Many inventions begin with one thing akin to a gimmick. The China-only Honor Robotic Cellphone matches the outline however, on the identical time, holds the promise of smartphones going past slabs. To name the pop-out gimbal digicam outlandish isn’t far-fetched as idea units come and go, however sure features of the cellphone maintain the promise of sensible tech.
When the digicam isn’t made to come out, that is one other odd trying cellphone from the entrance. Solely a faucet within the digicam app makes the gimbal increase its head and physique to seem like slightly robotic on prime of the cellphone. Earlier than that, slide away a protecting cowl on the again.
There are a number of tech chops featured on the cellphone that we may even see throughout different units within the coming months. One is rocksteady footage, regardless of how a lot you shake the cellphone, as if the robotic gimbal is the actual factor. Footage is corrected for vertical and horizontal motion utilizing a micro motor, which is way smaller than what you get inside a standard gimbal.
Image: Honor
As a cellphone, there’s a brilliant show, the most recent flagship chipset and a big battery to maintain the cellphone ticking alongside.
After which there are a number of particular controls. An on-screen joystick permits the person to tug the digicam in any route whereas the physique stays nonetheless, with a slider governing how rapidly the top responds.
Like on a gimbal, there are some cinematic presets content material creators can make the most of, resembling a rotational spin throughout 90 levels; selecting 180 levels will make the digicam snap upwards to the sky earlier than rotating slowly via the arc.
There’s extra. Tilt Lock pins the horizon, so rotating the handset makes the gimbal counter-rotate and the body stays upright. An analogous know-how has been seen on the most recent Samsung Galaxy S26 Extremely. FPV Mode holds the top fastened and searching ahead, whereas FPV Vertical does the identical factor pointed on the floor.
Taking the facility of the mini gimbal additional is the monitoring know-how. Double-tapping an individual or object units the digicam following. It’s notably useful whereas taking pictures transferring objects and even whereas conducting a video name. The top sweep perform takes the gimbal via 310 levels, which covers nearly every thing from the rear view spherical to the entrance.
Apart from the primary 200MP unit, there’s a 50MP entrance digicam, a 50MP ultra-wide and a 200MP telephoto. The highly effective digicam system can seize 4 frames by itself after which fuse them, entrance or rear, producing group selfies wider than most handsets can handle. A mega-wide choice grabs a grid of 9 pictures for a discipline of view exceeding the ultra-wide lens.
Image: Honor
There’s a full cinema digicam suite too, together with ungraded log seize, false color for recognizing blown highlights, focus peaking, and a golden ratio composition information that maintains framing no matter how the cellphone strikes.
Honor’s partnership with ARRI is an effective transfer on the subject of establishing the Robotic Cellphone as a filmmaking gadget. ARRI footage is commonly used as a benchmark for high quality in video circles.
However one has to keep in mind that the gimbal is a mechanical unit. If the person drops the cellphone and the gimbal will get misaligned, a go to to the service centre could be required. Additionally, it takes time for the particular digicam to swing into motion, and even a one second delay can lead to a missed shot. Total, the sturdiness of the transferring unit is questionable in the long term if one isn’t cautious with the cellphone. For now, the cellphone is on sale solely in China.
One other niggling situation may very well be battery life. The gimbal-robot is charged by the cellphone. If the cellphone is for creators, anticipate them to make use of the digicam for lengthy hours, and which means a slight distinction to battery life.
Having stated that, that is a type of units that has immense potential in Asia whereas the US and western Europe largely proceed to play it secure on the subject of improvements on the smartphone.
The Honor Robotic Cellphone might be accessible in two configurations, 12GB+512GB and 16GB+1TB, priced at RMB 9,999 and RMB 12,999 respectively. Pre-orders have began in China, with official gross sales beginning on August 18. There isn’t any phrase on a world launch.
