Another year, another trip to Barcelona to wade through seas of suited executives to find exciting products at MWC 2025.
Mobile World Congress is the most exciting tech trade show for us at Tech Advisor. It’s where all the latest and greatest smartphones, tablets, wearables and more launch and get shown off ahead of hitting the shelves.
As usual, we have a team of editors on the show floor searching for the best and most innovative devices. We’ve seen it all and carefully selected what is worthy of our coveted ‘Best in Show’ award.
Some are products you can already go and buy, while others are concept devices that we applaud for their inventiveness.
Xiaomi 15 Ultra
Chris Martin / Foundry
It’s more of an iterative upgrade this year but that’s the overall trend for 2025 and Xiaomi has made some nice upgrades to the 15 Ultra.
An upgrade to the Snapdragon 8 Elite is a big performance boost, and it also helps improve battery life, along with a larger 5410mAh battery in the same size thanks to silicon-carbon technology.
Of course, the phone is mostly about the camera and it’s now got a 200Mp periscope telephoto camera which can capture more light. There’s also the optional Photography Kit which makes the phone stand out from rivals.
The Legend Edition has a bigger battery, detachable thumb grip and a choice of two screw-on shutter buttons.
It’s likely to be the best camera phone of 2025 and you can already read our Xiaomi 15 Ultra review.
Nothing Phone (3a)
Luke Baker
Nothing’s Phone (3a) series of mid-range phones includes a Pro model for the first time this year. But for most people, it’s the regular Phone (3a) that’s a better buy.
Priced at just £329/$379, it offers an impressively well-rounded experience and some unique extra features. We’re talking Nothing’s signature Glyph lights, a retro-inspired software design and brand-new Essential Key.
Its specs are impressively competitive, too, with a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset, 6.7-inch 120Hz OLED display and a 5000mAh battery with 50W fast charging support. You also get triple rear cameras (headlined by a 50Mp main) and six years of software support.
For most people, there isn’t a better phone right now at this price point.
Read our full Nothing Phone (3a) review.
Nubia Focus 2 Ultra 5G
Chris Martin / Foundry
One of Nubia’s new phones isn’t a concept and brings something we’ve never seen before on a handset – a rotating bezel around the camera module called the ‘Lens Ring’.
It’s akin to the rotating bezel on some Samsung Galaxy smartwatches but doesn’t control scrolling social media apps and the like – though that would be an obvious feature to add – it adjusts the zoom or aperture when using the camera.
It’s a tad awkward to use and works more naturally in portrait orientation than landscape, but it’s neat. Nubia says you can also start the smart sidebar or play games with it, too.
Lenovo ThinkBook Flip
Chris Martin / Foundry
A foldable screen laptop seemed like an inevitability, so it’s no surprise to see Lenovo try it out as one of its many proof of concept devices. It’s the world’s first outward folding notebook.
The 13-inch laptop can transform into a huge 18.1-inch display wielding device by unfolding the flexible OLED screen.
Sure, I’m worried it’s going to break sooner rather than later in its current form, and the design also really wants to fall over, but it’s an interesting idea. It’s also not just for show, with five different modes – Tablet, Share, Read, Clamshell and Vertical.
Read our Lenovo ThinkBook Flip hands-on.
Samsung Galaxy A56
Foundry | Alex Walker-Todd
While it might be one of the more ‘normal’ phones on display at MWC, with no wacky rotating parts or crazy accessories, the Galaxy A56 is set to be one of the best mid-range phones of 2025.
It offers a high-end design featuring a slim 7.4mm profile and an attractive brushed metal frame. It also has plenty of solid specs including a triple rear camera array, large 6.7-inch AMOLED screen and faster 45W wired charging.
The iPhone 16e and upcoming Pixel 9a better watch out. Read our Galaxy A56 hands-on.
Xiaomi Pad 7 Pro Matte Glass Version
Chris Martin / Foundry
This isn’t brand new technology or anything but it’s nice to see more tablet makers offering this kind of model. The Matte Glass Version of the Pad 7 Pro is stunning and really makes normal reflective glass seem pointless.
It costs an extra £100 but this gets you a far superior experience. The nano-texturing process and AR optical coating eliminate 99% of light interference and reduce reflections by up to 65%.
It really works and the screen has a nice paper-like texture, too.
Read our Pad 7 Pro Matte Glass Version hands-on.
HMD Fusion X1
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
Whatever age you do it, giving a child their first smartphone can be problematic. Unless you want to limit them to a dumbphone, it can be hard to regulate their usage and ensure they’re staying safe online.
The new HMD Fusion X1 could be the solution. It offers parents granular control over how and when their child uses their smartphone, allowing them to limit internet access, control which apps they can use and set daily schedules.
You can also ensure only trusted contacts are able to get in touch with them, all via a companion app available on any Android phone.
The app also allows you to keep track of your child’s physical safety, offering real-time location data, emergency SOS calls and the option to retrace their steps from the last three days.
In terms of specs, the Fusion X1 is identical to the regular HMD Fusion that launched in 2024. That includes a 6.56-inch, 90Hz display, Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 chipset and a 5000mAh battery with 33W fast charging.
It’s also just as affordable, costing £229.99 when it goes on sale in May. However, to access the parental control features, you’ll need to pay an extra €4.99 per month (UK price TBC) subscription.
Read our HMD Fusion X1 hands-on.
TCL RayNeo Air 3S
Alex Walker-Todd / Foundry
The Air 3S serve up the company’s fifth-gen micro-OLED display tech. When you don these space-age specs, you get an equivalent 201-inch display, floating in front of you, as if it were six metres away.
