Mobile World Congress is right around the corner and the CNET team has seen everything from spinning robots to furry AI friends. It’s been a busy couple of days, with almost every major tech company doing something at the show. But putting all those declarations together is no easy task. The CNET team on the ground had to pull out all the stops to bring you the kind of quality journalism you’ve come to expect from us.
Instead of telling you about amazing camera phones or amazing hypercar concepts, I wanted to show you a rare glimpse behind the curtain of what happens during trade shows like CES. Scroll through to see the CNET team at work, doing what they do best.
First, Andrew Lanxon (that’s me, hello!) captures a shot of videographer Celso Bulgatti crawling on Abrar Al-Heeti’s Galaxy S26 Ultra. This isn’t usually an attack — it’s just a way to show off the phone’s new Privacy Screen.
Allyza Umali makes a beautiful picture with a template.
Tara Brown and Katie Collins had their press passes ready to enter the Honor conference, where they saw Honor’s flipped robot.
Tara had a full conference schedule. Here we are waiting for Xiaomi’s key note to launch. I look happy, don’t I?
A candid moment of the debate between David Lumb and Patrick Holland. Who knows what high level decisions were being made…
A typical scene at MWC: tons of journalists crammed into the show, giving them nowhere to get the photos they need. Rather than joining the melee, I stood back and took their picture. Why? Because I had the phone in my pocket.
Katie Collins had her hair and scalp tested for a tech demo. The result? Beautiful hair. But we already knew that.
It’s not all dark conference rooms and neon-lit demo areas — here’s part of the team enjoying some of Barcelona’s sunshine.
And, of course, to give their best impression of the Cheetah Girls.
A moment of calm and caffeine at the Motorola event overlooking the city.
CNET team dinner. Our team is spread all over the world, so it’s amazing to be able to meet and participate in events like this.
The team did not wait patiently for the taxi. Well, most of the group is waiting — I was pretending to be trying to get a modeling contract.
Other events — such as Showstoppers, a small tech conference in itself — are held away from the main Fira convention center. This time, it was in a real palace, so naturally we had to take a picture outside.
The palace was full of mirrors, which I obviously took full advantage of.
The ceiling of the palace and the chandeliers were very beautiful.
I took a moment to record a quick social media video on my orange turning pink iPhone with Tara Brown.
It might be saying something, but we really had a laugh this week, and it felt good to get together as a team. MWC, like most major tech events, can be challenging, and while it’s a big job for all of us, it’s also an amazing opportunity to meet and have fun with like-minded intellectuals.
