Mobile World Congress is taking place in Barcelona this week, offering manufacturers an opportunity to show off new gear without needing to hold their own splashy event. So far, we’ve learned about some new laptops and phones, as well as upcoming AI updates to Android and an internet connectivity announcement from Meta. There’s also been some interesting ideas in the world of headphones and a whole lot of concepts that might never make it to market, but are fun to look at any way.
Here’s a look at everything announced at Mobile World Congress that caught our eye. We’ll update this story throughout the week.
Lenovo
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
Among the bigger-name manufacturers, Lenovo has arguably had the busiest MWC so far. The company has revealed a whole bunch of laptops, including upgraded ThinkPads and several intriguing concept models.
The ThinkPad T14s 2-in-1 has a design that’s more aligned with the convertible format of the Yoga lineup than a typical ThinkPad. The 14-inch machine can be equipped with a 400-nit WUXGA touch display. Other ThinkPads are getting spec upgrades, while Lenovo claims the new ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 has “one of the lightest ThinkPad designs ever.” The company has a fresh slate of laptops with generative AI capabilities as well.
Some of Lenovo’s concepts have certainly caught our attention. It’s a bummer that the company doesn’t currently plan to turn the Yoga Solar PC Concept into a commercial device. Thanks to the solar cells on the casing, the laptop can soak up enough energy from the sun in 20 minutes to play an hour of videos. As little as 0.3 watts of light is enough to juice up the battery. While solar-powered laptops aren’t exactly new, the Yoga Solar PC feels polished. Here’s hoping Lenovo does more with the notion in the future.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
In addition, Lenovo showed off some conceptual display accessories for a ThinkBook laptop. There’s an eight-inch screen that attaches to the side magnetically to help you, for instance, keep up with notifications and widgets. The Magic Bay Dual Display Concept adds a 13.3-inch panel to either side of the main display. There’s also a slim second display that’s designed to sit above your laptop screen and provide quick access to things like the time, weather, notifications, a focus mode timer, an AI assistant and notifications.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
On top of all of that, Lenovo offered a look at a new prototype laptop with a flexible display. Building on the tech the company used in the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable, the ThinkBook codename Flip AI PC Proof of concept (to give its full name) has a fold-out screen. This allows Lenovo to double the panel’s size from 13 inches to 18.1 inches. The ThinkBook Rollable’s display, on the other hand, can extend to 16.7 inches. Again, Lenovo doesn’t currently plan to release a commercial version of this fold-out laptop, but it’s an interesting idea.
Samsung
Photo by Mat Smith for Engadget.
Samsung has switched up the camera array in the A56. On the front, there’s a lower-res 12MP lens. On the other side, you’ll find an upgraded 12MP ultrawide, 50MP main sensor and a 5MP macro lens. The A56 has a bunch of AI-powered camera and image editing features, such as enhanced subject detection in portrait mode and an object eraser.
Pre-orders are open in the UK for the Galaxy A56, which costs $499/£499. It will hit the UK on March 19, but folks in the US will have to wait until “later this year” for it.
Samsung also revealed the Galaxy A36 5G and Galaxy A26 5G. Both devices have a 120Hz, 6.7-inch display with brightness of up to 1,200 nits. They also share an IP67 rating and 5,000mAh battery with the A56.
However, the base models of each only have 6GB of RAM (compared with the A56’s 12GB). In addition, the A36 has the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 processor instead of the Exynos 1580 that the A56 boasts, while the A26 has a Exynos 1380 chipset.
Samsung’s concept folding phones and gaming handhelds
In addition to properly launching the trio of A-series phones, Samsung also brought a bunch of concept devices to Barcelona, further showing off its flexible display prowess. We’ve seen reporting of these, like Android Police’s coverage of a “Flex Gaming” handheld. That prototype consists of a 7.2-inch OLED screen that bends in half. Flanking the display are what appear to be controllers and holes where they’d fit when the handheld is folded up. Elsewhere on the internet we also saw Samsung showcase a Galaxy Z Flip-esque device that had two hinges that let it fold in on itself from the top and bottom. Allison Johnson at The Verge has nicknamed it “The Claw,” which to our editor Cherlynn Low is just reminiscent of an MSI device.
