I used the Honor Robot Phone. It proves that daring phone design can still exist in 2026

Few smartphone makers are willing to experiment or try something different and daring anymore. It doesn't always make much financial sense to take risks, and sticking with what works keeps the money rolling in.

The Honor Robot Phone is the result of a brand taking a risk. I learned why it's a calculated risk and discovered how enjoyable it is to use a phone that dares to be different in 2026.

Quiz 8 Questions · Test Your Knowledge Honor phone brand

Trivia challenge From budget spinoff to global contender — how well do you really know the Honor smartphone brand? History Hardware Flagship Software Global Begin 01 / 8 History Honor was originally launched as a sub-brand of which major tech company? A Xiaomi B Oppo C Huawei D Lenovo That's right! Honor was founded in 2013 as a sub-brand of Huawei, initially targeting younger, budget-conscious consumers online. It operated under Huawei's umbrella until it was sold off as an independent company in 2020. Not quite — Honor was actually a sub-brand of Huawei, launched in 2013. The split came in late 2020 when Huawei sold Honor to a consortium of Chinese firms amid US trade restrictions. Continue 02 / 8 History In what year did Honor officially become an independent company, separate from Huawei? A 2018 B 2019 C 2021 D 2020 Correct! Honor was officially sold by Huawei in November 2020 to a consortium called Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology. The move was largely driven by US export restrictions that were crippling Huawei's supply chain. Close, but it was November 2020 when Huawei officially divested Honor. The sale was a strategic move to protect Honor's supply chain from the US sanctions that were heavily impacting Huawei at the time. Continue 03 / 8 Flagship Which Honor flagship series is positioned as the brand's top-tier, competing directly with premium phones from Samsung and Apple? A Honor X series B Honor Magic series C Honor Play series D Honor View series Spot on! The Honor Magic series is the brand's premium flagship lineup, featuring cutting-edge hardware, high-end cameras, and innovative design. The Magic V series also introduced Honor's first foldable phones under this umbrella. The correct answer is the Honor Magic series. It represents Honor's best technology and most premium pricing, while the X series targets mid-range buyers and the Play series focuses on gaming and entertainment at lower price points. Continue 04 / 8 Hardware The Honor Magic V2, launched in 2023, set a record in which specific hardware category at the time of its release? A Highest screen refresh rate on a foldable B Largest battery in a foldable phone C Thinnest inner screen foldable smartphone D First foldable with a periscope camera You got it! The Honor Magic V2 was celebrated for being the world's thinnest inner-screen foldable smartphone at launch, measuring just 9.9mm when folded. It was a major engineering achievement that drew widespread attention from the tech press. The Honor Magic V2 actually made headlines for being the world's thinnest inner-screen foldable phone when it launched in 2023, coming in at just 9.9mm folded. Achieving that thinness while housing a large battery was considered a remarkable feat of engineering. Continue 05 / 8 Software What is the name of Honor's custom Android-based operating system skin used on its smartphones? A MagicOS B HonorUI C ColorOS D HiOS Correct! Honor uses MagicOS as its custom Android skin. After becoming independent, Honor was able to restore full Google Mobile Services and has continued developing MagicOS with its own AI features and cross-device connectivity tools. Honor's operating system skin is called MagicOS. ColorOS belongs to Oppo, and HiOS is used by Tecno. Since gaining independence from Huawei, Honor's MagicOS has shipped with full Google Mobile Services restored, which was a significant advantage over its former parent. Continue 06 / 8 Global Following its independence from Huawei, Honor re-entered which major Western market by launching a flagship store and expanding retail presence significantly? A United States B Australia C Canada D Europe Well done! Europe became a key focus for Honor after its independence, with the brand expanding retail partnerships and launching flagship devices across markets like the UK, Germany, and France. Access to Google services again made this expansion viable. The answer is Europe. Honor made a strong push into European markets after becoming independent, leveraging restored Google Mobile Services to compete with Samsung and other Android brands. The US market remains largely closed to Honor due to ongoing geopolitical concerns. Continue 07 / 8 Hardware Honor's MagicBook series competes in which product category outside of smartphones? A Smart TVs B Laptops C Tablets D Smartwatches That's right! The Honor MagicBook is a line of Windows laptops designed to compete with brands like Huawei's MateBook, Xiaomi's laptop range, and even Apple's MacBook. Honor has expanded its ecosystem well beyond phones into PCs and wearables. Honor's MagicBook line refers to their laptop computers running Windows. Honor has been actively growing its broader tech ecosystem, and the MagicBook competes in the crowded thin-and-light laptop segment alongside rivals from Huawei, Xiaomi, and Lenovo. Continue 08 / 8 History Before rebranding and focusing on premium devices, what market segment was Honor's original primary focus when it launched under Huawei? A Enterprise and business users B Budget and online-first consumers C Rugged outdoor smartphones D Senior-friendly feature phones Exactly right! Honor was created specifically to compete with brands like Xiaomi in the budget and online-first smartphone space. It sold affordable devices primarily through e-commerce channels, targeting younger tech-savvy shoppers who wanted good specs at low prices. Honor's roots were firmly in the budget, online-first market — a direct response to Xiaomi's flash sale model in China. It was Huawei's way of competing in the affordable segment without diluting its own more premium brand identity. See My Score Challenge Complete Your Score / 8 Thanks for playing! Try Again

What is the Robot Phone?

