As a YouTube Creator, I’m Buzzed About Honor’s Robot Camera Phone
Alongside my almost 15 years of experience as a tech journalist for CNET, I spent many years shooting in the UK and Europe, and documenting much of the behind-the-scenes work for my photography YouTube channel. I write, record and edit everything myself. It’s a lot of fun, but sometimes it’s extremely difficult to be on the go, not only with the camera I use to take my photos, but also with the additional equipment needed to properly film this process for my videos.
At Mobile World Congress 2026, Honor gave us a closer look at its Robot Phone concept, which could be a sleek solution for capturing my photo trips without carrying around a back-breaking amount of gear. Nestled in this regular Android phone is a robotic camera module that appears, essentially transforming the phone into something more like a DJI Osmo Pocket 3.
@cnetdotcom Are we best friends now? We’ve seen an influx of AI on smartphones for several years, but so far this has mostly come in the form of software, not hardware, changes. The Robot Phone reverses this trend by changing the entire design of a phone to infuse it with physical AI capabilities. CNET Senior Editor Katie Collin had the chance to experience the phone with an up-close and personal demo and here are her first impressions. #honor #honorrobotphone #djiosmopocket3 #robotics #robotphone ♬ original sound – CNET
I want my videos to be as cinematic as possible, so I don’t mind carrying multiple mirrorless camera bodies and a fleet of lenses and filters up into the hills to film. I only recently purchased an Osmo Pocket 3 and have found it transformative in the way I work. It’s about the size of my hand and eliminates the need to lug around a dedicated camera and gimbal. The Osmo allowed me to shoot high-quality stabilized video while walking the city streets.
But this is still not an ideal solution. The Osmo is relatively bulky, requiring at least one large jacket pocket. Its small screen can be difficult to use, and transferring footage from it can take a long time.
The DJI Osmo Pocket 3 has been a very useful tool for me.
Honor’s Robot Phone would solve many of Osmo’s current shortcomings. Replacing my current phone, it would be in my pocket, always ready to go whenever creativity strikes. The camera module fits perfectly into the phone so it doesn’t even bulge out my pockets in an embarrassing way. Using the phone’s main screen would give me a large screen to monitor my video while recording and review it afterwards. And since it’s an Android phone, I could just share the video files to Google Drive or directly to YouTube when I’m done.
Sometimes filming in the mountains means carrying around a huge backpack full of gear.
Honor also claims to work with iconic film company Arri, maker of cameras like Alexa, which have been used in countless Hollywood films. This is an extremely exciting prospect, especially since Arri’s CEO commented in a press release: “Our goal is to bring a true cinematic aesthetic to smartphone imaging: natural colors, slight highlight roll-off, and a sense of depth that feels authentic to the way stories are meant to be seen.” »
This is a reassuring statement, as I’ve found that many current Android phone manufacturers, including Honor, place a lot of emphasis on image processing with their cameras, resulting in overly processed and unnatural images. But just as Xiaomi recently worked with Leica on the Leitzphone – which I just called the best camera phone I’ve ever used – I hope Arri’s cinematic heritage will help guide Honor towards a product that truly delivers what creators like me are looking for.
Xiaomi’s Leitzphone, made in partnership with Leica, is capable of taking truly stunning images. Other phone makers can learn from this.
The phone is in the concept stage so far, but Honor said it could go on sale as early as the second half of the year. Personally, I can’t wait to get my hands on it and start filming.
