Honor, aiming to make a splash, unveiled a range of innovative products at MWC, including a folding phone, a tablet, a laptop, earbuds, a 'robot phone', and an actual robot. Here's a breakdown of what caught my attention.
The Robot Phone
Honor's Robot Phone is described as a 'new species of smartphone'. It features an AI-powered articulating camera module that adds a human touch to interactions. The module can identify sounds, track motion, and maintain visual awareness, allowing it to engage with users based on its surroundings. This includes 360-degree video calls that follow your movements, and the camera can even 'nod', 'shake its head', and 'dance' to user input. Developing this phone presented an engineering challenge, leading Honor to reconsider aspects like weight, strength, and internal space. The 'robot' is essentially a four-degree-of-freedom mechanized gimbal, ensuring smooth video capture with AI tracking support. Features like AI SpinShot enable movie-like shots, bridging the gap between smartphone video and professional storytelling.
While the Robot Phone is a concept for now, Honor hasn't confirmed its market release.
An Actual Freaking Robot
If the Robot Phone isn't your cup of tea, Honor surprised everyone with its first humanoid robot. These robots, inspired by this prototype, will offer shopping assistance, supportive companionship, and workplace inspections. Honor's data from smartphone users indicates the desired interactions, allowing the robot to recognize owners, understand basic needs, and provide personalized help. However, it's important to note that these robots won't babysit your kids.
A Foldable to Challenge the Giants
MWC saw the return of Honor's Magic series with the Magic V6, a book-style folding phone competing with Google's Pixel 10 Pro Fold and Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7. The V6 boasts an ultra-slim design at 8.75mm folded and 4.4mm unfolded, with an IP68/69 rating for dust and water resistance. Its 6,660mAh silicon-carbon battery is larger than competitors, and Honor plans to offer a 7,000mAh silicon-carbon battery for other devices soon. The 6.52-inch outer screen and 7.95-inch internal LTPO panel with adaptive refresh rates up to 120Hz deliver impressive brightness and reduced reflectivity.
Packed with top-tier specs, the V6 features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage. It supports 80W wired and 66W wireless charging, and includes 5G, Bluetooth 6.0, Wi-Fi 7, NFC, GPS, stereo speakers, and three microphones. The camera system comprises a 50MP/64MP/50MP combo with a f/1.6 aperture main lens, a periscopic telephoto lens, and an ultra-wide lens. AI integration is extensive, with features like AI Color Engine, AI Super Zoom, and AI Meeting Agent, among others.
Even More Magic
Beyond the Robot Phone and V6, Honor expanded its Magic lineup with the MagicPad 4 tablet and the MagicBook Pro 14 laptop.
The MagicPad 4 is a standard flagship tablet with a 12.3-inch 3K screen at 165Hz, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 processor, and 12GB/256GB or 16GB/512GB storage options. It features a 10,100mAh battery with 66W wired charging, a 13MP rear camera, a 9MP front camera, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and spatial audio capabilities.
The MagicBook Pro 16, on the other hand, boasts a 14.6-inch 3K screen with a 3:2 aspect ratio and Intel Core Ultra variants, up to 32GB of RAM, and up to 1TB of storage. It supports Bluetooth 5.1 and Wi-Fi 6E.
While these devices are primarily targeted at the Chinese market, Honor hasn't disclosed which international markets will have access to them.