More than meets the eye

Honor made a splash with the Robot Phone in 2025, with a series of teasers showing the fully functional gimbal camera hidden in the back and its AI with a Wall-E-style personality.

Since then, what seemed like a wild concept phone became a reality, complete with an appearance at the MWC 2026 trade show.

It has now launched in China, and I had the chance to try it in London ahead of IFA 2026, where it will be shown again.

What I found is a device that's far from a concept phone. It's a well-engineered, expertly thought-out, and fully functional smartphone with one of the most unusual phone cameras I've used.

But that's not the reason I came away wanting more. It was fun and creatively inspiring enough that I wanted to run off and experiment with it in the city.

The Robot Phone has a 200-megapixel main camera attached to the gimbal, a 200MP periscope telephoto, and a 50MP wide-angle camera.

Other specs include a 6.31-inch screen, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, a 7,060mAh battery, and an IP54 dust and water resistance rating.

How does the Robot Phone's gimbal work?

Seamless operation

Here's what the Robot Phone's signature feature is like. The gimbal features the Robot Phone's main camera, and after you slide a protective cover aside (which adds a lovely tactile element to the device) and press a dedicated button in the camera app, it motorizes out and springs to life.

The gimbal moves freely using a joystick in the camera app. However, the subject tracking impresses most. It locks onto me and other subjects with ease, can be used facing the world or turned to focus on you, and stays fixed on its subject when I move the camera.

The images are sharp and vibrant on the screen, which encouraged me to experiment more, as the preview made the sunny London day look fantastic.

It was natural to use. It swooped around, angled to maintain focus, and matched my movements perfectly. A carefully considered balance hides its 248-gram weight very well.

The phone doesn't feel top-heavy. At 9.6mm, it's thin enough to hold comfortably with one hand. The gimbal means you never feel like you're learning new movements to get the shots you want.

What else makes the Robot Phone special?

The start of a partnership with Arri

The gimbal isn't the only special feature on the Robot Phone. It also introduces Honor and camera-maker Arri's partnership.

Arri doesn't want to miss the growing trend of young filmmakers turning to smartphones rather than big, heavy, and expensive equipment, and teaming up with Honor allows it to showcase what it can do for a mobile audience.

There's a dedicated Arri camera mode that lets you shoot in LOG format and use a variety of Arri-tuned LUTs to give your movies a distinct look. Paired with the gimbal camera, it makes the Robot Phone a great all-rounder for keen filmmakers and content creators.

Unfortunately, Arri focused on the video side, not unexpectedly given its expertise, so there's no tuning on the stills camera like you'd find on the Hasselblad or Leica optimized Oppo Find X9 Ultra or Xiaomi 17 Ultra.

What about the AI personality?

Don't expect Wall-E

When the Robot Phone was first shown off, it appeared the gimbal camera would give the phone a distinct personality.

I saw Honor's YoYo AI demonstrated, and it uses the camera to "see," meaning it could comment on your outfit, talk about the weather, and look at items and tell you where they could be purchased.

I liked the way the screen has a pair of "eyes" when you interact with it, and how it would make cute snoring sounds when you ignored it for a while, but it didn't reach the promised heights of what we saw in the demonstration.

It's to be expected. While I find the idea of an interactive digital friend intriguing, the rest of the world doesn't tend to agree.

Why isn't it likely to get a global launch?

Not an easy product to adapt to

I only spent a short time with the Honor Robot Phone, but there was enough there to make me want to use it more.

The camera does something new, and the Arri partnership is intriguing enough that messing around with it for an hour left me wanting more.

I may not get that much more time with it, and it seems highly unlikely it'll get a global launch.

There are several reasons. Optimizing the Robot Phone's camera, app integrations, and AI is easier for Honor to manage in China, where it controls the software more than it does elsewhere.

It also taps into the enormous trend of live-streaming in China and an openness to trying new ways to streamline content creation.

These factors make the Robot Phone less risky for Honor to try in China than investing time, effort, and money into tailoring functionality for a full Google software platform and re-educating a still-quite-niche audience fixated on the DJI Osmo Pocket.

Shape of things to come?

Look out for the Magic 9 series

Honor hasn't ruled out releasing a future version of the Robot Phone globally, but it seems unlikely it'll resemble the phone you see here.

What we do know is the Arri camera mode will be part of the forthcoming Magic 9 series, where, again, it'll be all about video rather than stills.

I've come away from the Robot Phone happy that it exists, that Honor is still lithe and daring enough to get such a product green-lit, and then pull it off.

In a sea of phones that repeat what came before, it doesn't stick to any established formula, and that's reason enough to like it.

The Honor Robot Phone is available in China and costs about $1,500.