We’ve seen a lot of unusual smartphone designs over the years, but the Honor Robot Phone might just be the most “out there” yet. The company is offering a sneak peek at CES 2026 – the full reveal will have to wait for MWC.
In case you somehow missed it, the robot phone has a unique gimbal mechanism that flips from the back. Here you can see it folded (left) and extended (right).
Honor Robot Phone is moving its camera gimbal
Note that the first step in this process is to move the protective panel out of the way to the right. This panel typically sits over the gimbal and protects the elaborate articulation mechanisms.
For example, the “Robot” is a 3-axis gimbal, similar to the DJI Osmo Pocket. It has a wide range of motion, which allows the phone to track objects moving around it and also adds stabilization if you’re using it while walking.
honor robot phone
Honor is still keeping the details secret, for example we don’t know anything about the sensors inside the camera module. The company has given some hints as to what features it will enable, for example a star tracking mode.
Naturally, this camera can be used for selfies as well as video calls – even if you’re moving across the room, the gimbal can track you. That’s all great, but Honor has bigger ambitions than a fancy webcam.
The goal is to create something that can observe our world and even interact with it to some extent – the promo video shows that our little robot friend will have quite the personality.
honor robot phone
And, yes, we have to rely on the promo video for now – what we have in front of us is a non-functioning demo unit. However, we should see the robot in action when we attend MWC in a few months.
The Honor Robot Phone can be used in two main directions – standing upright (either in your hand, in your pocket or on a stand) and lying face down. This allows the gimbal to flip over and do its job (you don’t have to worry about leveling the phone; the gimbal will take care of that).
For the rest, we should note that the phone has two other cameras sitting on the right side of the gimbal. We don’t have any specs for them, but the three modules should be some variation of wide, ultra-wide, and telephoto.
honor robot phone
Two additional cameras have been installed in place and will be used for regular smartphone-style photo and video shooting. They also get covered by a sliding protective panel, so we’re guessing the gimbal and camera can’t be used together.
This brief encounter with the Honor Robot Phone made us even more curious – the little gimbal is an engineering marvel, but how much actual utility does it have?
