I just reviewed the Leitzphone, a special edition of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra with a load of Leica twists: a refreshed industrial design including the iconic red dot, Leica-tweaked software, and a novel rotating camera ring that can control zoom and more. Thanks to great haptics, it’s also a top-tier fidget spinner.
The Vision GT was designed to split the difference between performance on straights and corners, with a chassis that was “sculpted by the wind.” Apparently it’ll be on display at the MWC show floor, where hopefully I’ll get a better look at it.
The Xiaomi UltraThin Magnetic Power Bank 5000 is just 6mm thin thanks to its silicon-carbon battery, and only weighs 98g. It’s €59.99 (about $70) in Europe, but there’s a €5 premium if you want it in iPhone orange.
The Pad 8 and Pad 8 Pro have launched alongside the Xiaomi 17 phones. They’re not as thin as Honor’s upcoming MagicPad 4, but I suspect they’ll be good — the Pad 6 has been my go-to Android tablet for two years. Pick the €599.99 Pro ($700) for a faster chip, better cameras, and a matte display option.
8
Verge Score
The Xiaomi 17 Ultra and its Leica co-branded special edition are closer to cameras than ever before.
Every year someone invents the modular phone; this time it’s Tecno’s turn. The company will bring a modular magnetic concept device to next week’s MWC 2026, with options like a power bank, telephoto lens, or action camera to add on. We’ll only really believe it if Tecno actually lets me test the thing at the show.
The Chinese smartphone company says it will reveal a humanoid robot at MWC this week, which I’m told will focus on domestic tasks. It’s a big change for the company, even with the Robot Phone also on the way, but makes more sense when you know it has an IPO in its future.
