Honor has taken the MWC 2026 show floor by storm with its Honor Robot Phone. And mind you, it may feel a little concept-ish at this point, but it is not a dummy device. Honor brought several units to Barcelona to let the media have a go with them. It is safe to say we have seen enough. Even though many folks have taken it for a spin, so to speak, not a lot is known about this still-elusive, but definitely-going-to-be-a-thing device.
As we first reported, it is an entirely new product category. It is a smartphone, but also a robot companion. It wins over your wearable cam, since it is “alive.” However, the Robot Phone is just part of a bigger ambition.
At the show, Honor surprised the industry with a major announcement. The smartphone maker revealed a strategic technical collaboration with ARRI, the renowned German manufacturer of professional cinema imaging technology—the gold standard in cinematography. While many Chinese smartphone makers scurried to hold hands with camera brands, Honor decided to take a path no one has yet explored. If you are an avid videographer who likes to explore new possibilities with smartphone imaging, this should come as awesome news.
Through the partnership, ARRI will bring its cinematic imaging science and professional filmmaking expertise into mobile devices to elevate mobile imaging quality and creative expression for global creators. Not surprisingly, the first results of this collaboration will be integrated into Honor’s upcoming Robot Phone. This marks the first time ARRI’s core imaging technology directly enters a consumer smartphone platform.
Honor’s AI-powered imaging technology, AiMAGE, already has quite a reputation, and this new collaboration further enhances Honor’s position in mobile imaging—specifically videography—by bringing cinema-level color science and visual standards into the mix.
Back to the hardware. The Robot Phone [CH] is a revolutionary camera device equipped with a gimbal designed from the ground up. It features a specialized motor system that enables it not only to perform gimbal stabilization duties but also power the robot’s expressive articulations. It is touted as the industry’s smallest 4-DoF gimbal system. The camera system, developed in collaboration with ARRI, features a built-in edge AI large model and a 200 MP 3-axis gimbal camera.
Anyhoo, as far as specs go, there are still a few details under wraps. For now, we know it will have a 6.8-inch 2K display with up to 6,000 nits of brightness, and it is outfitted with a 5,500 mAh battery supporting 100W wired charging. Powering it is a Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC, though memory and storage details remain unknown.
Here are more details on the gimbal system. Its “hangar” features a hidden titanium alloy back panel, and it has a three-axis robotic aim mechanism with a gimbal that rotates 360 degrees in 9.8 seconds. Since it is a gimbal, it offers physical image stabilization, along with automatic framing, target tracking, and AI-powered intelligent camera movement.
If a robot living inside a smartphone is not cool enough, wait until you see how it is activated. When the phone is on and unlocked, a simple gesture—showing the front of your palm and then the back of your hand—activates the Robot Phone. After that, it is ready to listen to your commands. Off the bat, once activated, it goes into a chat mode, allowing you to ask it to do things or answer questions. It immediately tracks the user’s face, and when it hears music, it can “dance” to the beat, too.
I think that’s about it. Oh yes, in case you missed it—the Robot Phone is set to launch this year.
Images: ARRI/Honor [CH].