Mobile World Congress, better known as MWC, is an annual tradeshow in Barcelona, where many of the major players in mobile get together to unveil new devices, announce services, and make deals. It’s no longer the central hub of all the latest and greatest smartphone announcements as it used to be, but there were a few notable reveals this year, along with plenty of fun concepts, AI, and other gadgets. WIRED has been trudging the halls of the show to find the best of the best—here are our top picks from MWC 2025.
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The Xiaomi 15 Ultra Is a Camera King
Photograph: Simon Hill
MWC doesn’t see many flagship phone releases anymore, but the Xiaomi 15 and 15 Ultra (8/10, WIRED Recommends) are worthy of fanfare and likely best in show this year. Both Android phones are polished, with excellent screens, strong battery life, fast charging, and silky performance. Xiaomi’s HyperOS is also maturing, and version 2 is liberally seasoned with—you guessed it—AI features. They are available in the UK and Europe but won’t land in the US. (The brand hosted WIRED at its media event at MWC and paid for a portion of our reporter’s travel expenses.)
My in-depth review goes into the deep inner workings of these phones, what I like and don’t like. But neither comes cheap—the Xiaomi 15 starts at £849 (999 euros) and the Ultra will set you back £1,299 (1,499 euros). The Ultra Photography Kit, which is a module that connects to one end of the phone, adding dedicated camera controls and an additional battery, costs an extra £179 (199 euros).
Alongside the new handsets, Xiaomi showed off a slew of other devices. We got two new Android tablets, the Xiaomi Pad 7 and 7 Pro, both with 11.2-inch screens and large batteries—the Pro adds a faster processor and better camera. Then there was the Harman-tuned Xiaomi Buds 5 Pro with active noise canceling, 8-hour battery life, and support for AI transcription and translation. Rounding off the hardware announcements were the Xiaomi Watch S4—a slightly improved version of last year’s customizable Watch S3—and the rectangular, fitness and health-focused Smart Band 9 Pro. —Simon Hill
Nothing’s Two New Budget Phones Are Dazzling
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Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
Nothing has two new stylish smartphones—the Phone (3a) and Phone (3a) Pro. They’re identical in nearly every way except the cameras. The Pro model has a different 50-megapixel main camera that can capture more light thanks to larger pixels, plus it has a 3X optical periscope lens, whereas the Phone (3a) has a 2X optical camera. These phones are $379 and $459, respectively, and it’s an achievement in itself to have a versatile triple-camera setup on a sub-$500 phone.