Finnish innovator puts humans back into smart story at MWC 2025

Start-up Human Mobile Devices, just over a year into its bold rebrand, welcomed acclaimed entrepreneur, actress, and mother of two, Drew Barrymor

e, to the stage at MWC 2025 to share her passionate views on screen time.

Mum, entrepreneur and actress exclaimed: “Technology has taken advantage of the tired parent. It’s time to redefine how we live. Patience from the past meets future-forward technology. I started this for my children, but I also truly want it for myself, and for you.”

HMD debuts a new family portfolio demonstrating better technology for families with the aim to solve a global mental health crisis that is caused by excessive screen time, and to support online safety for minors.

The first device to launch under the new family umbrella, HMD Fusion X1, is announced following new research unveiled today from HMD which surveyed 25,000 children and adults from around the world1 – the findings reveal more than half of children have been contacted by strangers online.

The HMD Fusion X1, in partnership with Xplora is set to lay the foundation for teen’s healthy digital habits with parental controls and no social media and or internet unless enabled by the teen’s guardian.

MWC 2025 also sees the first HMD x FC Barcelona devices launched: HMD Barça 3210, and HMD Barça Fusion, with fan-focused highlights and surprises throughout each experience including a note from Lewandowski and other Barca players. Not forgetting its feature phone heritage, HMD also announces HMD 130 and HMD 150 Music, two speaker-centric phones packed with booming sound, FM radios, durable designs and superb battery life, and HMD 2660 Flip, combining chic flip phone styling with digital detox simplicity.

From phones to audio; HMD Amped Buds are the first wireless earbuds with a charging case that can magnetically power up your phone, so you’re never caught out without music or power.

Jean-Francois Baril, CEO and Chaiman of Human Mobile Devices said: “Our first year creating devices under the Human Mobile Devices brand has been full of highlights, with world-class phones launched, investment in socially responsible initiatives both at home in Europe and abroad, and double-digit volume growth of our feature phones, plus 2024 is our highest ever operating profit.”

“We have made great strides with M-KOPA, a leading African Fintech platform providing affordable finance, unlocking smart experiences and putting HMD devices in 2.5 million customers’ hands, made possible by our leading financing and security services. Our Better Phone project also worked with teens, parents and experts to understand how to introduce smart devices to families, and we’re excited to launch our first device built on its foundations, the HMD Fusion X1.

“At the same time, security is non-negotiable. We’ve been listening closely to our enterprise customers, and in 2025, we’re taking our security commitment to the next level. This year, we’re introducing an ultra-secure solution in collaboration with our most trusted partners, ensuring customers benefit from the highest standards of protection.”

HMD Fusion X1 is the ‘first smartphone for teens’ from Human Mobile Devices in partnership with Xplora. It gives parents full control over their teen’s smartphone experience with the Xplora subscription – starting from €4.99 per month – while still offering a device teen can be excited about. The subscription features a customizable app and internet access, allowing parents to choose no social media and internet browsing or limiting them.

It also includes continuous location tracking at 20 second intervals with safe zones, emergency SOS calling, low battery alerts, and remote device access for parents. The School Mode function ensures distractions are minimized during school hours by locking specific apps and features when needed.

All of these settings can be managed remotely through the Xplora app, on the parents’ own device, enabling them to adjust controls in real-time based on their teen’s needs and environment.

But the reality is that no single device can fully protect children from the challenges of growing up in a digital world. That’s why HMD is going further with its plan of integrating real-time protection against harmful content with SafeToNet. Planned to launch this summer on HMD phones, HMD will be the first mobile provider to use this technology, developed in partnership with SafeToNet, which provides on-device AI-powered protection—automatically detecting and blocking harmful content before it reaches the user, without relying on external apps that can be bypassed

The new family arm of the business comes off the back of HMD’s Better Phone Project in 2024 which saw HMD work together with families and experts to co-create a suite of devices better suited for children.

Lars Silberbauer, CMO at HMD, on why this matters said: “Smartphones aren’t just tech—they shape childhoods, family dynamics, and society itself. Few companies are building solutions with children and parents in mind. We are working with parents to do exactly that. The Better Phone Project is proof that change is possible when families—not corporations—lead the conversation.

Sten Kirkbak, Founder and CEO of Xplora Technologies AS said: “At Xplora, our mission is to onboard kids safely into the digital world. As the market leader in kids’ smartwatches, we’ve long worked to extend our trusted parental controls to smartphones.