Gadgets

Tech Advisor’s Best of MWC 2025 Awards

Published

4 hours ago

March 4, 2025

Another year, another trip to Barcelona to wade through seas of suited executives to find exciting products at MWC 2025.

Mobile World Congress is the most exciting tech trade show for us at Tech Advisor. It’s where all the latest and greatest smartphones, tablets, wearables and more launch and get shown off ahead of hitting the shelves.

As usual, we have a team of editors on the show floor searching for the best and most innovative devices. We’ve seen it all and carefully selected what is worthy of our coveted ‘Best in Show’ award.

Some are products you can already go and buy, while others are concept devices that we applaud for their inventiveness.

Xiaomi 15 Ultra

Chris Martin / Foundry

It’s more of an iterative upgrade this year but that’s the overall trend for 2025 and Xiaomi has made some nice upgrades to the 15 Ultra.

An upgrade to the Snapdragon 8 Elite is a big performance boost, and it also helps improve battery life, along with a larger 5410mAh battery in the same size thanks to silicon-carbon technology.

Of course, the phone is mostly about the camera and it’s now got a 200Mp periscope telephoto camera which can capture more light. There’s also the optional Photography Kit which makes the phone stand out from rivals.

The Legend Edition has a bigger battery, detachable thumb grip and a choice of two screw-on shutter buttons.

It’s likely to be the best camera phone of 2025 and you can already read our Xiaomi 15 Ultra review.

Nothing Phone (3a)

Luke Baker

Nothing’s Phone (3a) series of mid-range phones includes a Pro model for the first time this year. But for most people, it’s the regular Phone (3a) that’s a better buy.

Priced at just £329/$379, it offers an impressively well-rounded experience and some unique extra features. We’re talking Nothing’s signature Glyph lights, a retro-inspired software design and brand-new Essential Key.

Its specs are impressively competitive, too, with a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset, 6.7-inch 120Hz OLED display and a 5000mAh battery with 50W fast charging support. You also get triple rear cameras (headlined by a 50Mp main) and six years of software support.

For most people, there isn’t a better phone right now at this price point.

Read our full Nothing Phone (3a) review.

Nubia Focus 2 Ultra 5G

Chris Martin / Foundry

One of Nubia’s new phones isn’t a concept and brings something we’ve never seen before on a handset – a rotating bezel around the camera module called the ‘Lens Ring’.

It’s akin to the rotating bezel on some Samsung Galaxy smartwatches but doesn’t control scrolling social media apps and the like – though that would be an obvious feature to add – it adjusts the zoom or aperture when using the camera.

It’s a tad awkward to use and works more naturally in portrait orientation than landscape, but it’s neat. Nubia says you can also start the smart sidebar or play games with it, too.

Lenovo ThinkBook Flip

Chris Martin / Foundry

A foldable screen laptop seemed like an inevitability, so it’s no surprise to see Lenovo try it out as one of its many proof of concept devices. It’s the world’s first outward folding notebook.

The 13-inch laptop can transform into a huge 18.1-inch display wielding device by unfolding the flexible OLED screen.

Sure, I’m worried it’s going to break sooner rather than later in its current form, and the design also really wants to fall over, but it’s an interesting idea. It’s also not just for show, with five different modes – Tablet, Share, Read, Clamshell, and Vertical.

Read our Lenovo ThinkBook Flip hands-on.

Samsung Galaxy A56

Foundry | Alex Walker-Todd

While it might be one of the more ‘normal’ phones on display at MWC, with no wacky rotating parts or crazy accessories, the Galaxy A56 is set to be one of the best mid-range phones of 2025.

It offers a high-end design featuring a slim 7.4mm profile and an attractive brushed metal frame. It also has plenty of solid specs including a triple rear camera array, large 6.7-inch AMOLED screen, and faster 45W wired charging.

The iPhone 16e and upcoming Pixel 9a better watch out. Read our Galaxy A56 hands-on.