Having spent the last few days exploring the tech wonderland that was MWC 2025, I’ve seen more than my fair share of mobile and Android tech, including everything from foldable gaming handheld concepts to mind-blowing camera phone tech. Now, I’m ready to name my best-in-show picks, and surprisingly, it doesn’t just consist of the biggest names in the business.
In fact, there’s only one mention for Samsung in this list, with the rest of our awards going to some brands that turned up for the world’s biggest mobile hardware event with some truly impressive tech. Admittedly, it wasn’t a great year for gaming gear, with almost everyone concentrating their efforts on AI – yes, I’m sighing as well – or upgraded cameras, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t find some gems. So, let’s get into our MWC best bits.
Best phone – Xiaomi 15
There’s a case for making the Xiaomi 15 Ultra our pick for the best new phone at MWC 2025, but having spent a couple of weeks with the base model for our Xiaomi 15 review, there’s something about the more compact, cheaper device that has me hooked. Its performance is top tier, going toe-to-toe with the picks from our guide to the best gaming phones, but it also boasts a gorgeous 120Hz AMOLED display, fantastic cameras, and quicker charging speeds than both the iPhone 16 and the Samsung Galaxy S24.
Just like last year’s Xiaomi 14, the latest model is a true all-rounder, and it’s a crying shame that it’s not widely available in the US. While there are a lot of phones out there that I think could challenge Apple’s dominance given the opportunity, the Xiaomi 15 is my pick of the bunch, and I’ll be using mine as my daily driver going forward. A lot of that has to do with how nice opening Pokémon TCG Pocket packs look on the screen, but that’s not the only reason, I promise.
Best gaming phone – Nubia Neo 3 GT 5G
I could have easily picked out the RedMagic 10 Pro for this award. However, the Nubia Neo 3 GT 5G’s value factor is a really big deal, offering the gaming phone experience to users who can’t afford to shell out over $600 for a new device. The shoulder triggers are a fantastic feature for a gaming phone, especially if you’re a fan of FPS games such as Delta Force and Call of Duty: Mobile, offering a gameplay experience that’s much more engaging without having to equip your device with a mobile controller.
Not only is the Neo 3 GT 5G’s design ideal for gaming, but it’s also a reliable performer, as I found out while trying it out at the conference. Sure, it’s not quite as snappy as some of the gaming flagships on offer, but at a cost of around $320, it’s a better pick for gamers than a lot of the other best budget gaming phones. If all that wasn’t enough, I’m also a big fan of the mecha-inspired design. As a Neon Genesis Evangelion superfan, I might be a bit biased, but I love a phone that looks like it’s ripped from part of a futuristic robot.
Best camera phone – TECNO CAMON 40 Premier 5G
TECNO always brings the goods to MWC, and this year, the star of the show was the TECNO CAMON 40 Premier 5G, the brand’s new Android flagship with an emphasis on photography. This thing packs four 50MP cameras, but it’s the FlashSnap feature that impressed me the most, with the power to capture a moving subject with incredible clarity thanks to some AI magic. I got to see FlashSnap in action, and this really isn’t a gimmick. I’ve not seen anything from any of the big-name brands that can compete with this level of detail in the briefest moments.
While the emphasis is very much on smartphone photography across the CAMON 40 Series, the Premier 5G is still plenty capable of a bit of mobile gaming, supporting PUBG Mobile at 120fps, thanks to its Mediatek Dimensity 8350 chipset. It also has a lovely big AMOLED display, with a massive 94% screen-to-body ratio that gives you plenty of room for your content. While it might be hard to get your hands on the TECNO CAMON 40 Premier 5G in the West, with the brand concentrating on emerging markets, it certainly seems worth the effort of importing, and I’m looking forward to getting my hands on a review unit.
Best tablet – Honor Pad V9
In all honesty, I didn’t see as many new tablets as I expected at MWC 2025, but of those that did launch at the event, the Honor Pad V9 was my favorite. This iPad rival bests its Apple competition with a massive 10,100 mAh battery and a 144Hz display that offers velvety visuals, which, considering its roughly $470 price point, should make for a tempting proposition for anyone looking to pick up a new tablet.
While it might look a little more unassuming than some of the picks from our guide to the best gaming tablets, the MediaTek Dimensity 8350 chip inside the Pad V9 suggests it should run most games at a solid 60fps. I was also assured by the team at Honor that the Pad V9 can charge from flat to full in under half an hour, which is ridiculously quick for a tablet, beating out even the latest iPad Pro by over an hour.
Best concept phone – TECNO SPARK Slim
MWC is always home to plenty of wild concepts, and this year was no different. We saw everything from solar-charging devices to Samsung’s Flex Gaming handheld, but the most dazzling of all was TECNO’S SPARK Slim. At just 5.75mm thick, it’s the world’s thinnest phone at the time of writing, but somehow, TECNO has managed to squeeze in a 5,200mAh battery inside, which is bigger than the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s battery, by the way, while also equipping the phone with a 144Hz AMOLED display. Yes, that’s as impressive as it sounds.
Unfortunately, the one bit of information we still don’t know about the SPARK Slim is what chipset it utilizes, as TECNO isn’t quite willing to share that information just yet. Admittedly, we can’t imagine it offering flagship-level performance, as it doesn’t seem there’s much room for cooling tech. Still, we’ll have to wait and see if the concept device becomes a reality to judge whether it’s capable of running the best Android games regardless of its ultra-thin form factor.
Honorable mention – Samsung Flex Gaming concept
Okay, so I couldn’t publish this article without mentioning the Samsung Flex Gaming concept, one of the wildest things I caught trudging from booth to booth at MWC. The handheld console concept folds in half, with holes on each side of the device for the analog sticks to neatly tuck in when you’re putting it away. In a world where everything looks like the Steam Deck, it’s a proper bit of handheld innovation.
It’s worth pointing out that the Flex Gaming concept is from Samsung Display, so it doesn’t necessarily mean that Samsung Electronics is planning its own device to compete with the picks from our guide to the best handheld consoles. However, Samsung Display does provide screens for both the Steam Deck OLED and the Nintendo Switch OLED, so there’s always the possibility that Valve or Nintendo could embrace the hardware in the future.
There you have it, our best of MWC 2025 picks. If you’re looking for more great tech while you’re here, check out our picks for the best mid-range phones and the best Android phones. Or, if you’re looking for something a little more old-school, we’ve also got a list of the best retro handhelds.