Mobile World Congress has drawn to a close and the CNET team has seen everything from backflipping robots to furry AI companions. It’s been a packed few days, with pretty much every major tech company doing something at the show. But covering all those announcements is no easy task. CNET’s team on the ground had to really pull out all the stops to bring you the sort of quality journalism you’ve come to expect from us.
Instead of telling you about awesome camera phones or incredible hypercar concepts, I wanted to show you a rare glimpse behind the curtain at what goes on during trade shows such as CES. Scroll through to see the CNET team in action, doing what they do best.
First up, Andrew Lanxon (that’s me, hi!) captures a shot of video producer Celso Bulgatti creeping on Abrar Al-Heeti’s Galaxy S26 Ultra. He’s not normally this invasive — it’s just a way of demonstrating the phone’s new Privacy Screen.
Allyza Umali does a great impression of a statue.
Tara Brown and Katie Collins had their press passes ready to enter Honor’s conference, where they saw Honor’s backflipping robot.
Tara had a packed conference schedule. Here we’re waiting for Xiaomi’s keynote to begin. I look thrilled, don’t I?
A candid moment of debate between David Lumb and Patrick Holland. Who knows what high-level decisions were being made…
A typical scene at MWC: tons of journalists crowding around a display, giving each other no space to get the photos they need. Rather than join the melee, I stood back and took a photo of them instead. Why? Because I already had the phone in my pocket.
Katie Collins gets her hairline and scalp checked for a tech demo. The result? Beautiful hair. But we knew that already.
It can’t all be dark conference rooms and neon-lit demo areas — here’s part of the team enjoying some of that Barcelona sunshine.
And, of course, giving their best Cheetah Girls impression.
A moment of calm and caffeine at a Motorola event overlooking the city.
A CNET team dinner. Our team is scattered around the world, so it’s amazing to be able to come together and collaborate on events like this.
The team waited not-so-patiently for a taxi. Well, most of the team waited — I was clearly posing as if I were trying to land a modeling contract.
Some events — like Showstoppers, a mini tech conference in itself — are held away from the main Fira convention center. In this case, it was in an actual palace, so naturally we had to take a photo right outside.
The palace was full of mirrors, which I obviously took full advantage of.
The palace ceiling and chandeliers were pretty damn fine.
I took a moment to film a quick social video on my orange iPhone turning pink with Tara Brown.
It might be cliché to say, but we really made each other laugh this week, and it felt great coming together as a team. MWC, like many big tech events, can be a challenge, and while it’s certainly an immense amount of work for all of us, it’s also an amazing opportunity to get together and have fun with like-minded tech nerds.
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