Honor launches Robot Phone with motorized robotic camera

Chinese smartphone maker Honor has launched a handset with a motorised robotic camera that nods back at users, betting that its interactive hardware will spark growth in a cooling global market for the devices.

Beyond standard artificial intelligence agentic capabilities that execute tasks across apps, the Robot Phone uses embodied AI to enhance physical video performance. It is designed to automatically pan and tilt the gimbal camera to keep users in the frame as they move about during phone calls or live streams.

And in a bid to woo mobile filmmakers, Honor has partnered with German cinema camera maker Arri to power the handset’s imaging technology.

Honor’s gamble comes as hardware makers face severe headwinds.