Honor Robot Phone adds ARRI-powered cinema mode

Honor has added a “Master Cinema” mode to its upcoming Robot Phone, with image-processing technology from professional cinema-camera maker ARRI. The feature is scheduled to arrive when the phone launches in August.

Honor global marketing director Guan Haitao demonstrated the camera interface, confirming that the mode is designed to bring several professional-camera effects to mobile video. It can create shallow depth of field with background blur, automatically shift focus between subjects, and record at cinematic frame rates such as 25 frames per second.

Users will also be able to change the focus point and adjust the amount of blur after recording. The company has not yet disclosed the camera system’s full capabilities.

Honor previously said the Robot Phone was built primarily for mobile video. It is expected to become the world’s first mass-produced smartphone with a mechanical gimbal for its camera. The mechanism can rotate the lens to track subjects automatically and perform different movements while filming.

According to preliminary information, the phone will feature:

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• A 200-megapixel main camera
• A 50-megapixel ultrawide camera
• A 200-megapixel periscope camera

Honor said the Robot Phone received more first-day preorders than any of the company’s previous flagship smartphones. Preorders are already open, sales begin next month, and the starting price will be $2,200.