Forget the incremental annual phone upgrades—it’s the weird gadgets and wacky concepts that really make Mobile World Congress fun. Thankfully, MWC 2025 did not disappoint. After checking out all the biggest announcements this year, we got to pacing the halls of the Fira Gran Via in Barcelona to dig out the show’s coolest, quirkiest, and downright strangest stuff. Here’s what we found.
WIRED’s MWC 2025 Coverage
- All the Top New Gadgets at MWC 2025
- Review: Nothing Phone (3a) Series
- Xiaomi’s Modular Plan to Kill the Camera Bump
- Lenovo’s Wacky Laptop Concepts Include a Laptop That Flips
- Honor’s New AI Agent Can Read and Understand Your Screen
- Review: Xiaomi 15 and 15 Ultra
- Samsung’s Galaxy A-Series for 2025 Will Get 6 Years of Updates
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Xiaomi’s Camera Mod Could Upgrade Phone Photography
Photograph: Simon Hill
Aside from its main announcements, Xiaomi granted us a sneak peek at a new modular concept camera phone. Dubbed the Xiaomi Modular Optical System, this setup combines a modified Xiaomi 15 with a detachable Xiaomi 35mm f/1.4 lens, which packs a 100-megapixel Light Fusion X Type 4/3 sensor—a far bigger and more powerful lens than you’ll find in any phone today. There’s even a physical focus ring.
The module attaches magnetically to the back of the phone, seamlessly draws power, and sends data at speeds of up to 10 Gbps. It’s a plug-and-play design that works in the regular camera app, just like the built-in camera (you can switch between them by simply tapping an icon), and saves photos to the gallery app just the same too.
While it’s only a concept right now, it’s a polished prototype that could pave the way for multiple add-on lenses and possibly even other accessories, like chargers, power banks, and game controllers, or connections to other Xiaomi devices from the smart home to its EV. There’s no word on any official release plan or price, but the option to switch from a huge camera bump to a detachable lens and get cutting-edge photography is an enticing prospect. —Simon Hill
Realme’s DSLR Lens Smartphone Concept
Photograph: Simon Hill
At first glance, Realme’s camera phone concept is similar to Xiaomi’s above, but there are some crucial differences. This concept features a large camera module and a series of different lens attachments can then be slotted into place on top of it to create something that truly rivals a DSLR. The proprietary attachment on this Realme phone enables you to attach a full-frame mirrorless lens, so you could potentially attach actual DSLR lenses you already have, rather than buying all-new gear. But it is just a concept, so there’s no price or release date and it may never become a buyable phone. —Simon Hill
The SunBooster Blasts Light at Your Face
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
Sitting cooped up in an office or home isn’t good for your health—you need sunlight! But what if you could bring the sunlight indoors? That’s the goal for SunLED Life Science with its SunBooster, a tiny webcam-like USB gadget that clamps onto your laptop or computer and blasts near-infrared light at your face.
Whoa, isn’t that dangerous? you might ask. Actually, a 2022 study found that daily exposure of near-infrared light at a certain dose had consistent positive benefits on well-being and health, improving mood, reducing drowsiness, and resting heart rate—though only in winter when there isn’t much sun exposure.
The SunBooster is capitalizing on that and has three 850 nanometer near-infrared LEDs, with narrow-beam optics to direct the light to your skin and auto-activation so that it won’t keep shooting out light after you leave the desk. You won’t need to use it all day as it supposedly delivers a “scientifically calibrated dose” within just two to three hours. The Amsterdam-based company says it will add Bluetooth in the future for more functionality. While you’ll be able to buy the hardware later this year, the SunLED wants to work with other manufacturers to integrate the underlying technology into everyday products, like laptop screens and monitors for a more seamless design. —Julian Chokkattu
Oukitel Has a Big Battery Projector Phone
Photograph: Simon Hill
This absolute unit of a smartphone has a whopping 33,000 mAh battery inside it, making it decidedly brick-sized and heavy. But the battery isn’t just about running the phone for days because it has a 100-lumen projector built into the top. It can also serve as a camplight and is built to withstand punishment with drop protection and an IP68/IP69 rating. There’s also a night vision camera and support for reverse wireless charging. It even works as a phone, albeit an enormous fugly one. All this can be yours for just $899. Oukitel also showed us another rugged phone with a pop-out Bluetooth headset built into the camera module. —Simon Hill
This Case Wirelessly Charges a Phone With Light
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
Phone brand Infinix showed off a case for its phone made with what it calls “SolarEnergy-Reserving Technology.” This allows the case to capture light and uses it to charge the phone wirelessly—sort of like the Powerfoyle technology in some Urbanista products. The company showed off demos of it working by flashing a bright light at the back of the phone, which in turn began charging. It couldn’t charge simply with the ambient light in the room though, as it was too weak.
