Honor, the Shenzhen-based smartphone maker, is stepping into the world of artificial intelligence and robotics. At MWC Barcelona 2026, the company unveiled its first two robotic products — a humanoid robot and a new type of smartphone it calls the “Robot Phone.” Honor confirmed its plans to launch its Robot Phone in the second half of this year.
Honor, which spun out from Huawei in 2020, is primarily a smartphone brand known for selling aggressively priced devices with competitive hardware. Last year, it announced plans to invest $10 billion over a period of five years, specifically to develop and build devices powered by artificial intelligence.
Now, the company has unveiled its first humanoid robot during a gala event ahead of MWC. At the event, the robot performed a series of remote-controlled gestures and poses in front of the audience. While the company has not disclosed the specifications, pricing, or commercial-scale production timeline yet, it has previously hinted that the robot may be deployed in customer service roles in future.
Unlike other companies that kick off their robotics journey from industrial settings, Honor says its robots are being designed from the outset for consumer environments. According to the company, its robots will be designed for three core scenarios: shopping assistance, workplace inspections, and supportive companionship.
Last year in October, Honor first announced its move into the robotic world, stating it was making a Robot Phone. At MWC this year, Honor showcased the Robot Phone, featuring a 200-megapixel camera mounted on a movable arm attached to the top of the smartphone. This camera system can gesture, interact with users, and perform functions such as shooting photos. Apart from that, the camera is capable of moving in sync with music playback and can respond with gestures similar to nods and head shakes. It also functions as an advanced stabiliser for video capture — Honor demonstrated this with a smooth cinematic pan that would be difficult to achieve by hand.
Honor says the design aims to give AI a more human-like and expressive presence within the device. This includes the ability to identify voice commands, subject tracking, and understand users’ gestures. It has an advanced gimbal system that supports the camera with a micro-motor that Honor developed, which is about 70 percent smaller than motors currently available on the market, says the company. Three of these motors power the phone’s arm.
“I believe AI must spin out… and into our physical world,” said Honor’s CEO, Li Jian, on stage at the Honor event. “This is why we create Honor robots. If the smartphone is an extension of our minds, the robot would be an extension of our hands. It connects us to a whole new world of services.”
