For the longest time, Mobile World Congress Barcelona was strictly a show for telecom vendors and smartphones. Over the last few years, that smartphone focus has faded as smartphone OEMs have largely pivoted towards doing their own events rather than getting lost in the buzz of MWC. This year provided some good examples of that shift, with Samsung launching the Galaxy S26 series of phones days before MWC and Nothing launching its Nothing Phone 4a in the days just after. While I would have logistically appreciated both companies simply launching at MWC, Samsung hasn’t done a launch in Barcelona since the Galaxy S9 in 2018.
In past years Chinese OEMs used MWC for global launches of their phones outside of China. In recent years, however, many of them have also pivoted away from doing these launches in Barcelona for one reason or another. I would argue that this has been somewhat for political reasons — Chinese OEMs have focused on markets outside of western Europe and North America — but also for business reasons given that some manufacturers saw a slowdown in growth in the European market. But this year we saw a pretty good showing from the Chinese OEMs, with Honor, Xiaomi, and Oppo all having something to show at MWC and launching products outside Asia.
At MWC 2026, Honor unveiled unfolded the Magic V6, which features the company’s latest generation of silicon-carbon batteries. Unfortunately for those of us outside of China, the global version features a 6,660 mAh battery compared to the China-only version, which has 7,150 mAh capacity. Either way, the phone is still only 4mm when unfolded and only 8.75mm when closed. Like the preceding generation, the Magic V6 still features a flagship chip with a newer Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, so it has the performance and battery life you’d like to see from a flagship. In addition to that, it is the first IP69-rated phone for water resistance — the highest of any foldable.
Honor didn’t say much at the show about the camera, but traditionally it has performed well in that segment of the foldable market, even if it hasn’t really stood out as a leader in overall camera performance. Honor still lags behind Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, and Huawei, for example according to DXOMark, which ranks it eighth for the Magic8 Pro, alongside Motorola. Honor actually launched the global version of this phone at MWC before it launched the China-only version. Actual pricing and sale dates weren’t disclosed until after MWC, with the base price being roughly 9,000 yuan — around $1,300 — and availability in China starting in July.
Honor has been talking about the Robot Phone for months, and the company finally gave some details at MWC 2026. Honor first introduced the concept device in January at CES 2026 and showed off how an AI-empowered gimbal that pops out of your phone can enable new and unique experiences — but that was about it. While the company hasn’t fully committed to productizing the concept yet, most signs seem to point to it becoming a product, especially the new ARRI partnership, which wouldn’t be necessary if it weren’t trying to upsell the 200MP camera sensor’s capabilities for video in a commercial launch. Even more importantly, the company said that it would begin production of the phone in the first half of the year and — as with the Magic V6 — would start selling in China in the second half of 2026.
In addition to the Robot Phone, Honor also showed off its humanoid robot, which it claims is a shopping assistant robot. The company didn’t give any specs or explain its capabilities, but it did use the robot in booth demos to show off what it can do. Honor also hasn’t offered any pricing or availability for this robot, so I would consider this an attempt to respond to the dozens of robots that other vendors showed off at CES earlier in the year. Interestingly, while there were some robots at MWC, the show wasn’t nearly as flooded with robots as CES. While I do believe that Honor is doing something unique and compelling with the Robot Phone, it’s unclear how the company has the expertise or ecosystem to deliver a physical AI solution like a humanoid robot. I could see someone like Xiaomi delivering a humanoid robot before Honor. Honor’s robot also recently won a humanoid half marathon in Beijing, which has given the company much more credibility in this space.
At MWC, Motorola had some follow-ons to its CES 2026 announcements, especially for the Moto Razr Fold. This is Motorola’s first foray into the book-fold form factor after many years of doing flip-foldables under the Razr brand. Moto finally gave details on the Razr Fold, including information on specs and features that indicated mostly flagship capabilities. Moto says the Razr Fold is 4.6mm open and 9.9mm folded, and that is has a 6,000 mAh battery supported by 80W wired charging and 50W wireless charging. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 powers this phone, a slightly slower version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
The camera system is also the best in a foldable to date, according to DXOMark; even though that benchmark isn’t the only relevant measure of performance, it does rate this model highly. Camera quality has long been a weak spot for foldables, so I’m glad to see Motorola address that in the Razr Fold. Specifically, the Razr Fold’s triple-50MP camera array on the back is accompanied by a 20MP outside selfie camera and a 32MP inside selfie camera, which should ensure a great experience no matter which screen or camera you use. Motorola also announced final pricing and availability for the Razr Fold at a recent press event in Los Angeles, with pre-sales starting May 14 and shipping on May 21 at an MSRP of $1,899.99.
Motorola is also launching a World Cup special edition version of the Razr Fold with 24-karat-gold Moto and FIFA 26 logos. It will be available around the world with a starting MSRP of €2,000. Prices are sure to vary by region but will likely be around $2,000.
At the show, Moto also talked about the Edge 70 Fusion and Edge 70 Fusion+ phones, which are designed for more of the upper mid-range of Motorola’s lineup, though not quite as high as its foldables. The Edge is a traditional candybar phone, which is accompanied by the more affordable Fusion model. The Edge 70 series uses a Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 but also embraces larger batteries, with the Edge 70 Fusion having up to 7,000 mAh in some regions. This is much more of a volume play for Moto, especially in regions like India where you simply don’t get many people spending anywhere near $2,000 for a foldable. Finally for its product launches at the show, Motorola also introduced a bunch of new accessories including new earbuds, plus smart speakers with sound by Bose. The Moto Buds 2 and Buds 2 Plus seem appropriately priced for Moto’s customers, although I do think the company should offer high-end earbuds to accompany the Razr line.
