We love Mobile World Congress, the tech show in Barcelona that offers phones, tablets and wearables galore. But there was a standout trend in 2025 which we weren’t expecting – concepts.
Typically, firms like Xiaomi, Honor, Samsung and others launch their latest and greatest devices across a range of product categories. And while that happened once again, it seemed, walking round the show halls, that there were just as many devices you might never get your hands on.
At least one concept device was expected from Lenovo, as the firm loves proof of concepts. Last year we saw a transparent screen laptop and this year we saw the ThinkBook Flip with its outward folding display as well as a solar-powered Yoga laptop.
Chris Martin / Foundry
I thought that would pretty much be the lot, but almost every big tech brand showing off wares in Barcelona had some kind of weird and whacky idea and it made wandering between booths far more interesting.
On the phone side of things, two photography focused handsets stood out. Xiaomi’s Module Optical System, which is far more exciting than the name suggests, with a magnetic snap-on lens and sensor, and Realme’s Ultra concept which has a built-in sensor and can handle traditional interchangeable lenses.
We’re far from over here as a trip to Tecno’s booth revealed it had a Galaxy S25 Edge rival in the Spark Slim. It’s just 5.75mm thick compared to the Edge’s 6.4mm. It feels like a perfectly plausible handset to launch, especially when it outpaces a Samsung, but no, it’s another concept.
Tecno wasn’t stopping there, as it also showed off a tri-fold to rival Huawei’s Mate XT and Samsung’s upcoming tri-fold expected to be called the Galaxy G Fold. Tecno’s version is a concept, but the Phantom Ultimate 2 is even thinner than Huawei’s at 11mm when folded compared to Huawei’s 12.8mm.
Speaking of Samsung, the firm’s display arm of the company had a whole selection of concepts on display. Some of which were seen back in January at CES 2025 but plenty were fresh from the lab.
Most interesting of all was a device best described as if Nintendo shrunk the Switch console and made it foldable in the middle. A gaming phone with dedicated controls, which doesn’t need a case because you just fold it when you’re done? Yes please, Samsung.
The firm also showed off a Flexible Briefcase as a sort of gnarly foldable tablet and a Galaxy Z Flip style phone with not one hinge, but two. Sadly, we didn’t see this in person as it had reportedly been scratched and taken off the stand.
You might think surely that was it for concepts at MWC, but we’re not quite done. Though not on display at the show itself, Infinix unveiled two concept phones at Show Stoppers.
One has solar panels on the back for charging in the sunshine or a strong enough light source, while the other has a colour-changing eInk screen at the rear.
We’ve left the show wowed and amazed by these concepts. It certainly made a change from yet another mid-range Android phone with perfectly fine specs and a boring design.
It’s bittersweet, however, as no doubt many of these devices will never see the light of day. We wouldn’t be surprised if we see some of the technology arrive in future products, though – particularly when ones like the Xiaomi snap-on camera are pretty polished and functional already.
Here’s hoping we see it at MWC 2026 on the Xiaomi 16 series along with some of the other funky devices we saw this year. For now, here are our Best of MWC 2025 Awards.
