MWC Barcelona opens with a camera phone arms race — and one has a robot.
Mobile
Honor's Robot Phone Has a Pop-Out Gimbal Camera
This is the weirdest thing at MWC 2026, and I mean that as a compliment. Honor's Robot Phone has a 200-megapixel camera mounted on a tiny 4-degrees-of-freedom gimbal that literally pops out of the back of the phone.
It can track subjects automatically, nod or shake to give fashion advice, and — yes — dance to music. The stabilisation is supposedly the smallest 4DoF gimbal ever put in a phone. It's part camera, part personality, tucking back into its compartment when not in use (leaving behind what Honor calls "a pretty beefy camera bump").
Available later this year. No word on whether it'll befriend your Roomba.
Mobile
Vivo Goes Full Pro Mode at MWC
Vivo rarely shows up at MWC, but this year they arrived with intent. The X300 Ultra comes with a 200-megapixel telephoto sensor, plus — and this is where it gets interesting — an official telephoto extender lens and a professional camera cage you can buy separately.
Yes, Vivo is selling a camera cage. For a phone. The kind of thing you'd mount a Sony A7 in. They're betting some photographers want to rig up their phone like it's a proper video setup. Given how good computational photography has become, they might not be wrong.
The Debate
Gen Z Is Embracing Film — and It's Not Nostalgia
Fstoppers has a thoughtful piece on why physical media keeps growing among younger generations. Vinyl records have grown from under 1 million units sold in the mid-2000s to nearly 50 million in 2023. Film photography is seeing similar demand, with manufacturers struggling to keep up production.
The key insight: this isn't nostalgia. Many of these photographers never shot film growing up. They discovered it recently. Psychologists call it "psychological ownership" — we form stronger emotional connections to things we can physically touch and control. A negative in a sleeve feels different from a RAW file on a hard drive.
As one researcher put it: "It's a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world."
Industry
Photo North Festival Returns to Leeds
Photo North runs March 13-15 in Leeds, bringing together established and emerging photographers for reviews, exhibitions, and discussions. The festival aims to encourage artists "in every corner of the country" — a nice counter to London's gravitational pull on the UK photography scene.
If you're in the north and want portfolio reviews from working professionals, this is your chance.
MWC Roundup
What Else Is Happening in Barcelona
Xiaomi's Leica Leitzphone is officially going global at €1,999 — Leica's first worldwide smartphone launch. Lenovo showed a gaming handheld with a screen that folds in half. Tecno revealed a concept phone with actual neon lighting. Someone made a PetPhone that lets your cat call you (you just have to train them to jump three times in six seconds).
Tomorrow: Apple's March 4 event. The mobile camera wars are heating up.
That's Monday. MWC continues through Thursday, Apple drops something tomorrow, and Nothing's Phone 4A launches Wednesday. The week is stacked.