11 things to expect at MWC 2026 — from the Nothing Phone 4a to Honor's humanoid robot

MWC (Mobile World Congress) 2026 officially runs from March 2 to March 5, but announcements from this major mobile trade show will start even earlier than that. You can expect to see numerous new phones in attendance, including handsets from Xiaomi, Honor, and more.

But phones aren’t all we’ll see, as MWC is usually home to all sorts of other tech too, from laptops and tablets to new forms of connectivity and even robots.

So below, we’ve detailed eleven of the biggest things you can expect at MWC 2026, covering all of the above categories and beyond. There'll likely be other surprises in store, and the TechRadar team team will be on the ground to cover them live from the event — but these are some of the likely stars of the show...

1. The Xiaomi 17 series going global

The Xiaomi 17 series has already been announced, but so far only for China. At MWC it’s going global.

On February 28 in Barcelona (home of MWC), Xiaomi will be launching the Xiaomi 17 and Xiaomi 17 Ultra, though there’s so far no mention of the Xiaomi 17 Pro or Xiaomi 17 Pro Max.

The Xiaomi 17 — at least in its Chinese version — has a 6.3-inch 120Hz screen, a top-end Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, up to 1TB of storage, up to 16GB of RAM, a 7,000mAh battery with 100W charging, and three 50MP cameras on the back.

The Xiaomi 17 Ultra though is even more interesting, because this has a larger 6.9-inch main display, higher spec cameras (including a 200MP periscope one), and the same top-end chipset. Though its battery and charging specs are marginally inferior, at 6,800mAh and 90W.

Finally, Xiaomi is also expected to launch the Xiaomi 17 Ultra Leica Edition (above) — although a leak suggests this could instead be called the ‘Leica Leitzphone powered by Xiaomi’ outside China. In any case, this is similar to the standard Ultra, but with prominent Leica branding, a manual zoom ring built into the camera island, and some Leica film simulation effects that you can shoot with.

2. The Honor Magic V6

Honor also has a major phone launching at MWC, with the Honor Magic V6 set to be unveiled on March 1.

This is the company’s next flagship foldable phone and leaks suggest it could have a battery of up to 7,150mAh, which would be the highest capacity battery we’ve yet seen in a foldable phone — though another version, which might be the global one, is said to have a slightly smaller-capacity 6,850mAh battery.

In any case, it could also charge at either 120W or 80W, and it might have up to 16GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, and a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset. If so, then this could be the foldable phone to beat in 2026.

3. Honor’s Robot Phone

Honor has already teased its Robot Phone, but we expect to see more of it at MWC 2026, and this could be the most intriguing phone of 2026 — if it moves beyond concept and becomes a product you can buy.

The USP of this device is a camera attached to a gimbal that sticks out the top and can track you as you move around. You can of course use this for taking photos and recording videos, but it will also have AI built in, allowing the camera to act like eyes for the AI.

That AI could assist you in various ways, and as the camera can move around, this might feel more lifelike than most AI assistants, but Honor has so far been light on details.

4. The Honor humanoid robot

If a phone isn’t robot enough for you, Honor is also set to bring a humanoid robot to MWC 2026, having teased as much on X.

The company has told Bloomberg that this is a “service robot” and that it will be able to help with shopping among other things.

Beyond that, we know very little about it, but we can guess that it will probably be quite expensive if it’s sold at all. We're certainly looking forward to meeting it in person at the show.

5. The Nothing Phone 4a

Nothing is set to announce the Phone 4a at an event in London on March 5, so not at MWC. However, the company will be at the show, and does tend to tease phones ahead of their announcements – so we expect it to make an appearance in some capacity.

Nothing has already shown off the design of the phone, complete with a redesigned Glyph lighting interface, where you’ll now find a vertical bar of lights to the right of the cameras.

Leaks meanwhile suggest it could have a 6.78-inch 120Hz AMOLED display, a Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 chipset, 12GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, a 5,400mAh battery with 50W wired charging, a 50MP main camera, a 50MP telephoto with 3.5x optical zoom, and an 8MP ultra-wide camera. If so, the Phone 4a could be one of the phone bargains of the year.

6. TCL NXTpaper devices

TCL isn’t one of the biggest names in phones and tablets, but it’s pushing out devices with interesting ‘NXTpaper’ tech, which aims to deliver the best of an E-Ink and LCD screen all in one.

It does this through various eye-protecting technologies, along with the ability to switch between a color and grayscale screen with a tap.

None of this is new as we’ve seen NXTpaper phones and tablets already, but there’s a high chance that TCL will bring some new models to MWC.

7. The Taara Beam

The Taara Beam is a new way to get online, providing internet connectivity using beams of light rather than fiber cables, and delivering speeds of up to 25Gbps.

The device itself is around the size of a PS5, and it could prove an alternative to the likes of Starlink, for places where traditional infrastructure is slow or too costly.

However, it’s aimed at businesses rather than commercial users, and may have some downsides, such as a sensitivity to atmospheric conditions.

This has already been announced — hence how we know so much about it — but it will be shown off at MWC 2026.

8. Tecno’s ultra-thin modular phone concept

Tecno has announced that it plans to show off an ultra-slim modular phone at MWC 2026, but this is a concept device, so not something that’s likely to be sold.

The phone itself is just 4.9mm thick, so the idea is that even with extra modules attached — which could include things like additional cameras, a battery pack, or physical controls — it still won’t be much thicker than a typical handset.

Ten modular accessories will be shown off alongside the phone, with the idea being that you’d potentially own many of them and just swap them out as needed.

9. The ThinkPad X13 Detachable Gen 1

If you’re in the market for a tablet-laptop hybrid, Lenovo might have something to suit at MWC, as leaks suggest it could launch the ThinkPad X13 Detachable Gen 1. This is according to Windows Latest, which has also acquired images and details of the device.

Essentially, this is a laptop with a detachable keyboard, so you can turn it into a tablet, and it’s also said to have stylus support and a larger screen than the 12.3-inch ThinkPad X12 Detachable Gen 2.

This line of products is aimed at business users, but it could still be a viable choice for anyone who wants a two-in-one device.

10. The first 6G demos

It doesn’t feel all that long ago that companies started rolling out 5G, but Ericsson is already planning to show off some 6G prototype systems at MWC 2026.

These demonstrations will be in partnership with Apple and MediaTek, and among other things will highlight some potential new applications that 6G could power, such as AI-enhanced extended reality.

11. Wi-Fi 8

Another new networking technology that we’re set to get a look at during MWC 2026 is Wi-Fi 8. While this isn't yet standardized, it is expected to focus on being lower latency and offering greater coverage and reliability.

Companies such as Rohde & Schwarz, Broadcom, and Gemtek all plan to show off Wi-Fi 8 devices and solutions during MWC. As we've previously explained, Wi-Fi 8 won't be faster, but it will be a lot better.

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