Xiaomi
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
Unfortunately, Xiaomi doesn’t have plans to bring a handset it showed off at MWC to the US. That’s a real pity, because no other companies are selling phones quite like the Xiaomi 15 Ultra in the country these days.
Xiaomi teamed up with Leica to make a smartphone that leans heavily into photography. The camera array includes a 1-inch 50-megapixel Sony main sensor, an f/2.2 50MP ultrawide cam, a 50MP midrange lens with a 70mm focal length and a 200MP periscope array with a 100mm focal length — that equates to a 4.7x optical zoom. Some preset Leica filters help to tie the two brands’ knowhow together.
That’s not all that might be interesting to mobile snappers. Xiaomi’s separate Photography kit includes an add-on camera grip with a physical shutter button, an adjustable dial and dedicated video button. You’ll have the option to attach a standard 67mm filter adapter to a case as well — in other words, some of the equipment you might use on a dedicated camera is compatible with the Ultra 15 as part of this setup.
Moreover, the Ultra 15 has a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate and up to 3,200 nits of brightness to help you get a good look at your captures. Plus, unlike some other Chinese phones (like Huawei’s), Xiaomi supports Google services in HyperOS 2, which is an Android skin. The Ultra 15 starts at about €1,499 (around $1,572).
Android
Speaking of Android, Google announced two new AI-powered features for the operating system at MWC. The Live Video function, which Google first previewed at I/O 2024, allows you to share what your phone’s camera sees with Gemini so you can ask the chatbot questions about the footage.
The new screensharing function works in a similar way. You can ask Gemini questions about whatever’s on your phone or tablet’s display.
If they work as well as advertised, these features could be a boon for accessibility. Google will first offer them to Gemini Advanced subscribers starting later this month. Those with a $20 per month Google One AI Premium membership, which is included with some Verizon plans, have access to Gemini Advanced.
Nothing
Image by Mat Smith for Engadget
Samsung wasn’t the only smartphone maker of note to show off two new mid-range devices at MWC. Nothing debuted its Phone 3a Pro and Phone 3a at the event — even though it has yet to unleash the Phone 3.
The 3a Pro has a beefier camera module (quite literally as the device is about 10 grams heavier than the 3a). It contains a 50MP telephoto sensor with a 3x optical zoom; a 50MP primary sensor with f/1.88 lens and dual-pixel phase detection auto-focus (PDAF); and an ultrawide 8MP sensor with a 120-degree field of view. The handset has a telemacro mode too. As for the 3a, that boasts a main 50MP camera with single-pixel PDAF, but the other two sensors are the same as on the 3a Pro.
The cameras are the main difference between the two phones, which both have a 6.77-inch AMOLED LTPS display with a 120Hz refresh rate and up to 1,300 nits of brightness. The phones have a 5,000mAh battery with support for 50W fast charging, and they run on a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset.
The devices have Nothing’s multipurpose Essential Key, a physical button that can take screenshots and help you record voice notes. The phones also have some generative AI features, such as the ability to transcribe said voice notes and describe what’s in screenshots and photos.
As usual, Nothing is initially offering these devices in the US through a beta program. Phone 3a pre-orders are open now and the $379 handset ships on March 11. That’s the date when pre-orders for the Phone 3a Pro go live. The $459 phone can be in your hands on March 25.
A major aim of the project is to help build out infrastructure in areas where commercial providers have yet to do so. The Connectivity Co-Funding Initiative will also back training programs, community-centered solutions for underserved areas and locally owned networks. The Internet Society is hoping to find more partners to help with the project.
HMD
Finnish company HMD, which also makes devices under the Nokia brand, brought a bunch of phones to Barcelona this year, but maybe the most interesting thing was some earbuds. The Amped Earbuds are a pair of fairly standard Bluetooth buds, with a twist in the case: It’s got a 1,600mAh battery built in that supports reverse wireless charging. It’s a pretty solid idea — given you’re likely already carrying a phone and some headphones. Perhaps the one issue is that capacity: 1,600mAh is enough to charge a lot of headphones, but it’s dramatically smaller than the battery in your phone. Still, an extra 20 percent of battery life could be an lifesaver.
Update, March 7 2025, 4:05PM ET: This story has been updated twice since publish. Once to include a section on Samsung’s concept folding devices, and once to add a section on HMD’s Amped Earbuds. The introduction of the article was also changed.
