Honor opens preorders for its robotic-camera phone

Honor has opened preorders in China for the Robot Phone, a smartphone whose standout feature is a camera mounted on a motorized gimbal. The module is hidden inside the chassis and extends in 0.8 seconds. Commercial launch is planned for August, with early buyers receiving additional services and bonuses.

The company is betting on mechanical camera hardware to stand out in a market dominated by similar rectangular phones. Samsung, Xiaomi, and vivo have focused on photography, stabilization, and AI features; Honor has built the camera itself into the phone’s mechanics.

Preorders are available through Honor’s official online stores in China. The company began accepting offline reservations earlier this week. Buyers are promised:

• A lifetime YOYO AI SVIP subscription
• One year of gimbal-module service
• A standard accessory package
• Interest-free installments for up to 24 months
• A trade-in subsidy of up to 2,000 yuan, or approximately $300

Robot Phone camera and hardware

The listed specifications include a 200-megapixel main camera with an f/1.6 aperture on a 4D gimbal, alongside a 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera and a 200-megapixel periscope telephoto lens. The titanium robotic gimbal has four degrees of freedom, supports 360-degree tracking, and offers mechanical stabilization rated at CIPA 5.5.

Other specifications include a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, a 6.3–6.4-inch display with 1.5K resolution, 120W fast charging, and an integrated YOYO AI model.

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Honor first showed the Robot Phone at MWC 2026, presenting it as the first commercial product under its Alpha strategy. Smartphones have previously experimented with sliding cameras, rotating modules, and unusual display cutouts, but the market ultimately favored thin bodies, water resistance, and conventional front-facing cameras.

Honor is now positioning the Robot Phone around hands-free photography and AI-driven shooting scenarios. If the August release stays on schedule, it will be one of the few premium smartphones selling the mechanics of photography as a core feature—not just a faster chip or higher-resolution sensors.

Technical journalist and news writer. Graduated from MTUCI with a degree in information security. Has covered hardware, software, and consumer electronics since 2018.