That’s made all the more impressive when you learn that the dual Sony SeeYa panels at work are, in actuality, just 0.6-inches each, with a 16:9 aspect ratio. You get Full HD visuals at up to 120Hz, and the RayNeo team has managed double the contrast, compared to the previous Air 2S, whilst also taking the brightness from 600 to a 650-nit peak.
In practice, this makes for an impressively sharp and vivid image, whilst playing Zelda Tears of the Kingdom on a Nintendo Switch and Astro Bot on a PlayStation 5 (both connected via USB-C), even against the harsh lights of the convention centre.
Add to that optional 3-DoF head-tracking, support for 3D content and integrated quad speakers in the arms, with a degree of background noise cancellation (despite the whole thing weighing only 78 grams) and these might be our new pick for enjoying media and big-screen multitasking on-the-go going forward.
Xiaomi Modular Optical System
Chris Martin / Foundry
Granted, it’s not the most catchy or sexy name but this concept from Xiaomi is one of the most interesting things at MWC.
Essentially, it’s a ‘proper’ camera which attaches to the back of your phone (the Xiaomi 15 in this case). It snaps on with strong magnets and sends the captured images to the phone via near-infrared LaserLink technology.
The module itself has a Light Fusion X Sensor, variable aperture as fast as f/1.4 and a rotating ring which can be used for manual focus. All this at around half the height of a traditional lens.
Could this be the future of smartphone photography accessories? Quite possibly.
HMD Amped Buds
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
What’s better than a pair of wireless earbuds? Wireless earbuds that double as a power bank!
HMD’s Amped Buds is a very clever 2-in-1 device, combining the buds with a 1600mAh reverse wireless charger. If you have an iPhone that supports MagSafe or an Android phone with Qi2 (such as HMD’s own Skyline), you can get a useful battery life boost.
Of course, you’ll probably be using them to charge the buds most of the time. Across the buds and case, HMD claims you can get up to 95 hours of battery life on a single charge.
The earbuds themselves don’t compromise on performance, with dual 10mm drivers powering modes to block out noise (Active Noise Cancellation, ANC) or blend it (Environmental Noise Cancellation, ENC). The Android and iOS companion app also includes an Equaliser (EQ) that allows users to fine-tune their sound.
For calls, a long stem and six microphones should ensure crystal-clear quality.
The HMD Amped Buds will cost £169.99 when they go on sale in April. International pricing is yet to be revealed.
Realme 14 Pro+
Luke Baker
The Realme 14 Pro+ is the world’s first phone with a cold-sensitive colour changing back. It looks lovely, but honestly, that’s probably the least interesting thing about it. What truly makes this phone exciting is the specs that it delivers for the money.
It has a bright display with a symmetrical quad-curved design, IP69 dust and water resistance, a gigantic 6000mAh battery and a capable Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor. Best of all, though, are the cameras.
This is one of the only phones in its price category to come with a flagship-level telephoto camera, and the versatility is hard to match without spending significantly more.
The additional good news here is that we can exclusively reveal that Realme is returning to the UK market with the 14 Pro series.
Xiaomi Buds 5 Pro Wi-Fi
Chris Martin / Foundry
Oddly, Xiaomi didn’t make a big deal about these new earbuds at its MWC launch, particularly the fact they are the first to launch with Wi-Fi built-in.
This is made possible with Qualcomm’s S7 Pro chip and with no additional power consumption compared to the Bluetooth model. Qualcomm’s Expanded Personal Area Network (XPAN) tech means the earbuds support 96kHz/24bit lossless audio at 4.2Mbps.
Something Bluetooth wireless earbuds can’t do and make for an audiophile’s dream earbuds. For now, the main caveat (apart from needing to be on Wi-Fi to benefit) is that they’re only compatible with Xiaomi 15 and 15 Ultra phones.
Samsung handheld console concept
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
Samsung showed off several interesting new display concepts at MWC, but its vision for handheld consoles was the most exciting.
It showcased a Nintendo Switch-like device that could fold in half horizontally, allowing you to make a sizeable console much more compact. To accommodate it, the joysticks and D-pad are arranged so they can neatly slot into one another.
Just like current book-style foldables, the crease would be a big factor in its usability. Samsung wasn’t allowing anyone to handle the concept, so we couldn’t find out what this one was like.
And of course, as a concept, there’s no guarantee a product like this will ever come to market. But it offers an exciting vision of the future of handheld consoles.
TCL 60 XE Nxtpaper 5G
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
TCL’s Nxtpaper tech has been available on its smartphones for a while, allowing users to switch the matt display between regular, colour e-ink and monochrome e-ink modes.
But the new 60 XE adds a fourth option: ‘Max Ink Mode’. Essentially, it’s an even more powerful version of the regular e-ink mode that brings the phone even closer to a genuine eReader.
But it also doubles as a digital detox mode. You can set it to silence notifications, while a maximum of seven apps is allowed to be used in addition to core functions such as Phone and Settings.
The 60 XE Nxtpaper 5G is expected to be available later this year, costing just £179.99 in the UK.
Tecno Spark Slim concept
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
How thin can a phone realistically get? Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S25 Edge is making headlines at 6.4mm, but this Tecno concept takes things to the next level.
The Spark Slim is a mind-boggling 5.75mm – barely thicker than the USB-C port – yet supposedly packs a sizeable 5200mAh battery.
Almost the entire front of the phone is taken up by a 6.78-inch curved AMOLED with a 144Hz refresh rate. On the back, the dual rear camera module includes decorative lights that look just like a pair of eyes.
Of course, as a concept, there’s no indication that this device will ever come to market, even in Tecno’s native China. But it shows what could be possible from an ultra-thin device in the future.