Infinix says the case stores up to 2 watts of this energy and transfers it to the phone when needed. The company also claims the case employs its “Sunflower” wireless charging technology, inspired by plants that orient themselves toward light. This enables the system in the case to “dynamically adjust the transmission path” to make sure it’s getting the most light possible within a 3-meter (roughly 10-foot) range. None of this is designed to keep your phone charged while you’re using it, but Infinix thinks it can help increase standby time when you’re off doing something else. —Julian Chokkattu
Huawei’s Tri-Fold Phone Unfurls a Big Screen
Photograph: Simon Hill
The best folding phones are all about giving you more screen real estate, but can you have too much of a good thing? Huawei’s Mate XT is like the Honor Magic V3 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) but with an extra screen and fold. In truth, tri-fold is a misnomer since there are only two folds, but the three screens form a clever design that unfurls to a full 10.2 inches. It can also be used as a double screen at 7.9 inches, or a single screen in a traditional candy bar phone shape at 6.4 inches.
Fully unfolded, the Mate XT is just 3.6 mm thick, but you have two creases to contend with. Fold it up completely, and it’s 12.8 mm thick, and also kinda heavy. The hinges are slick, and it feels surprisingly durable, with a satisfying folding action. It has an IPX8 rating for dust resistance.
The Huawei Mate XT Ultimate relies upon Huawei’s own Kirin chipset and Harmony OS. The rest of the specs are solid and close to flagship, with a triple lens camera (50-megapixel main, 12-megapixel ultrawide, and 12-megapixel periscope telephoto), fairly large 5,600 mAh battery, 16 GB of RAM, and 1 TB of storage. But then you’d expect them to be considering the €3,500 price tag. If double the folds equaled double the screen size, it would be more tempting, but it doesn’t feel far away from a book-style foldable and you’re paying a premium for the novelty right now. It’s only available in specific markets, like the Middle East, at the moment, but it should be landing in Europe soon. —Simon Hill
When Cycling Glasses Meet Action Camera
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
Cameras on our faces seem to be an inevitable future. So why wear an action camera on your body when you can have it baked into your cycling glasses? That’s the pitch of BleeqUp Ranger. Right in the center of the glasses—UV400 and IP54-rated, by the way—is a camera that can record up to one hour of 1080p video. There’s a little battery accessory that clips to the back of a helmet, doubling as a tail light, and it boosts that video recording time to five hours in total. The arms of the glasses have speakers so you can play music, and they sounded pretty good in my brief demo in a very loud space. Naturally, there’s AI at play here but not on the glasses themselves. The algorithms analyze the footage and suggest the most interesting clips, putting them together into a highlight reel with minimal effort on your part. The glasses are launching on Kickstarter later this month for $499. —Julian Chokkattu
NTT Docomo’s MiRZA AR Glasses
Photograph: Simon Hill
I engaged in some guided Japanese calligraphy with the help of NTT Docomo’s AR glasses at MWC. They are big and chunky, but these glasses don’t have to be plugged directly into anything, and you can fix your content in space so it doesn’t move with your head. It was relatively easy for me to reproduce the symbol before me, despite my lack of artistic talent, and they could be used in the workplace to overlay engine parts or guide device repairs. While these glasses cost around $1,500 and are aimed primarily at businesses, NTT also showed me a new, lighter pair it has in the works, with a simplified display for navigation and notifications from a Bluetooth-connected phone. The next-gen MiRZA AR Glasses are aimed at Joe Public and will be closer to $500, but may require an AI subscription. —Simon Hill
Xpanceo Shows Off More Smart Contact Lens Prototypes
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
I wrote about Xpanceo at last year’s Mobile World Congress, and the company is back with more smart contact lens prototypes. One of these is a contact lens that could be recharged through a contact lens case, and another had biosensors that could analyze certain parameters in tear fluid to monitor glucose, cortisol, and more. Another prototype had a pattern on the lens that shifts in response to intraocular pressure, which can help detect glaucoma early, and there also was a Smart Contact Lens for AR Vision, which had an integrated microdisplay to show images. I was able to look through this one and read some text! The ultimate goal is to bake all of these prototypes into one product—the stuff of sci-fi dreams—but this kind of miniature technology is incredibly difficult to engineer. It will be a long while before a smart contact lens arrives on the market. —Julian Chokkattu
Solecooler Can Cool or Heat Your Aching Feet
Photograph: Simon Hill
Closing in on 30,000 steps for the day, my burning tootsies may have had something to do with Solecooler catching my eye amid a sea of strange inventions and startups. The kindly inventor, Bruno Aubert (a thermodynamics engineer) explained that these clever insoles heat your feet by up to 4 degrees Celsius, or, if you flip them, cool by 3.5 degrees. The beauty is that they are charged up by you walking on them, though they take a few minutes to get going (much like air conditioning). They cost €50 and come in one size, which you must cut down if you’re below size 14.
Aubert is now working on new battery-free, pressure-adjusting insoles called Warnfeet, with multiple sensors to monitor your feet and protect them, potentially preventing blisters for athletes and guarding against ulcers for diabetics. —Simon Hill
Keocam Is a Wearable Personal Safety Dashcam
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
No, this is not the second coming of the Humane Ai Pin (although that could already be in progress). This is Keocam, a personal safety “dashcam” from Keotech, which, much like the infamous AI wearable, stays affixed to clothes thanks to a separate magnetic back.
