With over 100,000 attendees year after year, the Fira de Barcelona Gran Via show floor attracts people who seek outlandish tech and sometimes ready-for-release prototypes.
Here are all the wacky, practical, and never-to-be-released items showcased on the show floor at MWC Barcelona this year.
Ultra-thin smartphones
Two major smartphone manufacturers came to MWC Barcelona armed with ultra-thin smartphones. Manufacturers want to move beyond the bulky and away from the compact and give consumers ultra-thin smartphones. We may not need ultra-thin smartphones, but we sure are getting them.
Samsung has been teasing the Galaxy S25 Edge since January. The smartphone made an appearance once again at MWC Barcelona. While photos of the device were allowed, no one could touch or play around with it. It’s the slimmest Galaxy S series model, with a 6.7-inch screen and a dual-camera setup. If rumours are correct, the Galaxy S25 will weigh less than 162g, as much as the regular Galaxy S25, a smaller phone with a 6.2-inch display.
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Smartphones have to forgo big camera sensors or huge batteries to be ultra-thin. Not to be outdone by Samsung, Tecno came with the Spark Slim, a 5.755mm slim profile smartphone. It has a dual 50MP camera setup on the back and a 5,200mAh battery (200mAh larger than the Galaxy S25 Ultra from Samsung).
While Samsung will release the Galaxy S25 Edge within a couple of months, Tecno has not released any details about its concept Spark Slim smartphone.
Infinix’s concept smartphones
Infinix came armed with a trio of uber-cool concept smartphones displayed at the MWC Barcelona’s Showstoppers event. First, the company demoed its SolarEnergy-Reserving technology on a prototype model of the Infinix Note 40 smartphone and the upcoming Infinix Note 50 (wrapped in a proprietary solar charging case).
Small circular lights on the back (near the cameras) turn on when solar charging (or recharging) is active. This technology uses perovskite solar cells, which are thinner and cheaper than silicon solar cells. It charges at 2 watts, which is very slow by today’s standards. It only charges the smartphone when needed. The technology will eventually make its way beyond smartphones.
Then, there was the next-gen E-Color Shift Technology. This technology can now use the internal battery power to customise the rear panel. Using an app, you can customise it with patterns, colours, and more.
The star of the show was the concept of a tri-fold phone that is the size of a credit card. It can also be used as a clip-on camera. The Zero Series Mini tri-fold phone can bend vertically along its two hinges. The hinges are equally spaced out, and the smartphone has three possible modes for one to use. “The Zero Series Mini Tri-Fold Concept Device seamlessly transforms between a smartphone, a hands-free fitness and entertainment companion, and a compact camera, unlocking new possibilities for mobility, creativity, and functionality,” said the company in a press release.
Tecno tri-foldable phone
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The Tecno Phantom Ultimate 2, exhibited at MWC Barcelona, is one of the thinnest foldable phones yet. It’s a concept with no release date in sight, but it tells us a little about the future of foldable smartphones. The smartphone is 11mm thick and, when folded, has a 6.48-inch outer screen. When unfolded, it transforms into a 10-inch 3K OLED display. The tri-fold might be the way forward instead of the book-style foldables we’ve seen for several years. The smartphone includes a multitasking mode allowing three apps to run side-by-side.
Lenovo’s several concept laptops
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It’s no secret that the wacky yet sensible prototypes are the ones that grab the most attention. Lenovo was at MWC Barcelona with just a few of those. The first is the ThinkBook Flip AI PC concept. It’s a proof-of-concept device that was first shown off at CES. It’s a refreshing take on the dual-screen laptop concept. The screen folds over the top half of the device and stretches across both sides of the lid. The laptop can be used in a few intriguing ways, either as a tall vertical display or to mirror the screen on the front and backward in tent mode. You can even use it in tablet mode when it is closed.
The Yoga Solar is an innovative laptop with solar panels, leveraging “Back Contact Cell technology” behind the display. The company says the panel can convert more than 24% of the sunlight it receives into electricity. So, the Solar-First Energy allows the device to prioritise sending harvested energy to key components of the laptop. Lenovo further states that 20 minutes of exposure to sunlight can provide up to one hour of video playback. The laptop itself is 0.6 inches thin and weighs 1.22 kg.
