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 MWC 2026 officially gets underway on March 2 and will continue through March 5, but the announcements are already pouring in ahead of its start. We can always count on the annual tech event to bring tons of new phones, laptops and tablets, and we're expecting to see some robots and other gadgets too — plus plenty of AI news, of course. In addition to the announcements, MWC is our chance to get hands-on time with some of the most interesting new devices, like the Xiaomi 17 Ultra and Honor's Robot Phone.
Engadget's Mat Smith is on the ground in Barcelona, and we'll be updating this story as the week goes on to keep you in the loop on everything that caught our attention. Keep checking back here for the latest MWC news.
LenovoHow silly does this look when its flexible display is fully extended in portrait mode?Sam Rutherford for EngadgetLenovo pulled up to MWC with a bunch of new products and concepts, but if there's one thing everyone's going to be talking about, it's the Legion Go Fold. (Check out Sam Rutherford's coverage of the
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In a lengthy post on Truth Social on February 27, President Trump ordered all federal agencies to "immediately cease all use of Anthropic's technology" following strong disagreements between the Department of Defense and the AI company. A few hours later, the US conducted a major air attack on Iran with the help of Anthropic's AI tools, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.
The president noted in his post that there would be a "six-month phase-out period for agencies like the Department of War who are using Anthropic's products," so federal agencies are still expected to eventually move away from using Claude or other Anthropic tech. It's also not the first time that the US used Anthropic's AI for a major military operation, as the WSJ previously reported that Claude was used in the capture of the now-removed Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.
Moving forward, the Department of Defense may begin transitioning towards other AI options, especially after reaching deals with both
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 While Honor has already made plenty of product announcements, with tablets, foldables and more, its most interesting device at MWC 2026 is the Robot Phone — and maybe the humanoid robot that came alongside it.
After briefly showing off a model at CES, Honor isn't quite ready to launch its Robot Phone. However, we got more specs, tech demos and a closer look following the company's MWC press event in Barcelona. The Robot Phone is currently set to launch later this year.
Image by Mat Smith for Engadget
Honor has put a lot of effort into ensuring its camera gimbal is highly mobile, to the point of creating a tiny personal robot that is, dare I say, adorable? The Robot Phone's pop-up camera can cock its head, shake to say no, nod to agree, and even "flip" - or at least rotate 360 degrees. According to Honor's presentation, it can even bop along to songs. A spokesperson told me that it's got five songs in its repertoire, so it's not clear whether they're programmed for these kind of demos, or will be a feature of the final retail device.
Another demo here at MWC showed how you could make the Robot Phone "sleep" by covering its gimbal eye, though it's odd that the camera is still exposed rather than folded away. My main concern with the Robot Phone is the robustness and durability of its robotic mechanisms. We've lived through several waves of smartphones that at
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