Honor Robot Phone hands-on: A gimbal phone experiment with promising results

In an era of hugely popular gimbal cameras like DJI's Osmo series, not to mention countless smartphone gimbals, Honor's Robot Phone is an ambitious attempt to combine that stabilization technology with the phone itself — no peripheral needed. Its experimental new flagship phone is honestly less of a robot and more of a gimbal phone, but that would have been a terrible name.

Is this the answer to countless content creators' dreams? When Honor revealed the device at MWC 2026 earlier this year, it was arguably the most exciting device on display at the Barcelona trade show. Despite the international reveal, the Robot Phone won't officially launch beyond China — the device just went on sale there. The company is apparently testing the waters with a limited production run, like Samsung did with its Galaxy Z TriFold. Frustrating, yes, but in this economy, with component costs continuing to rise, it's probably wise.

The gimbal is the star of the show, and the technology is impressive by virtue of how small it all is. Dwarfed by the Osmo Pockets and phone gimbal handles, the 'robot' folds away inside a tiny compartment on the back of this phone. Honor says it's made the tiniest gimbal in the world, manufacturing its own 2.6-gram gimbal motor to ensure it fits inside a phone.

It fits, but it makes for a not-exactly-slim Robot Phone, measuring 9.6mm thick, not including the camera unit.

The gimbal delivers three-axis stabilization to the Robot Phone's 200-megapixel primary camera. Folded away and sort-of safely behind a plastic cover, the same sensor also works as a traditional smartphone camera. Resolution aside, it has an f/1.6 lens and traditional (boring) optical image stabilization (OIS). The phone also has a 200MP telephoto camera with OIS for up to 2.7x optical zoom and a 50MP ultra-wide with a 122-degree field of view.

There's also a 50MP front camera, but why use that when there's a gimbal camera? It's nice to see the return of a multi-tasking main sensor, and you'll probably use that for selfies here. I remember the seven-year-old Galaxy A80, even if no one else does.

To power up the gimbal, you'll have to slide the cover across manually, then tap the launcher inside the camera or AI assistant app. The arm then unfolds, with a cute X-ray graphical flourish showing what's happening behind the 6.31-inch screen. While the 'robot' Yoyo AI assistant is still present, a lot of its functionality only really works in China. That's fine, because I cared far more about the phone's camera performance.

Compared to standalone gimbal cameras, it's a relief to have a smartphone-sized screen to change settings and shooting modes, instead of poking, prodding or holding a handful of buttons. Honor has also built in a handful of AI-guided shooting modes, although for now the most impressive was a 180-degree video spin shot with the gimbal camera.

There's also an aggressively stabilizing super-steady mode that kept footage defiantly even even as I bounced and hopped around Kings Cross station in London. There's still a learning curve though, as the Robot Phone latched onto strangers' faces when I didn't want it to, but I soon got a handle on how the phone prioritized subject tracking. It was also freeing to shoot horizontal video while holding my phone vertically.

Naturally, with a built-in gimbal, video recording is central to the Robot Phone, with Honor teaming up with cinematic camera company ARRI on the UI, LUTs and more. That includes capturing video in ARRI's LogC3 format for easy editing. You can also apply LUTs in preview as you capture video, so you can gauge how footage may look without locking yourself into other filmic effects. While I only had brief time shooting with the Robot Phone, the shooting experience unsurprisingly lands squarely between using a phone and using a gimbal.

It does largely act and feel like a gimbal, though, and you're able to adjust the gimbal's tracking speed and manually adjust the angle using an on-screen stick. Handily, the phone can track both humans and inanimate objects, which is better than some smartphone gimbals.

It's impressive; I expected relatively weedy stabilization, given the miniaturized gimbal arm, but it kept up with me bouncing around, and the super-steady shot worked wonders when it was needed. However, like Samsung's Galaxy Z TriFold, the Robot Phone is a proof-of-concept, and an early-adopter pricey experiment. It's retailing for 9,999 yuan in China, which translates to roughly $1,500.

However, Honor's phones often cost more in the UK and other countries outside of Asia. Its recent foldable, the Magic V6, launched in China for less than the Robot Phone. In the UK, the Magic V6 costs £2,000 (over $2,700). If the Robot Phone launched in the West, it'd likely cost even more. That's an expensive experiment, even compared to simply buying a standalone gimbal camera and a different flagship phone separately.

The Robot Phone is consumer-ready, but Honor remains consumer-cautious. For now, you'll have to order one in (or import from) China. It may be tough to find one there though as Honor ensures it can cover initial demand.

Besides the heady price, durability is a concern, too. Whenever something has additional mechanical moving parts, there's an added risk of those breaking down. What's more, the Robot Phone has IP54 protection against dust and water, but only when the gimbal is tucked inside — not that it would help with wear and tear on the robotic components.

If you're interested, Honor's spokesperson said the company is already looking into future devices that could launch outside China. I'd definitely be interested to see how it decides to build any potential sequel. If the company is looking to expand beyond smartphones, as it seems to be doing, perhaps this incredibly tiny gimbal could become its own independent device: a petit gimbal camera that would easily fit in your pocket.