When Honor first announced its quirky Robot Phone back in October, I said I would have to see it and hold it to believe it’s real. Three months later, I’m halfway there at least.
At CES 2026 I got a first glimpse of a prototype of the phone with its pop-out DJI Osmo-like camera and gimbal. Given that part of the body of the phone is given over to housing these elements when they’re folded away, it’s understandably not among the cohort of ultra-thin devices we’ve seen over the past year or so.
There is some real depth to the Robot Phone.
I wasn’t allowed to touch or manipulate the phone or its arm, but I watched as a member of Honor’s team moved the camera between different positions. It was interesting to see how neatly the arm packed away, leaving the black phone looking, at a glance, almost like any other generic device with a particularly expansive camera module. But I can’t deny that I’m still keen to get my hands on it to see how well the robotic element of the phone actually operates.
Fortunately, I don’t have long to wait. At Mobile World Congress, which takes place in Barcelona in March, Honor will allow me to touch and hold the phone. At that point, the robotic arm will be working, so it won’t have to be manually adjusted. We know frustratingly little else about the phone at this stage beyond its design, but its full specs will also be announced at MWC.
The Robot Phone from the back, with the camera tucked away.
When it finally launches, the Robot Phone is likely to be something of a niche product that appeals mainly to content creators. But it will also inject a much-needed dose of design daring into an industry that has struggled to show much imagination over the past decade.
If Honor can pull this off with a moving robotic arm, I’ll be impressed.
Tech journalists, myself included, are guilty of complaining about the homogenous designs of most smartphones, while urging companies to take more risks and give us something to really get excited about. The introduction of foldable phones has been a breath of fresh air, but the Robot Phone is a next-level example of thinking beyond the conventional boundaries of phone design.
I, for one, can’t wait to see — and hold — more.
