Every major MWC 2026 announcement, including Xiaomi 17 Ultra and Honor Robot phone
Source: Mashable Tech
Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is fully underway, and it’s been a busy one.
Well, perhaps it only feels busier than normal, as both Samsung and Apple decided to squeeze in their major product unveilings just before and just after MWC.
Even without those MWC‑adjacent news, though, it’s been a fun couple of days here in Barcelona. We saw robots, robotic phones, and phones that can take photos of robots from a mile away. And yes, every other word of every announcement is still AI, but this year the AI features are really starting to make sense. Let’s take a look at every major announcement we saw at MWC this year.
Xiaomi 17 Ultra
The optional photography kits essentially turn this phone into a camera. – Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable
Xiaomi’s new Ultra phone didn’t disappoint. It is a powerful cameraphone with massive zoom capabilities, top‑notch specs, and a suite of accessories for photography enthusiasts.
The company also launched a special, Leica‑branded variant called the Leica Leitzphone—essentially the same hardware as the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, but with a retro design and a rotating ring around the camera bump that can be used to control zoom.
The Xiaomi 17 Ultra is just one part of the mountain of new gadgets Xiaomi brought to Barcelona, including the Xiaomi Watch 5, Xiaomi Tag and more (Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro hands‑on).
Xiaomi Vision Gran Turismo
You should see my other car. – Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable
The real surprise was the Xiaomi Vision Gran Turismo, a concept hypercar created for the Vision Gran Turismo program, where manufacturers design no‑holds‑bar cars for the legendary Gran Turismo game.
The car looks exactly as you’d expect: quick‑looking, slightly nutty, and probably not something you’ll ever see on the street. We’ll see how much of its tech will turn into real products (especially those floating wheel covers).
Honor Robot phone and its humanoid friend
It can track you, and nod at you when you do something right, but this one was asleep. – Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable
Honor announced its Robot Phone back in 2025, but this was the first time the company actually brought it to an exhibition, giving us a chance to see it up close (no touching, though). We’re still not quite sure how useful that robotic arm/gimbal carrying the camera will be in real life, but it’s very cool to look at.
Not content with bringing just one robot thing to MWC, Honor also brought a humanoid robot that danced on the stage in Barcelona, met its tiny Robot Phone counterpart, and then marched out.
Honor’s main announcement in Barcelona, however, was the Honor Magic V6, an incredibly thin foldable with an even thinner battery that doesn’t mind water.