Stuff’s MWC 2025 Awards: the greatest phones and gadgets from the show
From ultra-slim smartphones to double-stacked laptop screens — here are our MWC 2025 award winners!
Welcome to Stuff’s MWC 2025 Awards! This year’s show has once again proven to be quite the showcase of innovation, providing our intrepid Barcelona-bound tech explorers with all manner of eye-catching gadgets to wet their tech whistles.
Trawling through the cavernous halls of the Fira de Barcelona, we’ve discovered that devices like phones and laptops can, in fact, still be fun as well as functional.
While many brands continue their by-the-numbers iterations — flat sides, flat screens, enormous camera islands, and all — it’s the quirky concepts and bold designs that have truly caught our attention this year. Innovation, it seems, is alive and well in the smartphone world.
Without further ado, here are Stuff’s MWC 2025 award winners…
MWC 2025 Awards
Xiaomi 15 Ultra
The phrase “no-holds-barred” barely does justice to Xiaomi’s photography powerhouse. Sporting what might be the most formidable collection of snappers ever fitted to a smartphone, the 15 Ultra takes the brute force approach to mobile photography — and goodness, does it work.
Its one-inch main sensor is as physically large as ones in phone cameras get, sucking up all the light for that dreamy natural bokeh. This is complemented by not one but two telephoto lenses — a 50MP f/1.8 with 3x optical zoom and 10cm macro focus, plus a staggering 200MP periscope with 4.3x zoom.
With Leica-approved glass across all lenses and improved colour science, the 15 Ultra delivers gorgeous shots in virtually any lighting conditions. Is it a bit thick at 9.3mm and heavy at 226g? Sure. But that’s the price you pay for snapshot superiority.
The rest of the package doesn’t disappoint either, with a Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, 16GB of RAM, a sublime 6.73in 120Hz OLED display, and a respectable 5410mAh silicon-carbon battery that charges at 90W wired or 80W wirelessly. For the photography enthusiast who refuses to compromise, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra stands alone.
- Full story: Xiaomi 15 Ultra review
Lenovo Flip Concept
Lenovo’s R&D department seems to relish the opportunity to showcase its wilder ideas at MWC, and this year’s Codename Flip notebook continues that delightful tradition. The concept centres around a flexible, outward-facing OLED panel that transforms depending on your needs — a traditional 13.1in laptop, expansive 12.9in tablet, or an attention-grabbing 18.1in vertically-stacked display that’s perfect for productivity (though be prepared for more than a few inquisitive looks).
When in laptop mode, the rear-facing portion of the screen can display content for anyone sitting opposite — ideal for presentations or collaborative work. The exposed bend between the two display portions also cleverly displays useful information, such as whether the screen is mirroring content.
For spreadsheet warriors or document jugglers, unfolding the screen vertically delivers a massive 18.1in of workspace with a crisp 2000×2664 resolution. Unlike Lenovo’s earlier rolling concept, all the bending is done manually rather than with motors, potentially keeping costs somewhat reasonable.
The Smart ForcePad touchpad adds another layer of innovation, with multiple layers of shortcuts and controls. Lenovo suggests the final product could pack an Intel Core Ultra 7 CPU, 32GB of RAM, and speedy PCIe SSDs — but whether this concept makes it to production remains to be seen. We sure hope it does.
Tecno Spark Slim
While Samsung and Apple tinker with their forthcoming ultra-thin devices, Tecno has stolen a march on both with the wafer-like Spark Slim concept. At just 5.75mm thick and weighing a mere 144g, it makes an immediate impression when held — Tecno’s engineers actually had to add some heft to an earlier prototype that felt too toy-like. What’s truly impressive though, is how they’ve managed to squeeze a 5200mAh capacity battery into something so slim. That’s around 25% more juice than Samsung’s anticipated Galaxy S25 Edge will offer, despite the Tecno being thinner. Shots fired.
The Spark Slim also sports curved front and rear panels that bend inwards, creating a much shallower grip point than today’s flat-sided flagships. These curves house a 6.78in AMOLED display with 3K resolution, and a 144Hz adaptive refresh rate, while the rear camera setup packs twin 50MP shooters, complemented by a 13MP selfie camera.
