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

MWC 2026 formally will get underway on March 2 and can proceed by means of March 5, however the bulletins are already coming forward of its begin. We will at all times rely on the annual tech occasion to carry tons of latest telephones, laptops and tablets, and we’re anticipating to see some robots and different devices too — plus loads of AI information, after all. Along with the bulletins, MWC is our likelihood to get hands-on time with a few of the most fascinating new gadgets, just like the Xiaomi 17 Extremely and Honor’s Robotic Cellphone.

Engadget’s Mat Smith is on the bottom in Barcelona, and we’ll be updating this story because the week goes on to maintain you within the loop on all the things that caught our consideration. Hold checking again right here for the newest MWC information.

Honor

Honor teased its Robotic Cellphone this previous fall and we simply lastly received a correct take a look at it at MWC. And it is fairly freakin’ cute. The cellphone is provided with a digital camera that is mounted on a extremely cellular 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 digital camera bump). In a demo at MWC, the digital camera, which behaves like somewhat robotic head, bobbed alongside to music and confirmed off a few of its gesture abilities, like cocking its “head” and nodding in settlement.

Honor did not reveal an excessive amount of spec-wise, however the firm says the first digital camera makes use of a 200-megapixel sensor. The gimbal will provide three-axis stabilization, which shall be coupled with digital camera modes resembling Tremendous Regular Video and AI Object Monitoring. The Robotic Cellphone is not fairly prepared for launch in the mean time, however the firm says it’ll launch later this yr.

Make sure you take a look at Mat Smith’s writeup on the Robotic Cellphone for a extra in-depth look.

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

The Robotic Cellphone is not the one 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 within 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 quilt and inner show.

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

Forward of MWC, Honor additionally introduced what it claims is the thinnest Android pill on the planet: the 4.8mm thick MagicPad 4. We’re anticipating to listen to 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 as much as 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, and is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset. The thinness would not rely the digital camera bump, Honor notes. The MagicPad 4 has 13MP rear and 9MP entrance cameras. It additionally boasts spatial audio, with eight audio system.

Simply because 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 understand how a lot it’ll value, however we’ll replace this after Honor’s press convention (the place we’re additionally anticipating to see the corporate’s robotic) with any new particulars.

Xiaomi x Leica

Xiaomi kicked off MWC this yr by saying the worldwide 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, nevertheless 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 digital camera sensor with a f/1.67 lens, a telephoto setup with a 200MP 1/1.4-inch sensor, and a 50MP ultrawide digital camera. There’s additionally a handbook zoom ring across the digital camera.

Take a look at our palms on for our first impressions of what it is like taking pictures with the Xiaomi 17 Extremely. And there is extra to it than simply the digital camera. 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 to be an entire lot like Xiaomi’s 17 Extremely, however is not the 17 Extremely, precisely.

Just like the 17 Extremely, Leica’s Leitzphone by Xiaomi has a 1-inch digital camera sensor and bodily controls for zoom and different settings, utilizing a mechanical ring across the digital camera unit. It contains a Leica-designed intuitive digital camera interface with the choice to indicate simply the necessities whenever you’re taking pictures, hiding all of the modes and labels. There is a monochrome taking pictures mode and Leica filters.

The Leica branding is splashed throughout it in design and wallpapers, nevertheless it’s in any other case fairly just like the 17 Extremely, with the identical specs. Just 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).

Along with the 17 Extremely, Xiaomi introduced two new tablets at MWC this yr: the Xiaomi Pad 8 and Xiaomi Pad 8 Professional. 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 Energy Financial institution 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 corporate launched the Xiaomi Tag, its personal tackle the Bluetooth merchandise tracker. The Xiaomi Tag has a built-in hanging loop so it may be connected on to a keyring, and the corporate says it’ll work with each Apple Discover My and Google’s Discover Hub for Android.

Tecno

We will at all times count on 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 primarily based on the announcement, together with numerous digital camera lenses, a gaming attachment and an influence financial institution, counting on magnets to maintain all of it collectively — or Modular Magnetic Interconnection Know-how, as Tecno is looking it.