MWC 2025: The Weird, Wild, And Wonderful Tech That Blew My Mind

I just wrapped up my fifth Mobile World Congress and saw loads of new stuff (and some things I can’t yet talk about). With so many cool products seemingly going under the radar, I figured I’d round up some of my favorite announcements from Mobile World Congress this week. These are my favorite products that I saw, not necessarily the best products from Barcelona – that’s what our Best of MWC awards are for.

Xiaomi Modular Optical System

One of the most interesting products at MWC this week, is the Xiaomi Modular Optical System, which is a modified Xiaomi 15 that allows you to attach a 35mm Micro four-thirds lens to the back of the phone. It attaches like a MagSafe accessory, and doesn’t actually use the cameras on the Xiaomi 15, which makes it all that much more interesting. I had a chance to play with it on the showfloor, and it’s rather impressive, and can take some incredible pictures as you’d expect.

However, keep in mind that this is a concept, so this might or might not launch in the future. However, the Xiaomi 12S Ultra was also an interchangeable lens concept, so this could be closer than we think.

realme Ultra

Of course, Xiaomi wasn’t the only one showing off an interchangeable lens concept at MWC this week. realme is also showing one off. The brand that is more known for producing incredible mid-range devices, and high-end gaming phones, now has a concept phone with interchangeable lenses. I got an exclusive look at this in the wild in Barcelona ahead of Mobile World Congress, and absolutely loved it. However, putting it together is a bit cumbersome, and after seeing Xiaomi’s solution, I hope realme adopts that solution too.

realme currently has two lenses for the Ultra, which include a 73mm and a 234mm lens. Providing 3x portrait shots or 10x telephoto. It also works with Leica M Mount lenses, which makes the possibilities endless. This was a very early version of the realme Ultra, so it is going to be a while before it launches.

TECNO Spark Slim

Next up is the TECNO Spark Slim. Yet another super slim phone, which has been the trend this year so far with the Galaxy S25 Edge and soon the iPhone 17 Air. What’s interesting here though, is the Spark line is TECNO’s super budget range of phones, typically around $200.

The Spark Slim measures in at 5.75mm, while the Galaxy S25 Edge is rumored to measure in at 6.4mm. And despite this slimness, the Spark Slim does offer a 5,200mAh capacity battery. Which TECNO claims is the world’s thinnest phone with a 5,200mAh battery. Which means that it is definitely a Silicon Carbon battery. It definitely feels like a thin and cheap phone in the hand.

Lenovo Solar PC Concept

While most people are likely going to be interested in the Flip PC Concept from Lenovo, I was more interested in the Solar PC Concept. At first, I thought this was a gimmick, until I was briefed on this concept. Now, I think it’s anything but a gimmick. The Lenovo Solar PC has a very efficient solar panel in its lid which is able to provide an 1 of video playback from about 20 minutes of charging from light. The sun is not needed, as it can charge from ambient lighting in your room, or sunlight from a nearby window.

It’s one of those concepts that I think Lenovo could ship fairly soon. What’s even more impressive is, despite this solar panel, this Laptop is still lighter and thinner than the MacBook Air. And almost thinner than the Galaxy Z Fold 6.

Xiaomi 15 Ultra

The “Ultra” model has been Xiaomi’s camera powerhouse for the past few years, and this year is no different. The Xiaomi 15 Ultra still has a 1-inch sensor, and offers some really incredible picture quality. But perhaps more interestingly is the photography kit, which is now offered in a few other colorways, including a black and red powerway which looks incredible. As someone that uses the Xiaomi 14 Ultra as my main camera, I was beyond excited for this phone, before seeing a couple of the concepts above this.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge

While we did see the Galaxy S25 Edge at Unpacked back in January, we’re able to get an even closer look at this device at MWC, with a pretty nice display front-and-center at the Samsung booth. Really showing off just how thin this phone is. Samsung still has not announced many specs of this device, like how thin it is. We’re hearing that it is going to be about 6.4mm thin, which is still thicker than the TECNO Spark Slim.

ZTE nubia neo 3 5G

ZTE’s nubia brand showed off its “budget” gaming lineup which consists of the neo 3 and neo 3 GT. The neo 3 is a pretty good looking budget gaming device, with the UNISOC T8300 5G processor inside, Up to a 6,000mAh capacity battery with fast charging at 33W, and shoulder triggers. It’s a pretty interesting device, and a bit weird to see a UNISOC processor in a “gaming” phone. It also has a pretty good looking 6.8-inch 120Hz display.