Key Points
- Honor is developing a new smartphone with a pop-out mechanical camera arm.
- The company is calling it a “robot phone” and says it will showcase its AI capabilities.
- The design could offer new creative options, but it also raises concerns about durability and cost.
- Honor has a history of experimenting with unusual device designs. The phone is part of a new $10 billion investment in AI by the company.
Smartphone maker Honor is working on a new phone with a very unusual design: a camera that sits on a pop-out mechanical arm. The company is teasing the new “robot phone” as a way to showcase its growing artificial intelligence capabilities.
While other phone makers are cramming more and more cameras into their devices, Honor is taking a completely different approach. The pop-out camera arm could offer some interesting new angles and possibilities for taking photos and videos, but it also raises some obvious concerns.
A moving, mechanical part is a prime spot for something to break, and it could also add to the phone’s manufacturing cost.
This isn’t the first time Honor has played with unconventional designs. The company has previously released an incredibly thin foldable phone and a laptop with a detachable webcam. The idea of a pop-up camera isn’t entirely new; OnePlus had a similar concept a few years ago.
Honor hasn’t shared many details about the new phone yet, but the company says it’s part of a massive $10 billion investment in AI over the next five years. We’ll likely learn more about this strange and interesting new device at next year’s Mobile World Congress.
