Honor unveils “Robot phone” concept with a moving camera that dances to music

Honor first teased its so-called "Robot phone" earlier this year, showcasing a concept device with a movable camera arm. Ahead of Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, the Chinese tech company has shared additional details about the phone, including how the robotic system is designed to respond to different situations without direct commands. Honor also said it plans to release the device in the second half of this year.

According to the company, the robot camera system is designed with what Honor describes as a "personality." It can respond with movements that resemble "head shakes" and even move in rhythm with music. Honor said users will be able to interact with the assistant on the device through both voice and text. In one example, the company shows a person asking for clothing suggestions, and the robot nods or shakes to indicate whether it approves of a particular outfit.

The phone is equipped with a 200-megapixel camera mounted on a robotic three-axis gimbal with stabilisation. Honor said this setup allows the camera to rotate smoothly and capture more stable videos and photos. The device also includes a Super Steady mode for video recording. In addition, the company said the phone can create more cinematic-looking footage through a feature called Spinshot, which enables the robotic camera to rotate by 90 or 180 degrees. Honor also said the robotic camera can improve video calls by enabling smoother subject tracking through AI-powered object recognition. The company suggested that the feature could provide a more dynamic version of automatic framing during calls, allowing the camera to follow users more fluidly as they move.

To make the system possible, Honor said it developed its own micro-motor to control the robotic camera's movements. The company added that it borrowed engineering approaches from foldable smartphones to improve durability and to fit the four-degree-of-freedom gimbal mechanism inside the body of a phone. Furthermore, Honor said it uses the same materials for the robotic arm as for the hinge on the Honor Magic V6 foldable, which has a tensile strength rating of 2800 MPa.

Alongside the concept device, Honor also introduced several other products, including the Honor Magic V6 foldable smartphone with a 6,600 mAh battery, the Honor MagicPad 4 tablet, and the Honor MagicBook 14 laptop.