Motorola also talked about some of its partnerships in the business space, including a partnership for GrapheneOS, which is one of the most secure mobile operating systems in the world. The company also talked about Moto Analytics for IT departments, which it says enables enterprise customers to more easily monitor fleet health. Moto also spoke about Private Image Data, which is part of Moto’s Secure platform to help strip sensitive metadata from camera images for security reasons.
Lenovo had a very busy MWC 2026, and I was excited about it. At the show, Lenovo showed off a bevy of concepts, including a Lenovo AI Workmate robot desk assistant that has a camera and a projector. While I don’t think this desk assistant will necessarily become a product, Lenovo is famous for experimentation and prototyping new ideas — which it likes to show off at big industry events. In addition to the AI desk robot assistant, Lenovo also demonstrated a few other concept PCs. These included the Yoga Book Pro 3D, which has a 3-D display and gesture recognition as well as dual displays. I think this form factor has been tried by other OEMs, albeit never with a dual-display design. I could see it being useful for 3-D creatives as well as engineers wanting to see 3-D models up close and in three dimensions.
Lenovo also showed off the Legion Go Fold Concept, which is a foldable device powered by an Intel Core Ultra 7 258V that can be used as a tablet, PC, or gaming handheld . The idea is that it can enable better gaming and productivity experiences while remaining compact when you need it to. The device also weighs less than 1kg with the controllers attached, which is important for comfort. For non-gaming use, it also has a keyboard attachment and even a folded tablet mode. As with other concept devices, the company is experimenting with modalities and seeing where the limitations are and how it can improve. While it’s still unclear if the Legion Go Fold Concept will ever become an actual gaming product, we could see some of the lessons learned from it in other Lenovo products.
Lenovo also showed a ThinkBook Modular AI PC Concept that allowed for detachable displays, detachable keyboards, and modular I/O ports on a single machine that can be reconfigured by the user depending on the application. This sets the stage for where Lenovo is trying to take its business line of Think products. At MWC 2026, Lenovo actually launched the ThinkPad T14s 2-in-1 Gen 2, a refresh of the model it launched last year. It also released an X13 detachable laptop that uses the latest Intel Core Ultra 3 series chips. The ThinkPad T14 Gen7 embodies Lenovo’s commitment to serviceability and sustainability, as reflected with a very rare 10/10 rating from iFixit for repairability. Lenovo also announced a rugged tablet, the X11, powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 SoC; as with many rugged devices, it’s purpose-built for front-line workers and use cases. It features both IP68 water resistance and MIL-STD-810H durability, making it ideal for tougher real-world conditions and applications.
Lenovo also announced consumer laptops and tablets including the Yoga 9i, Yoga 7a, IdeaTab Pro Gen 2, IdeaPad Slim 5i Ultra, and Legion Tab. The company also announced that its Qira “Personal Ambient Intelligence” is being deployed across 20 devices spanning the ThinkPad, Yoga, Legion, and IdeaPad families. I got a better understanding of Qira at the show, and I’m actually excited to see how it will be able to perform tasks for users on all apps, not just ones that have API access. The company says that Qira will also layer on top of existing applications and AI workflows to enable your machine and workflows to be optimized — and not broken. It also enables continuity across devices including Lenovo PCs and tablets and Motorola smartphones.
While Xiaomi promotes its ecosystem as the core of its business, the real core is still very much its smartphones, so it comes as no surprise that the company would launch the Xiaomi 17 Ultra globally at MWC 2026. It also launched a high-end, Leica-only version of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra called the Leitz Phone that will sell for considerably more, probably in the range of $2,000 dollars.
Xiaomi also displayed two vehicles at its booth, an SU7 Ultra electric sedan and the new Xiaomi Concept GT prototype vehicle for the PlayStation-exclusive video game Gran Turismo 7, both of which showed off Xiaomi’s leadership position in the Chinese auto industry. Xiaomi is the first Chinese auto maker to get into Gran Turismo, which I think will help build even stronger brand recognition for the company among gamers.
While neither Oppo nor MediaTek launched any new products at MWC 2026, MediaTek did have a keynote at the show in partnership with Oppo to talk about on-device AI capabilities powered by MediaTek’s latest Dimensity 9500 chip. These include Oppo’s own live translation and AI Portrait Glow features that run on-device. Both of these features are included on the Find X9 series, including the Find X9 Pro I’m currently evaluating. In line with the trend mentioned at the start of this piece, Oppo also chose to hold the global launch for its Find N6 foldable in China a couple of weeks after MWC. Oppo also confirmed that it would launch a Find X9 Ultra with an even more powerful camera system; this device launched last week.
To nobody’s surprise, AI was front and center in the announcements and demos at MWC 2026, especially from OEMs like Lenovo. There was no shortage of smartphone news, although it’s become clear that smartphone OEMs nowadays prefer to do their own freestanding launches for the most part. There were plenty of concepts and prototypes to talk about — although nothing tangible on the product side yet when it comes to 6G, which makes sense given 6G’s timeline. (As I have discussed elsewhere, there was plenty of talk about the infrastructure side of 6G at MWC 2026.) We are still clearly years away from 6G devices, so at this point the focus is on AI and enabling it to be fast, personalized, and accurate — even when it is running locally.
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