Honor’s Robotic Cellphone, the new Leica Leitzphone by Xiaomi, and extra

MWC 2026 formally will get underway on March 2 and can proceed via March 5, however the bulletins are already coming forward of its begin. We are able to at all times depend on the annual tech occasion to convey tons of recent telephones, laptops and tablets, and we’re anticipating to see some robots and different devices too — plus loads of AI information, in fact. As well as to the bulletins, MWC is our likelihood to get hands-on time with a few of the most attention-grabbing new units, like the Xiaomi 17 Ultra and Honor’s Robot Phone.

Engadget’s Mat Smith is on the floor in Barcelona, and we’ll be updating this story as the week goes on to preserve you in the loop on every part that caught our consideration. Hold checking again right here for the newest MWC information.

Honor

Honor teased its Robot Phone this previous fall and we simply lastly acquired a correct have a look at it at MWC. And it is fairly freakin’ cute. The cellphone is outfitted with a digicam that is mounted on a extremely cell 4-degrees-of-freedom gimbal, which tucks away right into a compartment on the again when it is not in use (making for a fairly beefy digicam bump). In a demo at MWC, the digicam, which behaves like a bit of robotic head, bobbed alongside to music and confirmed off a few of its gesture expertise, like cocking its “head” and nodding in settlement.

Honor did not reveal an excessive amount of spec-wise, however the firm says the main digicam makes use of a 200-megapixel sensor. The gimbal will supply three-axis stabilization, which can be coupled with digicam modes akin to Tremendous Regular Video and AI Object Monitoring. The Robotic Cellphone is not fairly prepared for launch at the second, however the firm says it should launch later this yr.

Ensure to try Mat Smith’s writeup on the Robot Phone for a extra in-depth look.

It is not a humanoid robotic reveal with out some backflips and a choreographed dance efficiency. Honor launched its robotic at MWC with all the spectacle we have come to anticipate (although the bot did not do any speaking).  It’s merely referred to as the Honor Robotic, and the firm has plans for it to be utilized in each industrial and home settings.

The Robotic Cellphone is not the solely cellphone Honor confirmed off at MWC. The corporate additionally introduced its Magic V6 smartphone, which it says is the thinnest cellphone in its class, measuring 8.75mm folded and 4.0mm open in the white colorway. The opposite three colours — black, gold and purple — are barely thicker, at 9mm folded and 4.1mm open.

Not an excessive amount of has modified from the V5, although, which solely got here out in August 2025. It does nevertheless have the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, with 16GB RAM and 512 GB storage. As for the cameras, there are two 50-megapixel lenses and a 64-megapixel telephoto, plus a 20-megapixel f/2.2 selfie lens on the cowl and inside show.

The worldwide model of the Magic V6 can have a 6660mAh battery with 25 % silicon content material, whereas the model offered solely in China will boast a battery with a rated capability of greater than 7000mAh and 32 % silicon content material. Honor hasn’t but shared details about pricing and availability.

Forward of MWC, Honor additionally introduced what it claims is the thinnest Android pill in the world: the 4.8mm thick MagicPad 4. We’re anticipating to hear extra about this at Honor’s press convention on Sunday, however up to now we all know it contains a 12.3-inch 165Hz OLED show and weighs simply 450g. It comes with up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, and is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset. The thinness would not depend the digicam bump, Honor notes. The MagicPad 4 has 13MP rear and 9MP entrance cameras. It additionally boasts spatial audio, with eight audio system.

Simply as the show is barely smaller than the earlier MagicPad, the MagicPad 4 has a smaller battery at 10100 mAh. It comes with a 66W quick charger. The MagicPad 4 will run Honor’s MagicOS 10. We do not but know the way a lot it should price, however we’ll replace this after Honor’s press convention (the place we’re additionally anticipating to see the firm’s robotic) with any new details.

Xiaomi x Leica

Xiaomi kicked off MWC this yr by asserting the world launch of its 17 Extremely smartphone, which debuted first in China again in December. It is unclear if the cellphone will ever come to the US, however it’s now rolling out in Europe. Xiaomi teamed up once more with Leica to make a photography-focused smartphone, and the 17 Extremely sports activities a 1-inch 50-megapixel digicam sensor with a f/1.67 lens, a telephoto setup with a 200MP 1/1.4-inch sensor, and a 50MP ultrawide digicam. There’s additionally a handbook zoom ring round the digicam.

Take a look at our fingers on for our first impressions of what it is like capturing with the Xiaomi 17 Ultra. And there is extra to it than simply the digicam. The 17 Extremely has a 6.9-inch OLED 120 Hz show that peaks at 3,500 nits of brightness, and a 6000mAh silicon-carbon battery. The Xiaomi 17 Extremely begins at £1,299 (roughly $1,750).

Leica additionally introduced a brand new cellphone made in partnership with Xiaomi at MWC. It seems a complete lot like Xiaomi’s 17 Extremely, however is not the 17 Extremely, precisely.

Like the 17 Extremely, Leica’s Leitzphone by Xiaomi has a 1-inch digicam sensor and bodily controls for zoom and different settings, utilizing a mechanical ring round the digicam unit. It contains a Leica-designed intuitive digicam interface with the possibility to present simply the necessities once you’re capturing, hiding all the modes and labels. There is a monochrome capturing mode and Leica filters.

The Leica branding is splashed throughout it in design and wallpapers, however it’s in any other case fairly comparable to the 17 Extremely, with the identical specs. Like the 17 Extremely, it has a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip and a 6.9-inch 120Hz show. This one’s priced at €1,999 (roughly $2,362).

As well as to the 17 Extremely, Xiaomi introduced two new tablets at MWC this yr: the Xiaomi Pad 8 and Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro. There’s nothing revolutionary right here, however they’re light-weight and skinny, with each being 5.75mm thick and weighing 485g, and have a 9200mAh battery. The Professional mannequin is powered by a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, whereas the common Pad 8 makes use of the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset.

Xiaomi additionally unveiled a brand new 5000mAh powerbank, the UltraThin Magnetic Power Bank 5000 15W. The 6mm thick energy financial institution is available in three colours with an aluminum alloy shell: orange, silver and charcoal grey. Together with that, the firm launched the Xiaomi Tag, its personal take on the Bluetooth merchandise tracker. The Xiaomi Tag has a built-in hanging loop so it may be hooked up instantly to a keyring, and the firm says it should work with each Apple Discover My and Google’s Discover Hub for Android.

Tecno

We are able to at all times anticipate to see some wild cellphone ideas at MWC, and this yr we’re beginning with one from Tecno. The corporate unveiled a modular idea smartphone design that may be as skinny as 4.9mm in its base configuration. There’d be 10 modules to select from based mostly on the announcement, together with numerous digicam lenses, a gaming attachment and an influence financial institution, relying on magnets to preserve all of it collectively — or Modular Magnetic Interconnection Know-how, as Tecno is calling it.