Tecno used components typically reserved for premium foldables to achieve this slender profile, including a custom USB-C charging port. The concept was shown in polished silver and white ceramic finishes, while illuminated strips around the rear camera lenses add a dash of visual flair.
While currently just a concept, the Spark Slim feels production-ready. If it makes it to market, expect it to focus on Tecno’s established markets in South East Asia and Africa, rather than Europe.
HMD Fusion X1
In an era where we’re all becoming increasingly conscious of our smartphone dependencies — hence the surge in dumb phone popularity — HMD’s Fusion X1 offers a refreshing counterbalance. Designed specifically for European teenagers (and their concerned parents), this £229 smartphone aims to help young users develop a healthier relationship with technology.
Created in partnership with Xplora, the Fusion X1 offers comprehensive parental controls via a subscription service starting at €4.99 monthly. Parents can block social media, limit internet browsing, and track their child’s location with updates every 20 seconds. Additional features include an emergency SOS button, low battery alerts, and a School Mode that locks down distractions during lessons.
Due to launch in May 2025, the HMD Fusion X1 appears to be a clever approach to the modern dilemma of when and how to introduce smartphones to children, and seems worthy of adding to our list of the best dumb phones for kids.
Nothing Phone 3a
Nothing has been gradually building anticipation for its new mid-range handset, and the covers finally came off during MWC 2025. The Phone 3a evolves the design language of the previous Phone 2a, with a more pronounced camera module that gives it a distinctive profile.
After last year’s surprising pivot to MediaTek processors for the 2a, the new device returns to Qualcomm silicon, powered by the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 platform. Nothing has promised an AI-assisted 50MP periscope zoom lens offering 3x optical zoom, 6x in-sensor zoom, and up to 60x “ultra zoom” capability.
While the 3a Pro was also unveiled, featuring a rather unconventional non-uniform camera arrangement, the standard 3a pips its sibling to the post in our awards. The Pro’s camera setup doesn’t quite justify its premium over the more balanced standard model in our eyes, which seems to hit the sweet spot between design, features, and value.
Nothing co-founder Akis Evangelidis has positioned the ‘a’ series as targeting users who are “equally excited about tech, but are happy with just a great user experience” rather than those demanding the absolute latest specifications. With the full launch scheduled for 4 March, we’ll soon see if Nothing has found the right balance.
Infinix E-Ink Colour
Infinix has been quietly making waves with some inventive concepts, and their second-generation E-Ink Colour device represents a significant leap forward from its predecessor. While the original could only change colour when plugged in, this advanced version allows users to customise palettes and patterns on the fly.
The rear panel uses animated colour e-ink technology, allowing for personalisation that goes far beyond simple case swaps or static designs. Users can display their own photos, match the current weather conditions, or even use AI to generate animated designs that transform the back of the phone into a dynamic canvas.
It’s a clever use of e-ink technology that we typically associate with e-readers, repurposed to add genuine visual flair to smartphone design. In a market where most devices look increasingly boring, Infinix is providing a welcome, refreshing splash of creativity, which is why this latest offering has earned its spot in our MWC 2025 Awards.
Realme Ultra Camera Concept
Realme’s Ultra camera concept offers an outlandish but intriguing solution for those wanting to turbocharge their smartphone camera experience. Rather than attempting to cram professional-grade optics into a slim phone body, Realme has exposed its one-inch main sensor, allowing users to bolt on an adapter plate and attach a full-blown system camera lens.
The concept supports Leica M-mount CSC lenses, which would utterly transform the photographic capabilities of a smartphone. A professional lens costing thousands of pounds will naturally outperform any built-in smartphone optics, though the resulting contraption would naturally be far from pocketable.
It’s an extreme approach to mobile photography that won’t appeal to casual snappers, then, but for those who demand the absolute best image quality and are willing to sacrifice convenience, the Realme Ultra represents an exciting fusion of smartphone convenience and professional camera capabilities.
Esat Dedezade
Contributor 
