Abstract: With the advancing of high-temperature superconducting technology, the advantages of small-sized and medium-sized magnetic confinement devices are becoming increasingly evident. Compared to traditional tokamaks, magnetic confinement devices such as dipole fields configurations, field reversed configurations (FRCs), and magnetic mirrors possess several notable advantages. These devices all have simpler structures, which results in lower construction and maintenance costs. At the same time, these devices are easier to achieve high-beta configurations. This means they can achieve better plasma confinement at low magnetic fields. In addition, these devices have their unique physical advantages. Magnetic mirror devices possess an open magnetic field configuration and a relatively simple structural design. They enable flexible and diverse experiments and can maintain steady-state operation. And the tandem mirrors improve the confinement and solve the problem of low fusion power gain. FRC is being explored as a potential fusion pathway due to its extremely high β value and engineering simplicity. And FRC also has a simple magnetic field configuration and geometric structure, making the construction of fusion devices based on FRCs more feasible from an engineering perspective. When discussing dipole fields, in addition to having relatively simple magnetic field structure and high β value, the dipole field device also benefits from its magnetic field configuration being like the Earth’s magnetic field, which inherently provides good MHD stability and helps to maintain plasma confinement. This article provides a comprehensive review of the research history, technological advancements, and future development directions of magnetic mirrors, FRCs, and dipole field devices within magnetic confinement fusion schemes. The review includes a detailed exploration of the evolution of these technologies, tracing their origins from early conceptual designs to their current state of development. Furthermore, this article addresses the specific challenges each device faces. For magnetic mirrors, it discusses issues related to cross-sectional loss, confinement efficiency and stability. For FRCs, the issues include poor confinement and a lack of effective current drive, leading to a generally low lifetime for most FRCs. For dipole fields, it explores the complexities associated with achieving and sustaining the desired magnetic field configurations. Despite these challenges, the compact size and cost-effectiveness of magnetic mirrors, FRCs, and dipole field devices make them highly promising from a commercial standpoint. The paper concludes by discussing the potential for these devices to play a significant role in the future of fusion energy.