The best MWC 2026 phones

in Mobile World Congress 2026We’ve seen – and to no one’s surprise – a large number of phones.

this year Mobile World Congress It’s especially rich in phones that serve different purposes and demographics, like the Honor Robot Phone, which is part handset, part camera. While Xiaomi has unveiled another premium device, its photographic capabilities are next level. Honor has unveiled a foldable device… without the wrinkles. Brands may be predictable, but phones are not.

This year’s MWC comes with its own set of difficult circumstances. the Samsung Galaxy S26 The phones arrived just before the show to set the stage for this year’s exciting features Android phonesand they have achieved a $100 price hike for their base and Galaxy S26 Plus models. This may be due to a lack of RAM, which is to be expected Pressure on phone makers to raise prices On many phones. How they choose to balance new features with affordability could be the biggest hurdle in 2026 for the phone industry.

Amid all this uncertainty, manufacturers are still overseeing the largest phone exhibition of the year to launch their new phones for the first time. Here are the best phones we’ve seen MWC.

Xiaomi phone to phone

We’ve seen the Leica name associated with phones for years, however Xiaomi Leica Letzphone It takes phone and camera partnerships to the next level. There’s a laundry list of great image-centric features: Leica’s famous high-quality Summilux lenses, the new Lateral Overflow Integration Capacitor image sensor to enable better dynamic range and moving elements in the telephoto lens that allow it to safely move from 75 to 100mm focal lengths. Additionally, there’s a large mechanical lens ring on the back of the phone that serves as a customizable control for zoom, exposure, or other settings.

Best of all, as CNET senior editor Andrew Lanxon pointed out in his review, the Leitzphone has the same color profiles you’ll find in Leica’s actual cameras and films — and best of all, Pictures he took It looks like it came from a professional camera, not a phone. In short, Lankson wrote, the Leitzphone is so advanced that it earns our Editors’ Choice award, and competitors like it Samsung’s new Galaxy S26 Ultra needs to catch up.

Honor Magic V6

the Honor Magic V6 It’s a foldable device that, at least at first glance, appears to have greatly alleviated one of the persistent problems with flexible displays: the crease above the fold line has largely disappeared. That alone should make the Magic V6 attractive to high-end phone fans, but it has other original touches – it’s just 4.1mm thick, it’s one of the first foldables to have IP68 and IP69 water and dust resistance (which means it should withstand spilled drinks and dust), it has a 6,600mAh battery (larger than the Galaxy Z Fold 7’s 4,400mAh) and A triple rear camera array with specs that look better than any competitor: a 50MP main camera, a 64MP telephoto camera, and a 50MP ultra-wide camera.

For all these improvements, expect to pay up. While the Honor Magic V6 doesn’t have an official price yet (and it won’t be sold in the US), its predecessor, Honor Magic V5was £1,699 (which converts to about $2,285 USD).

Motorola Razr Fold

After years of sticking with small, clamshell-shaped foldable devices in the Razr series, Motorola is finally introducing a larger, book-shaped foldable device to take on rival Samsung and its Galaxy Z Fold 7. Motorola continues to differentiate its mobile devices with alternative materials and textures like wood finishes on the surface. Razr UltraThe new Motorola Razr Fold features a “silk” textured back. Adds a touch of luxury.

Motorola’s new book-shaped foldable phone has a triple rear camera system (50-megapixel sensors with three lenses: wide-angle, telephoto and ultra-wide) as well as some spec advantages over Samsung’s larger foldable phone. The Razr Fold has a 6,000 mAh battery and 80W wired and 50W wireless charging, which easily dwarfs the Galaxy Z Fold 7’s 4,400mAh capacity, 25W wired charging, and 15W wireless charging.

Honor robot phone

We first got a teaser look at the Honor phone with a separate camera at the end of the robot arm (think one of DJI’s pocket-sized cameras mounted on a robotic arm). During CES 2026but I finally got to see it properly at MWC 2026 just two months later. Thanks to its separate and stabilized camera, the Honor robot phone It lives up to its name, capturing footage that can be of much higher quality than those found on standard phone cameras at the end of our (shaky human) arms. When not in use, the Honor gimbal folds back and fits into a slot on the back of the phone. It’s a great return to, and even expansion on, the sleek pop-up phone cameras of yesteryear, bolted on to the best of modern mobile photography technology.

ZTE Nubia Neo 5 GT

The ZTE Nubia Neo 5 GT brings features from premium gaming phones all the way to a phone at half the price. Priced at around €450 (about $525), the Neo 5 GT has many perks inherited from the roughly $1,000 RedMagic 11 Pro: touch-sensitive shoulder triggers, a sleek back design, and, coolest of all, an internal fan that combines with a heat-absorbing plate to lower the phone’s internal temperature by 4 degrees Celsius, ZTE says.

The Nubia Neo 5 line is part of ZTE’s effort to make phones for mobile gamers who don’t have deep pockets. The other devices in the lineup are stylish enough, with the €350 (about $405) Neo 5 Max featuring a massive 7.5-inch screen, but it’s the Neo 5 GT that packs the best gaming features (and style) into more affordable phones.

Honorable mentions: Samsung Galaxy S26 and Apple iPhone 17E

While Samsung and Apple weren’t in attendance at MWC 2026, it seems they still wanted to have fun, as they conveniently launched smartphones just before and during the show, respectively. They’re not part of the conference, but they’re worth mentioning anyway.

the Samsung Galaxy S26 It’s the company’s latest and greatest flagship, with a slightly larger 4,300mAh battery and more AI features than its predecessor, but it looks very much like the Galaxy S25 before it. But this time, the price is $100 higher, starting at $900, and it is unclear whether this is due to last year’s tariffs or this year’s tariffs. Lack of RAM – Although the base configuration increases the storage capacity to 256GB. And with the strong Snapdragon 8 Elite Generation 5 With a slightly larger 6.3-inch chip and display, a slim 7.2mm thickness, and more AI tricks, the Galaxy S26 is the Android phone that will outperform other flagships coming later this year.

the iPhone 17e It is now the most affordable phone in Apple’s lineup. Despite maintaining the same $599 price tag as its predecessor, the iPhone 16eThe new phone has twice the storage space at 256GB and comes with support for MagSafe charging and accessories (many critics disliked that the 16E didn’t have it). It cuts some corners again to achieve a lower price than the iPhone 17 released last fall, with a quad-core GPU (instead of five), and just a single 48-megapixel rear camera, no Center stage Feature on the selfie camera, no Dynamic islandThere is no button to control the camera and there is no always-on screen. But the 6.1-inch screen is more scratch-resistant on the 17E than its predecessor, which is great.