When your smartphone supports your passion for photography, you can always get amazing shots. You just need to have the presence of mind to capture the right moment and find the best angle.
If you have a HUAWEI phone, such a moment of inspiration can turn you into one of the winners of the XMAGE Awards 2026. It is about one of the most prestigious global smartphone photography competitions, dedicated to HUAWEI users around the world and where three Romanians have won awards in recent years.
The XMAGE Awards contest reached its tenth edition in 2026, and entries opened on March 23. This year’s theme is ‘Now is Your Shot’ and you have until August 16 – the deadline to enter the competition – to find the ideal moment to capture through your phone’s lens, from your perspective. In this way, you have a real chance to join the three Romanians who have been awarded so far at the XMAGE Awards.
Who are the Romanian winners at the previous XMAGE Awards editions?
Gheorghe Popa was among the three big winners of the XMAGE Awards 2025, being rewarded with a prize worth 10,000 dollars for a photo of the surface of the tailings lake from Geamăna, Alba county, taken with a HUAWEI Pura 80 Ultra. In the frame appear the surreal forms created by polluting substances in contact with water, an amazing image, but which also emphasizes the need to protect the environment.
Vasile Mihai-Antonio was also awarded at the XMAGE Awards 2025. Also using a HUAWEI Pura 80 Ultra smartphone, he immortalized a spectacular “meeting” between the full moon and the street lights of Constanța, a photo that made him included among the 97 winners of a $1,500 prize. And in the 2020 edition, Mihai Antonio Vasile ranked second in the “Faces” category with an image taken with a HUAWEI P40 Pro.
Another Romanian awarded at the XMAGE Awards is Costin Mocanu, who constantly participates in this competition. In the first year he entered the contest, he won three awards, for the best urban photo and the best portraits, and in 2022, one of his photos, also taken with a HUAWEI P40 Pro, was named the winner in the “Sport” category.
How to enter the XMAGE Awards 2026
The success of these three photographers may be the motivation you need to attend the XMAGE Awards. Whether you manage to capture a spectacular image or a simple but impactful photo, enter your work in the competition. For this, you have several options: the official contest website, the My HUAWEI app, VMALL, the HUAWEI community, Instagram, Tuchong and 500px. To enter the contest, you can also use the new one-tap post function to share photos directly from the gallery through the My HUAWEI application.
This year’s edition includes nine categories, each focusing on creativity in documenting everyday life: ‘So Far So Close’, ‘Good Night’, ‘Color & Shade’, ‘Faces’, ‘A Heartwarming World’, ‘Experimental Lab’, ‘Storyboard’, ‘Action’, alongside the new ‘Active Moments’ section, created for sports, outdoor activities and travel scenes.
What prizes will be awarded to winners at the XMAGE Awards 2026
The XMAGE Awards 2026 keeps the same format as the previous edition, which means that the jury makes a selection of the 100 best works, each of the photographers being rewarded with a prize worth $1,500. Later, three of them will receive the title of “Photographer of the Year” and a prize of 10,000 dollars each.
The winning images will then be exhibited at the Grand Palais in Paris until the end of this year.
The jury for the 2026 edition of the XMAGE Awards consists of internationally recognized visual arts experts: Liu Heung Shing (Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist), Chen Xiaobom (Editor-in-Chief of Xinhua News Agency and imaging researcher), Florence Bourgeois (Director of Paris Photo), Cao Ting (Dean of the School of Visual Media and Communication, Beijing Film Academy), Fabrice Laroche (Editor-in-Chief of Fisheye), Dai Xianjing (photographer and documentary filmmaker) and Li Changzhum (Brand Director, HUAWEI XMAGE).
Since its first edition in 2017, the XMAGE Awards competition has attracted participants from over 170 countries and regions, with nearly six million entries.
You can find out more details about the XMAGE Awards 2026 by accessing this link: XMAGE Awards – HUAWEI Global.
Photo credits: Gheorghe Popa and Vasile Mihai-Antonio – the two Romanians who were among the winners of the XMAGE Awards 2025