It connects to your smartphone and continuously records a one-minute loop, storing each clip on the device, your phone, and a backup in the cloud, ensuring there are multiple copies. In the event of an emergency, press the button and it will save and upload the previous minute and will start recording until you press the button again to stop it. In the companion app, you’ll be able to add contacts so that emergency footage can be sent to them. It has a 3-hour battery life, a 160-degree angle camera, and an IP67 rating for protection from the elements. It will be available later this year. —Julian Chokkattu
Neuranics Innovates With Magnetic Gesture Recognition
Video: Simon Hill
Accurate, low-power gesture recognition could be a crucial piece of the puzzle for wearables like smart glasses, and Neuranics has developed a solution that relies on Tunneling Magnetoresistance (TMR). The Scottish startup has designed its own sensors and integrated circuits and showed WIRED a demo where hand movements were tracked on screen via a small sensor worn on the arm. These incredibly sensitive sensors can detect the smallest muscle movements and also have applications for healthcare and fitness. The hope is that the tech might be licensed and folded into something like the Apple Watch. —Simon Hill
Doublepoint Adds New Gestures to Its Watch App
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
We’ve covered Doublepoint’s WowMouse smartwatch app before—it lets you use gestures while wearing your WearOS watch or Apple Watch to replicate mouse-like functionality on a PC. New at MWC, the company unveiled even more gestures you can use, like a flick to scroll a page, and these gestures are going to fall under WowMouse Pro—an upgrade tier that costs $5 (only available for Android right now).
It’s not just new gestures—you can assign custom actions to double tap and adjust music playback with hand movements too. The company says it has crossed 140,000 downloads since CES 2024 and its tech is now being integrated into the chips themselves, meaning less power consumption and lower latency. —Julian Chokkattu
Whispp Gives Voice to the Voiceless
Photograph: Simon Hill
Whispp is a subscription app that allows users to whisper into their phone and have the app convert those whispers to regular speech. Originally designed by the Dutch inventor Joris Castermans to overcome his severe stutter, the technology also works wonderfully for folks with damaged vocal cords. We tried it out at MWC and found you could select a voice and then whisper into your phone’s microphone and have the audio come out, almost in real-time, from a connected Bluetooth speaker. You can even train the AI to use your voice if you can provide a sample.
Castermans is already at work on an improved version capable of on-device processing; the current app sends the audio to the cloud for processing, which accounts for the small delay and the subscription fee. The hope is that the new technology might be licensed and rolled into a popular chipset as an additional assistive technology, though it also has other applications, such as giving voice to folks working on noisy factory floors. Castermans also hopes to find a way to help folks who struggle to enunciate and fully form words. The Whispp app is available now for Android or iOS and costs £20 or €20 a month. —Simon Hill
Sonim’s Thermal Smartphone Is Rugged but Slim
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
Rugged phones with Flir-powered thermal cameras are nothing new, but Sonim’s latest XP Pro Thermal doesn’t really look like a rugged phone. It’s fairly thin for its category, even with its 5,000-mAh battery and a thicker-than-usual layer of Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus II for increased durability for the 6.58-inch LCD screen. It’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chip with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. This phone comes with the My Flir Pro app built into Sonim’s Iris app, and what’s neat is the company plans to expand the features to make the thermal function more versatile. You’ll be able to program the phone to, say, capture a thermal image at certain intervals. That could be handy if you want to analyze an area over some time. The XP Pro Thermal is launching in Europe and South Africa in the second quarter, and it will make its way to the US. —Julian Chokkattu
Catch Pad Offers Highly Customizable Sports Training
Photograph: Simon Hill
With four RGB LEDs on each disc, the Catch Pad caught my attention because it resembles that old electronic Simon game from Hasbro where you need to press the colors in the right sequence. Turns out these discs are sensor-packed and offer a modular system for all sorts of sports training. They can light up, vibrate, make sounds, and measure everything, from pressure to relative force, not to mention register touch, vibration, proximity, and balance. Each disc has a rechargeable battery inside and connects to the Android or iOS app on your phone via Bluetooth.
The software is highly customizable and capable of tracking all sorts of data. There are more than 100 different training programs you can use as a base, from hand-eye coordination, speed, and force measurements for boxing practice to soccer dribbling skills and tight ball control. Prices start from around €280 on the CatchPad website. —Simon Hill
Look at This Head
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
I’ve been covering Metalenz for a few years—the company makes advanced optics called metasurfaces that eliminate the need for multiple lens elements in a smartphone camera, thereby making them more compact. In 2024, the company announced Polar ID—the ability to utilize polarization data captured through this metasurface lens to identify and authenticate people. This is the Android world’s answer to Apple’s Face ID—or so the company hopes—and it’s far cheaper to produce. Metalenz didn’t have any announcements at MWC 2025, but the company did show me the new face masks it’s using to test the accuracy of its authentication system. Well, it’s not really a 3D mask anymore—it’s a full-blown head. (You can see the Polar ID module below the head in the photo above.) Indeed, Polar ID rejected the creepily lifelike head during an authentication attempt; the polarization data—how light bounces off of subjects—was different from that of the real person. The company says we can expect Polar ID in Android devices in 2026. —Julian Chokkattu
