Honor's crazy Robot Phone set for showdown with Apple's next big iPhone innovation

For many years now, the new iPhone has had to compete with the best and brightest in the Android world. Usually, that's meant the top spec Samsung phone, though in recent years other players have entered the fray.

For 2026, it looks like a new challenger is ready to battle the brand's most innovative phone in years. The iPhone Ultra is expected to debut this autumn, marking the first ever foldable phone to come from Apple.

Alongside it, seemingly, will be the Honor Robot Phone. That was first shown off at Mobile World Congress earlier this year, drawing eyes from around the world thanks to its unique look.

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That effectively fuses a traditional handset with the gimbal camera head from a device like the DJI Osmo Pocket 4. Previously, the device has managed to keep out of the hands of users, sitting behind glass at other events.

However, the brand brought the device to the Cannes Film Festival and gave it out so some creators. There's not lots to gleam from it, but combined with a confirmed Q3 2026 launch window, it certainly suggests that the handset is very close to being in a usable state.

With the launch window seeming to coincide with that of the iPhone Ultra, the tail end of 2026 could be a big one for new phone designs. Apple will be hoping to show its own, reserved innovation by entering that new space, while Honor seeks to challenge the very concept of what a phone can be.

That device is also said to enjoy the fruits of Honor's partnership with ARRI, offering stabilised gimbal tracking shots and core elements of the brand's Image Science. All signs point towards this being a pretty serious videography device, then.

It looks set to be one of the most interesting phone launches in a long time.