Mobile World Congress 2026 is about to wrap up in Barcelona. Over the past few days, BGR exhaustively walked through the Fira Gran Via venue to discover all the latest mobile tech, which this year has been represented by Chinese phones, 6G and Wi-Fi 8 promises, and, of course, one too many robots.
From the best of Showstoppers to all the crazy concepts on display from Lenovo, like a tabletop robot that could be the ultimate personal assistant, the trade show was marked by Honor hosting its first global announcement event hosted outside of China with the new Honor Magic V models. Besides that, we’ve seen mobile phones unveiled by Nothing, Huawei, Xiaomi, and even Oukitel, which ranged from copycats of the latest iPhone and Samsung Galaxy devices to a mockup of a very tiny smartphone that looks suspiciously like a potential Galaxy S27.
José Adorno/BGR
Also at the show, Qualcomm committed to the upcoming 6G standard alongside many industry players, as they expect the first appearance of this technology to arrive before the end of the decade. Even more optimistic than that, these companies are now promising the next step of Wi-Fi, the Wi-Fi 8 standard, to start showing up in products by the end of this year or early 2027. In other words, these tech players are getting ready for more AI, consistent connectivity, and blazing-fast speeds.
Restaurant robots, leasing robots, fighting robots, and dancing robots
While Mobile World Congress isn’t often overrun by robots, as CES usually is, several companies still took the time to show off some of their latest technology innovations combined with top-of-the-line connectivity capabilities. While walking through the halls, I’d often see a horde of people walking behind Exergio’s humanoid robot paired with Converse shoes, and it would even make cameos at other booths like MEI and Unitree.
José Adorno/BGR
Unitree, once again, was showing the capabilities of its boxing robots, which so far are more fun than actually dangerous, unlike some of the other devices they have in store. Like many other attendees, I spent a good 15 minutes watching these robots weirdly trying to attack each other, while Exergio’s robot would be just standing there… capturing data.
José Adorno/BGR
Another surprise was Agibot and its new leasing program for robots. Starting at 899 euros per day, anyone can rent a robot for a kid’s party, as a museum tour guide, to provide security, or even to dance with you. We also had the chance to visit a restaurant that was operated entirely by robots. It was a bit slow, but the technology is (allegedly) only getting better.
How are humans going to connect with each other in the next decade?
During MWC, we were also invited to attend the Wired x Sparks’ panel at the Monastery of Sant Miquel. Executives from Sparks, Ericsson, OURA, and RenaiXance took part in the discussion of what to expect from technology in the next decade. While the hot topics on the show floor involved faster connectivity, more displays, and AI assistants, for Sparks’ Chief Growth Officer, Adam Charles, the next decade will be about “more intentional personal experiences,” as people will look for more ways to use technology to connect with one another.
OURA’s CEO, Tom Hale, also talked about how non-intrusive technologies will continue to play a big role in that paradigm shift. Of course, being chief executive officer of a company that gets health data from your finger, Hale talked about how his technologies, and future ones, could help users read the room better. “Understanding people around you takes time, maybe you could understand the physiological sense of others without doing the hard work, which could help you approach a conversation with your wife, boss, or someone else differently.”
At the end of the day, Mobile World Congress, just like this panel, was all about improving human connectivity. It might happen through 6G, Wi-Fi 8, XGIMI’s AR glasses, or as simply by getting to know others. The answer lies somewhere in between.
