A hidden robot crashed Spain's World Cup victory – did you spot it?
You might have missed this little detail in the post-match celebrations
Quick Summary
The unreleased Honor Robot Phone was spotted in celebrations after the World Cup final.
The phone featuring a pop-out robot-like camera is expected to launch in August and is currently on preorder in China.
It's a good job that Spain won the World Cup, because it gave defender Eric García the perfect platform to show off Honor's unreleased Robot Phone.
Mixed into the celebrations, the Barcelona player was seen filming with Honor's next-gen smartphone, which features a pop-out camera on a gimbal.
That camera, powered by Honor's AI, can respond to what it sees, reacting like a little robot, while also offering a versatile capture platform, a bit like the DJI Osmo Pocket.
This isn't the first time that's we've seen the Robot Phone. No, at Mobile World Congress we got up close and personal with it, but we weren't allowed to touch it. That doesn't seem to be the case for World Cup winner García – and perhaps that's what Argentina's Leandro Paredes was after during their post-match scuffle.
Well, judging by the look on García's face, all that was forgotten as he set about capturing a few moments on the pitch with the new device.
He's seen taking a selfie, filming his teammates still on the pitch while many of the fans seem to have left the stadium.
When you just won the World Cup but you also need to test out the new Honor 'RobotPhone' camera rig. 🥇from r/Honor
Honor's Robot Phone currently seems to be in its launch phase, having appeared at WAIC 2026 (World Artificial Intelligence Conference) in China, with confirmation that the phone will be launched in August.
It's not clear exactly where the device will be available, but it's available for preorder in China.
Honor has previously reported that it had really focus on reducing the size of the motors for the gimbal, allowing it to be stored in the phone and pop-out when needed. Previously, we've seen it dancing along to music, providing pretty amazing stabilisation, while also offering great object tracking.
But so much of the experience will depend on software and the AI behind the camera that gives it its personality. There's fine line between cute and creepy and I guess Honor will be one of the first to experiment with that.
We don't have many confirmed specs for the phone: a 200-megapixel main camera is expected to be joined by a 50-megapixel ultrawide and a 200-megapixel telephoto.
It's thought to be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, with a battery around the 6000mAh mark, and a 6.4-inch screen.
On the pre-order page on Honor's Chinese website, I spotted that Honor is offering free gimbal replacement for the first year to assuage fears. It's rumoured to be very expensive - perhaps you'll have to be a top flight footballer to afford one.