Lenovo also showcased the Solar Power Kit for Yoga concept. This kit includes a standard battery bank connected to a detachable USB-C solar panel.
Then, there are new modular accessories for the ThinkBook 16P Gen 6 laptop’s Magic Bay connector. Four proof-of-concept add-ons were announced at MWC Barcelona, but whether they will ever be produced is unknown.
Magic Bay 2nd Display concept: This is an 8-inch vertical screen.
Magic Bay Dual Display concept: This is a pair of 13.3-inch 120Hz 2.8K display to combine for a triple-monitor setup.
Magic Bay “codename Tiko” concept: This is a round display for an emoji-based AI companion.
Magic Bay “codename Tiko Pro” concept: a horizontal display that’s slim and for widgets and Lenovo’s AI Now integration
The “Tiko” concepts are attached to the top of the laptop.
Samsung Displays
Not to be outdone by other impressive concepts, Samsung Display came to town with plenty on showcase, starting with the foldable game console concept. It may look like a flip phone, but it is much more than that. It’s just like a Nintendo Switch. The kicker is that it can close up like a book, therefore having a smaller footprint overall. Holes have been carved on both sides to accommodate the joysticks, even when the device is folded. The game controller case fully wraps around the device.
What stole the attention, though, was the candy bar concept phone. This one folds not once but twice: once from the bottom and once from the top. It looks exactly like a Galaxy Z Flip 6, except with two folds.
Next is the Samsung Display’s Flexible Cabinbag. This slim metal briefcase, when unfolded, reveals an 18.1-inch flexible OLED screen—the sort of device tailor-made for a salesperson.
Last but not least was the Z Flip clamshell smartphone with a redesigned external display. This one has a retro-futurisitc look with a polygon-shaped exterior screen.
Detachable camera lenses on smartphones
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Xiaomi wasn’t the only smartphone manufacturer at MWC Barcelona to showcase a detachable camera lens. Realme also demonstrated the same feature, albeit with a slightly different variation.
Xiaomi’s “modular optical system” concept magnetically attaches a camera lens to the back of a smartphone body. This was demonstrated on a modified Xiaomi 15. It has a larger four-thirds image sensor (common on digital camera lenses) and connects to the middle of the back of the smartphone. The lens connects to the device via “laser link technology”, according to the company. It simply snaps onto the phone to enable the modular setup. Realme’s concept, however, was slightly different. The Realme interchangeable lens concept can mount a Leica M lens on the back. The camera island’s frame has a unique mount, and with a screw-on adapter, it is easy to attach the lens.
The camera island’s frame is a unique mount, which can take a Leica M mount screw-on adapter, allowing you to attach Leica M lenses. Realme’s concept device can mount full-frame mirrorless lenses, unlike Xiaomi’s concept device.
3D laptops
3D may be declasse, but two companies haven’t given up on the technology yet. Leonovo came up with a ThinkBook 3D laptop concept. This combines directional backlight and user head tracking and displays 2D and 3D content on the screen. This is done without the need for any special glasses. One can also navigate and interact with 3D content thanks to an accompanying AI ring concept. This is done using gesture-based spatial controls.
RedMagic showcased a 16-inch notebook with a 3D display. Thanks to eye-tracking cameras above the display, this one also delivers a glasses-free 3D effect in PC games. The cameras track eye movement, adjusting what’s seen on the screen to give a proper 3D experience.
Anker’s cloak
Anker Solix, the solar and energy storage tech branch of Anker, came out with a prototype that you’d hope is released into the wild. It’s a jacket with a trick up its sleeve. It’s covered in about two dozen sewn-on solar cells made from perovskite (like Infinix’s concept) and comes with an attached 30-watt USB-C output. That USB-C output connects to a power bank or directly into your device. Blue lines also line the hood for a more futuristic experience overall.
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