra that you could attach full-frame M-mount Leica lenses to. Xiaomi's 2025 concept lens houses an image sensor which could, in theory, mean that you're able to take photos with a Xiaomi 15 phone that rival those from a dedicated camera with a much larger sensor.
Take a look at part of the introduction.
Honor gives a peak at the future with a demo of its AI agent
Honor wants to be at the center of an AI ecosystem.
Honor used to be best known as the younger sibling to its former parent brand Huawei, but since parting ways with the Chinese tech giant, the phonemaker has gone from strength to strength in forging its own identity. At MWC 2025, the company made its boldest move yet to plant a stake in the ground -- not just as rival to the top makers of Android phones, but to all companies making AI devices.
Honor didn't unveil a new phone at the Barcelona mobile show -- it debuted its new flagship, the Honor Magic 7 Pro, in January. Instead it announced a $10 billion investment in a range of AI products and devices. That doesn't mean it's abandoning phones, though. Its first project will be the development of an intelligent phone that will "revolutionize human-to-device interaction" in collaboration with Google and chipmaker Qualcomm.
Read more: Honor Teases Agentic AI Phone That Will 'Revolutionize' Our Devices
See HMD's phone charging earbuds case in action
HMD's earbuds offer reverse charging.
HMD showed of its Amped Earbuds which have a case with a 16,000mAh batter that can reverse wirelessly charge your phone -- even an iPhone. Take a look at it in action.
I tested the Xiaomi 15 Ultra for 2 weeks and I have thoughts
The Xiaomi 15 Ultra is aimed at photographers.
The Xiaomi 14 Ultra was one of the best phones of 2024, thanks in no small part to an awesome camera system that took some of the best photos I've ever seen from a camera phone. At the heart of this was its 1-inch type image sensor, which is physically larger than the sensors found in almost any other phone. The result? Great-looking images in a variety of conditions.
But it's 2025 now and the Xiaomi 15 Ultra is here to try and tempt more photographers away from Apple's clutches.
Read more: Xiaomi 15 hands-on: Here's Everything You Need to Know
This Nokia phone has 'hidden' messages from FC Barcelona players
Here are all of the phones that HMD is showing off at MWC 2025.
HMD went hard at MWC 2025 and reached deep into its bag of Nokia nostalgia. It's not exactly the iconic Nokia brick phone but the updated 3210 from phonemaker HMD is pretty close. The updated Nokia is for fans of FC Barcelona soccer team and has hidden messages from players, custom wallpapers and the classic mobile game Snake, this time played on a football pitch.. And to show that HMD doesn't just live in Nokia's past, the company launched the new Barça Fusion: a collector's edition smartphone engraved with the signatures of 11 of the club's star players.
This wearable solar panel charges my phone and makes me look like a Jedi
This is a concept jacket by the brand Anker Solix that has solar cells on it to recharge your phone.
Wanna look like a Jedi and charge your phone on the go? Then Anker Solix, the solar and energy storage branch of Anker, may have a solution for you. Their jacket is covered in solar cells and equipped with a cable you can plug into a power bank or directly into your electronics, with a 30W USB-C output.
The blue light lining the hood is simply there because it looks cool, the company told me when I asked about its function. And I have to agree. I tried on the jacket, and I instantly felt like part-Hogwarts student, part-Jedi. Safe to say I've never felt cooler. This is still just a concept, so it's not clear if or when it'll see the light of day. (Get it, cause there are lights on it??)
This wireless earbuds case can also charge your phone
HMD's earbuds offer reverse charging.
Somehow, I always manage to leave the house in the morning with fully charged headphones, but rarely do I remember to charge and bring a power bank. It's not as though the former is essential, and the latter nonessential -- I need both to get through any big day out.
Smartphonemaker HMD come to my rescue with its new Amped Earbuds, announced at Mobile World Congress here in Barcelona on Sunday. The buds come inside a reverse charging case that packs a 16,000 mAh battery -- definitely enough to be a great backup option if your phone runs out of charge and you need a quick top-up.
Read more: HMD's Amped Earbuds Have a Case That Can Also Charge Your Phone
Forget the $599 iPhone 16E: Samsung's new Galaxy A phones are truly affordable
For 2025, the Galaxy A series has three models: The Galaxy A36 (left), the Galaxy A26 (right) and the Galaxy A56 (not pictured).
The Samsung has debuted its latest midrange phones, the Galaxy A36 and A26, which have larger displays, more powerful processors and, inevitably, new AI features. The phones cost $400 and $300, respectively, and go on sale in late March.
The company also unveiled the Galaxy A56 phone, priced at $500, which will be available later this year. The A56 has a bigger display than last year's Galaxy A55, new AI capabilities and camera improvements, Samsung says.
Read more: Samsung Launches New Galaxy A36, A26 and A56 Phones -- All Under $500