Phones are going to get bizarre subsequent week

With uncommon exceptions, telephones are fairly boring as of late. The excellent news is, a boatload of these uncommon exceptions are about to point out up directly, courtesy of Mobile World Congress.

The tech trade’s greatest cellular present could not fairly have the clout it as soon as did, when the likes of Samsung, Sony, LG, and HTC showcased new flagships there every year, nevertheless it nonetheless attracts extra telephone launches than CES does two months earlier. It’s particularly standard with the Chinese producers who’re nonetheless preventing for area within the world market, together with area of interest producers who flip up with extra-durable “rugged” gadgets, or battery beasts which can be extra energy financial institution than telephone.

This 12 months’s greatest occasion is anticipated to be Xiaomi’s launch on Saturday. Ever eclectic, it’s teased tablets, super-slim energy banks, earbuds, and good trackers amongst its MWC lineup, however all eyes will likely be on the Leitzphone. This collaboration between Xiaomi and Leica takes the previous’s Xiaomi 17 Ultra — follow-up to one of many best possible cameras in any telephone final 12 months — and slaps a rotating digital camera ring on the again, permitting you to bodily scroll via the continual optical zoom the telephone’s telephoto offers. It’s a double whammy of novel digital camera {hardware} that will sit proper on the sting of “gimmick” territory, however is at the very least a variation from the identical previous stuff.

Honor will likely be up subsequent, with its occasion set for Sunday. The firm has already revealed the MagicPad 4 — apparently the thinnest absolutely fledged pill round — and teased its next-generation foldable telephone, additionally anticipated to be the world’s thinnest. But far more thrilling than both is what the corporate guarantees will likely be a correct take a look at its so-called Robot Phone, first teased late final 12 months in an idea video and proven in static prototype type at CES final month.

From what we’ve seen, it’s actually extra telephone than robotic, however the gimbal-stabilized digital camera arm that unfolds out of the telephone’s again is undeniably novel. It’s like a cross between a smartphone and a DJI Osmo Pocket, with teasers hinting at AI options and a cheery, WALL-E-esque sense of character. With Honor additionally teasing the reveal of its first foray into full humanoid robotics, anticipate it to lean exhausting on its robotic credentials.

And these are simply the large two. Expect to see extra from Nothing, which is launching its Phone 4A sequence and a brand new pair of over-ear headphones at its personal occasion on March fifth, however is nearly sure to tease extra particulars on each over the subsequent few days. Tecno has promised a modular, magnetic idea smartphone with attachable lenses and motion digital camera; Vivo has introduced some kind of reveal of its camera-centric X300 Ultra flagship; and Lenovo, which merely loves to convey a bizarre and wacky idea gadget to the present, is teasing its personal bulletins.

For MWC, none of that is totally new. We declared final 12 months’s present “all about the odds and ends,” with modular smartphone digital camera lens attachments, color-changing designs, and oversize smartphone audio system. The 12 months earlier than gave us our first correct take a look at the Samsung Galaxy Ring, we bought to attempt a Motorola idea telephone that bent spherical your wrist right into a bracelet, and noticed some uncommon privateness tech from Samsung Display that launched within the Galaxy S26 Ultra this week, two years on. The merchandise that we all know are coming in all probability solely scratch the floor of how strange MWC 2026 is prone to get, because the cellular trade will get its freak on for just a few days within the title of securing just a bit of your treasured consideration.

And you possibly can’t blame them, not least when Apple has waded in to vow its personal week of bulletins beginning… Monday, the identical day that MWC formally kicks off. In true Apple style, we don’t know for positive what’s coming, however inexpensive MacBooks and the midrange iPhone 17E have each been closely tipped. When you’re competing with Apple for consideration, taking part in it secure gained’t get you very far.

I’m at the very least half a cynic with regards to these outlandish {hardware} bulletins. The ones you could truly purchase are sometimes little greater than gimmicks, and those you possibly can’t normally really feel like not more than advertising and marketing stunts. But up to now 10 days, we’ve had the Pixel 10A and Galaxy S26 in fast succession, each minimal upgrades that lean on fractional spec bumps and AI additions to justify their existence. I wouldn’t maintain my breath for subsequent week’s iPhone 17E to revolutionize a lot both. As Allison Johnson put it in her S26 Ultra preview this week, “hardware thrills are hard to get these days.” MWC has them in spades.