(Credit: Cole Kan; Getty Images)
BARCELONA—Mobile World Congress has always been about phones. Though the world's largest trade show for mobile devices has embraced many other products and technologies over the last decade, phone launches are the conference's main draw.
This year, the industry's biggest players shied away from MWC. Samsung, Honor, and OnePlus all held big launch events in the weeks leading up to MWC, while Apple and Motorola sat the show out almost entirely. But Nothing, Realme, Tecno, and Xiaomi all showed up with new hardware in tow, and Samsung debuted its latest affordable handsets. After spending the week looking at and assessing all the new releases, these are the five phones we most look forward to spending more time with.
Best Camera
(Credit: Eric Zeman)Xiaomi 15 Ultra
Xiaomi has invested heavily in making its 15 Ultra the best possible camera phone. The company took advantage of its years-long relationship with Leica to engineer new optics for the phone and install a 200MP periscope telephoto lens. This camera has the power to provide the equivalent zoom of a 200mm lens. The rest of the camera stack includes a trio of 50MP sensors for the main, ultra-wide, and telephoto cameras. Moreover, the phone includes Master Portrait mode and Pro mode for taking full control over the capture experience. Master Portrait includes a number of presets for creating stylized portraits of your friends and family. The Xiaomi 15 Ultra shoots high-quality video, too. It supports multiple resolutions and frame rates and has a special 4K120 mode for recording high-quality slow motion all the time. Toss in 4K60 with Dolby Vision and you have a powerful creative tool for photographers. It's expected to go on sale in China soon for around $1,500.
Best Design
(Credit: Eric Zeman)Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
Nothing had plenty of something to say at MWC, where it launched two phones, the Nothing Phone (3a) and (3a) Pro. If Nothing does anything, it's design and build unique devices. The (3a) Pro has a complex look that takes Nothing's industrial aesthetic to a new level, with light-up glyphs on the rear panel that allow for personalized blinking notifications. Beyond their unique looks, the (3a) and (3a) Pro impress with their 6.77-inch screens, 120Hz adaptive refresh rates, and 3,000 nits of brightness while playing HDR content. The phones are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, and both come with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. They're reasonable priced at $379 for the (3a) and $459 for the (3a) Pro.
Recommended by Our Editors
Best Midrange Phone
(Credit: Eric Zeman)Samsung Galaxy A56
Samsung is bringing the fight to Apple with this midrange mauler. At $499, the Galaxy A56 has lots to like packed into its frame. It may use Samsung's "glasstic" material for the rear panel, but it looks and feels like real glass. The phone is available in four colors, which is two more than the $599 Apple iPhone 16e, and it costs $100 less. It has a solid feature set, including a 6.7-inch screen with 1,200 nits of brightness, a 5,000mAh battery, a 50MP/12MP/5MP camera stack, and an IP67 rating for protection against dust and water. It charges at a fast rate of 45W. Samsung says the phone will come with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, which is the bare minimum these days. A handful of Samsung's Galaxy AI features, like Circle to Search, will be available to the Galaxy A56 when it launches later this year.
Best Affordable Flagship
(Credit: Eric Zeman)Realme 14 Pro+
You'd never guess the Realme 14 Pro+ costs just over $500. Its elegant design, near-top-tier specs, and several surprising features make it an affordable flagship worth considering. Its core value comes from its 6.7-inch screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, 50MP camera with 120x SuperZoom, and hearty IP68/69 rating. It's got a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chip under the hood, plenty of RAM and storage, and a sizable 6,000mAh battery. The phone comes in two designs: black vegan leather or iridescent pearl. The latter has the gorgeous swirling patterned tones of a pearl and, when exposed to cold water, turns blue. Considering all you get here, it's a wonder Realme priced the 14 Pro+ so low.
Best Prototype
(Credit: Eric Zeman)Tecno Spark Slim
When it comes to tech, thin is always in. Those of us who remember the old days of mobile phones know how big they used to be. Our pockets (and hands) cheered once phones were trimmed down to less than 10mm (0.39 inches) in thickness. The Tecno Spark Slim is a full-size phone that's a mere 5.75mm (0.22 inches) thick, which is a lot more svelte than the iPhone 16 (7.7mm, 0.3 inches) and the Galaxy S25 (7.2mm, 0.28 inches). What's most impressive about this feat is that Tecno still managed to put a 5,200mAh battery inside the phone. That's a bigger battery than the one in the humongous Galaxy S25 Ultra. Apart from the screen and the battery, Tecno didn't share many details about the Spark Slim. Most importantly, it didn't say what processor is inside or what type of performance we might expect from the phone. Even so, the Spark Slim is impressive for its size alone. Will all phones be this thin one day? We hope so.
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