The idea of the HONOR Robot Phone seemed so insane that I didn’t believe it would ever come to fruition. A smartphone with a retractable three‑axis stabilizer is a complex mechanism that can easily be damaged by an accidental drop. It seemed obvious: the manufacturer simply wouldn’t want to deal with potential defects, repairs, and reputational risks. But HONOR took the risk.

A bit of backstory. It is important in the context of this smartphone.

In October 2025, HONOR released the first teasers. There was little faith that the device would actually be released. Only at the end of November did the company explain the concept: it is not just a smartphone with a mechanical stabilizer, but an example of embodied AI — “embodied artificial intelligence”. Through the camera, the system sees what is happening, and with the help of the stabilizer can react to it with movements. Hence the name — Robot Phone.

On December 28, they already showed a working prototype. It was subsequently taken around the world, but they were not in a hurry to hand it to people.

In February 2026, at MWC in Barcelona, HONOR announced: “Believe in the magic”. And it became clear that the smartphone would indeed be released. The remaining questions were: when, how many, and at what price?

That happened already in July. After the Robot Phone presentation, it actually entered limited sales in China, with a starting price of about $1,500. I managed to get one of the first units. And after a week of use, I can finally tell you what it really is.

Day 1 — they broke the shooting logic

I’ll start with the unexpected. When I first turned on the front camera and began filming myself horizontally, I was surprised

Going ahead, I'll say: the camera in gimbal mode (that mechanical arm that stabilizes the image) basically doesn’t work with third‑party software. Telegram, WhatsApp, and other messengers don’t understand the orientation and after a few seconds turn the stabilizer away. Third‑party camera apps either throw an error or also fail to understand the orientation. I understand: this is the first smartphone of its kind, the technology is new, but it looks like problems in HONOR’s own software. On the other hand, the phone is aimed exclusively at the Chinese market, where WeChat replaces almost all other messengers.

Day 3 — it seems like I’ve gotten used to it, but there’s a nuance.

In three days I managed to test the stabilizer in almost all possible scenarios.

I filmed in a car, on a cart and in an apartment, placed the phone on shelves and counters, assembled furniture, filmed next to a boiling pan. Sometimes it fell, sometimes it clung to objects. But that’s exactly what I wanted: to test the device as a tool, not to keep it under glass. And you know, the phone is alive. Though sometimes the stabilizer works imperfectly.

Now about safety. When an obstacle is present during the opening or closing of the stabilizer, the system detects the error and attempts to repeat the motion. But if

Moreover, it feels heavier than you would expect from its size. In fact, it’s heavier than the Samsung Ultra or the iPhone Pro Max, and those are already hefty. And our robo‑phone, for a moment, is compact — a 6.3‑inch screen. So at first, my hand literally didn’t understand what was happening: a small pre