What you need to know
- Honor’s Robot Phone made a surprise appearance at an overseas event, where visitors got to take photos of the device in a glass case.
- The device had its gimbal camera flipped upward, showing off the main attraction for the phone; however, from the side, the camera bar is quick thick.
- Honor started teasing the Robot Phone after its Magic 8 reveal, positioning the phone and its AI-driven camera as a curious device that can snap photos, record videos, and much more.
Honor’s curious phone teaser highlighted a brand “new” form factor that’s supposed to progress how people and their handheld devices interact.
Publications and tech content creators on Weibo (Chinese) have been posting real-life photos of the previously teased Honor Robot Phone (via GSMArena). Reportedly, the device was featured in an all-glass case (likely a prototype model) during the Honor User Carnival event in China. There was a host of Honor products on display, like the Magic 8 series, but what had everyone chatting was the Robot Phone.
From the Weibo post, the Robot Phone was shown off in a white color option with its curious camera flipped up. The camera is housed within its camera array on its back, but when flipped up, it breathes new life into the device and its AI capabilities. Design-wise, the Robot Phone is pretty similar to the Magic 8 series, that is, with rounded corners, flat seemingly, and potentially a completely flat display.
The report on Weibo cites a statement (machine-translated) from Honor’s CEO, Jian Li, who said, “A technology company is completely devoid of vitality without a little innovation. ROBOT PHONE is just a new game for mobile phones. In the future, glory in different industries will make users proud.”
Another user post on Weibo showed off the Robot Phone in a little more detail with close-up shots. We’re able to see just how large the gimbal-like camera is, and the space created within the phone for it to slot into. This model, shown in a black option, gives a little more perspective on its thickness. As expected, it seems the phone will be quite thick, especially around that rear camera array, due to the flip-up camera.
The start of a new phone era?
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When Honor revealed its Magic 8 series, the company also teased something new: the Robot Phone. While no one knew quite what that entailed, the company’s main page updated to showcase the device in an AI-generated video. It positioned the phone as a curious device, one that has a flip-up camera that can be attentive and react to what you (the user) see and do. The design is also quite reminiscent of the Apple iPhone 17 Pro, especially with the way its camera bar looks.
The prelude also delivers a question: “What if a device could exist with the super brain of AI, perceiving the world around you in an instant?”
It seems as if the device can take photos for you, record videos for you, and so much more, to make creating memories a breeze. Honor even showed the phone assisting a woman with finding a dress she might like for the evening. This is all exciting, and the Robot Phone’s appearance overseas was a shock, but that’s not all we should expect.
Honor states that it plans to fully unveil the Robot Phone during MWC Barcelona in 2026.
