At MWC 2026, we have -- surprising nobody -- seen a ton of phones.
This year's Mobile World Congress is particularly rich with phones serving different purposes and demographics, like Honor's Robot Phone, which is part handset and part camera gimbal. While Xiaomi predictably unveiled another premium device, its photographic capabilities are next-level. Honor unveiled a foldable…without a crease. The brands may be expected, but the phones aren't.
This year's MWC comes with its own set of challenging circumstances. The Samsung Galaxy S26 phones have arrived just before the show to set the stage for this year's premium Android phones, and they've come with a $100 price hike for their basic and Galaxy S26 Plus models. This could be the result of the RAM shortage, which is expected to pressure phonemakers to raise prices on many phones. How they choose to balance new features and affordability could be the biggest hurdle of 2026 for the phone industry.
Amid all that uncertainty, manufacturers have still graced the biggest phone show of the year to debut their new handsets. Here are all the best phones we've seen at MWC.
The Xiaomi Leitzphone. Andrew Lanxon/CNET
Xiaomi's Leitzphone
We've seen the Leica name attached to phones for years, but Xiaomi's Leica Leitzphone takes phone-and-camera-company partnerships to the next level. There's a laundry list of great photo-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 gracefully transition from 75- to 100-millimeter focal lengths. Plus, 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 Editor at Large Andrew Lanxon noted in his review, the Leitzphone has the exact same color profiles that you'll find on Leica's actual cameras and film -- and the photos he took look like they came from a pro camera, not a phone. In short, Lanxon wrote, the Leitzphone is so advanced it earns our Editors' Choice award, and competitors like Samsung's new Galaxy S26 Ultra need to catch up.
The Honor Magic V6's 7.95 inch inner display looks bright and bold. Andrew Lanxon/CNET
Honor Magic V6
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