GoKawiilIt’s one thing to be following along with the development of the latest smartphone in your favorite series — maybe like one of the new Pixel 11 models debuting today. Rumors may go back and forth on specs over the months leading up to launch, but even just going into it, you probably have a solid idea of the sort of device to expect. But then there are the phones that really attempt to do something all-new, and the path these take to market can prove a whole lot more interesting.
For the better part of a year now, going all the way back to last October, HONOR has been teasing a smartphone with a camera unlike any other: the Robot Phone. Instead of a camera fixed in place to the back of the handset like you’ll see almost everywhere else, the Robot Phone’s camera is on the end of an articulated gimbal arm, like you may be familiar with from cameras like DJI’s Osmo Pocket series.
Back at CES in January we got to see the Robot Phone in person for the first time, but it was still far from a finished product — by the time MWC rolled around, we could finally check out the hardware in action. It’s been a long journey, but it’s one that’s now finally coming to an end, as we get the chance to go hands-on with this fully functional, innovative hardware.
What do you think about the HONOR Robot Phone? 113 votes It looks great! I'd love to own one. 53 % It's cool, but I wouldn't buy it. 28 % It's ridiculous — I'm not interested at all. 14 % Other (let us know in the comments). 4 %
There are good ideas, and then there are practical ideas — Where does the Robot Phone land?
Stephen Schenck / Android Authority
First impressions with the Robot Phone are unavoidably going to be centered around the gimbal camera, and while that’s absolutely the focus here, I was first struck by the overall heft of the hardware. Users with larger phones may not bat an eye, but its 248g mass is noticeably heavier than I’m used to. That said, there’s also a 7,060mAh silicon-carbon battery present, so it’s not exactly like the elaborate camera hardware is solely responsible for the weight.
In order to pull this all off, HONOR needs to succeed on a few fronts here. The Robot Phone’s gimbal shouldn’t get in the way of normal operation. It needs to be fast and responsive, just like dedicated camera gimbals. And it needs to produce quality images.
HONOR houses the gimbal within a protective nook. Before using the camera, you need to manually slide a shutter (pictured below) open in order to free it from its enclosure — and if you neglect to do so, the camera app will yell at you deliver a helpful notice. It’s admittedly a bit chunky, but is definitely a lot easier on your pocket than carrying around a whole Osmo cam. I do wish that HONOR had automated the shutter, though, as its manual operation feels a bit out of place with this otherwise highly motorized hardware.
When you do hit the button, the gimbal swings out quite quickly, accompanied by a cute little X-ray style animation giving you a peek though the phone’s screen at the unfolding hardware. HONOR engineered some exceptionally compact yet powerful motors for the gimbal arm, ones it says are 65% more compact than traditional components.
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