I just tried an ultra-thin Android phone that beats the iPhone Air in 2 big ways

2025 was the year of thin smartphones, for better or worse. The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge and iPhone Air tried to make the case for why we should care about ultra-thin designs, but neither did anything interesting beyond reducing battery capacity and removing cameras. At MWC 2026, I found a new super-thin phone that takes the thin form factor and actually gives it a purpose.

The phone comes from TECNO, and as it stands, it’s a concept device without a proper name. And I know what you’re thinking — it looks a lot like the iPhone Air. The camera bar at the top and the sensor placement are practically identical to those of the iPhone Air. Going off that alone, it’d be easy to write off TECNO’s phone as a shameless copycat.

However, there are a couple of important points about the design that aren’t immediately apparent. For one, at just 4.9mm thick, TECNO’s phone is thinner than the 5.8mm Galaxy S25 Edge and 5.6mm iPhone Air. Shaving off just about a millimeter may not sound like much, but in person, it’s significant.

Samsung and Apple’s thin phones are impressive, but TECNO has really gone a step further here. TECNO’s phone is so light that it feels like a dummy phone, even more so than an iPhone Air. But it turns on and functions just like any other Android phone. It feels like it shouldn’t be possible, but it is. Furthermore, because it’s so thin, there’s not enough space to fit a USB-C port — or any port for that matter; TECNO’s phone exclusively charges wirelessly.

The other thing to know about TECNO’s design — and what makes the phone so much more fascinating than its ultra-slim competitors — is that it’s modular.

Using a magnetic attachment system (what TECNO calls its Modular Magnetic Interconnection Technology), you can attach a variety of different modules to the back. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a modular Android phone, but TECNO’s approach is easily the most interesting yet.

On the most basic end, some modules include a wallet and a kickstand. There’s also a 3,000mAh battery pack module, which you can place other modules on top of — including another battery pack for a total of 6,000mAh of extra endurance. There’s a camera body module with additional buttons and its own sensor and lens. Most exciting to me is that there are even telephoto and action camera modules — letting you add additional camera sensors whenever you please.

You could argue that some of these modules, such as the wallet and battery packs, are already achievable today with technologies like Apple’s MagSafe and Google’s Pixelsnap — and that’s true. However, TECNO’s system still had advantages.

Since you’re adding these modules to such a thin and lightweight phone, TECNO’s approach adds significantly less bulk, even compared to adding MagSafe accessories to an iPhone Air. There are also more possibilities with what TECNO is doing. The camera modules essentially let you add and swap sensors whenever you want — something that goes far beyond the capabilities of MagSafe and Pixelsnap. And there might be a future where we see even more advanced modules, such as ones that add extra storage or RAM to the phone.

It is worth reiterating that TECNO’s phone is very much just a concept device. It could eventually be released as a real phone you can buy, or it may not. Right now, it’s just a cool idea of what TECNO is thinking about for the future.

Even so, it’s an exciting look at what the company is working on — and I hope TECNO keeps developing the concept and eventually gets it into people’s hands. After using it myself for just a few minutes, I can’t wait to see more.