Honor simply turned a smartphone into one thing that may go searching, comply with its proprietor and even dance.Honor launched its Robotic Telephone in China on Wednesday, introducing a flagship Android machine with a motorized 200-megapixel gimbal digicam. Beginning at 9,999 yuan (roughly $1,480), the telephone is designed primarily for vloggers, livestreamers and cell filmmakers who may in any other case carry a separate gimbal digicam.
A protecting rear cowl slides open earlier than the digicam rises above the telephone. It could actually pan, tilt and rotate to stabilize footage, observe topics and robotically body supported video calls and livestreams.
In keeping with Honor, the gimbal mechanism required greater than 60 manufacturing processes, over 100 precision parts and greater than 100 patents. The corporate says the titanium gimbal system is considerably smaller than conventional handheld gimbals, whereas becoming contained in the telephone’s 9.6 mm physique.
Flagship {hardware} and digicam specs
The Robot Phone features a 200-megapixel principal digicam mounted on the gimbal, a 200-megapixel periscope telephoto digicam with 2.7x optical zoom and a 50-megapixel ultrawide digicam. It helps 4K video recording and AI-powered topic monitoring with real-time auto-framing.
The telephone additionally includes a 6.3-inch LTPO OLED show with a 120 Hz adaptive refresh fee and as much as 6,800 nits peak brightness. It runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip with as much as 16 GB of RAM, as much as 1 TB of storage and a 7,060 mAh battery supporting 120 W wired and 50 W wi-fi charging.
Honor partnered with cinema digicam producer ARRI so as to add LogC3 recording, ARRI Appears, LUT monitoring and a devoted ARRI Cinema Mode.
AI assistant with a character
The robotic digicam will not be just for images. It additionally works with Honor’s Yoyo AI assistant, permitting the telephone to watch its environment, acknowledge facial expressions and carry out bodily gestures reminiscent of nodding, peeking and transferring to music.
In the course of the launch occasion in Guangzhou, Honor CEO James Li stated, “Within the age of AI, not each telephone needs to be simply ‘one other black slab,’” according to CNET.
Pricing and availability
The Robotic Telephone begins at 9,999 yuan (roughly $1,480) for the 12 GB RAM and 512 GB storage model, whereas the 16 GB RAM and 1 TB mannequin prices 12,999 yuan (roughly $1,930). Open gross sales in China start Aug. 18. Honor has not introduced plans for a broader worldwide launch, and several other experiences recommend the machine could stay China-only for now.
The larger image
The Robotic Telephone stands out as a result of it combines a smartphone, AI assistant and stabilized digicam system right into a single machine. For vloggers, filmmakers and livestream creators, it may cut back the necessity to carry a separate pocket gimbal digicam whereas providing direct modifying and sharing from the telephone itself.
The trade-off is complexity. Transferring mechanical elements elevate questions on sturdiness and restore prices. The telephone carries an IP54 ranking when the gimbal is stowed, and Honor says customers shouldn’t anticipate the identical safety whereas the digicam is deployed.
Even when it by no means reaches world markets, Honor’s launch alerts that smartphone makers are experimenting with {hardware} once more as an alternative of relying solely on software program and AI options. The Robotic Telephone could not redefine the trade in a single day, but it surely exhibits one attainable path for telephones which are designed to work together bodily with the world round them.
Learn extra: Honor can be difficult premium smartphone rivals with its Honor 600 series, which recently launched in Europe.
