Last year, HONOR started teasing its “Robot Phone” with the launch of the Magic 8 series. At first, I thought this was going to be a gimmick. Then I saw the phone at Mobile World Congress in March (disclaimer: HONOR sponsored our flights and hotels to Barcelona for MWC), and I immediately knew I needed it.
Why did I know I needed this phone? Well, it would eliminate another tool I use at trade shows like CES, MWC, and IFA. Currently, I bring my vivo X300 Ultra as my camera, mostly for still photos. And then I use my DJI Osmo Pocket 3 to shoot the videos and shorts you see on our social media accounts. The HONOR Robot Phone could handle all of that for me with one device.
Now, after spending some time with it, I’m pretty sure that is the case. For those who aren’t aware, the HONOR Robot Phone is essentially a flagship smartphone (Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, up to 16GB of RAM, 7,060mAh battery), with a gimbal camera that folds into the back of the phone. The gimbal camera has a 200-megapixel, 1/1.28″ sensor, so it’s a really good sensor. And now it’s on a gimbal, giving you incredible stability for videos and photos.
This would be amazing for Gemini Live
One of the demos HONOR showed me today featured their AI assistant, Yoyo, which can use the gimbal to look around and tell you what it sees. That made me think about how awesome this would be with Gemini Live. Unfortunately, since the Robot Phone is only sold in China right now, it doesn’t have Gemini or any other Google services, obviously, since they’re all banned there.
HONOR will be making a second generation of the Robot Phone, as it has been insanely popular for the company in China. So popular, in fact, that it can’t keep them in stock. While HONOR did work with ARRI on this camera, they came on board pretty late, so we will likely see more of an ARRI integration with the second Robot Phone whenever that comes around.
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