HONOR made a bold statement at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, unveiling its Robot Phone and teasing the upcoming Magic9 Pro Max as part of its deepening partnership with cinema camera legend ARRI.
As the Official Imaging Strategic Partner of the International Promotion Program for Chinese-Language Films, HONOR showcased how its portable cinematic devices are bridging the gap between smartphone convenience and professional filmmaking workflows.
Robot Phone: The World’s First Smartphone with Mechanical Gimbal
The HONOR Robot Phone has drawn widespread attention at Venice for its innovative mechanical gimbal design and professional-grade imaging capabilities.
At the heart of the device is a 200MP Agile Gimbal Main Camera mounted on a motorized three-axis gimbal within a 4-DoF system, paired with a 200MP Periscope Telephoto Camera featuring a 1/1.4-inch sensor and 2.7x optical zoom. The main camera uses a 1/1.28-inch sensor with an f/1.6 aperture, while a 50MP Ultra-Wide Camera with a 122° field of view completes the versatile imaging system.
Through the HONOR–ARRI Cinematic Imaging Partnership, the Robot Phone becomes the first consumer device to carry ARRI’s “co-engineered with ARRI” designation. It supports native 10-bit ARRI LogC3 recording in ARRI CINEMA mode, ARRI Wide Gamut 3 color space, and selectable ARRI Looks for controlled cinematic color styles—all processed through HONOR’s H1 Image Chip.
The video pipeline performs noise reduction earlier in the RAW domain, processes data in 14-bit 4:4:4, and outputs 10-bit LogC3 and 4:2:2 video, preserving more usable image information for post-production.
Magic9 Pro Max: ARRI Imaging Comes to HONOR’s Flagship
During the Venice Film Festival, the HONOR Magic9 Pro Max made its first public debut, revealing that the ARRI partnership will extend beyond the Robot Phone to HONOR’s consumer flagship series.
The device’s unique moss green back showcases a camera module featuring the ARRI logo, with a lens layout that follows the design language of one of the most iconic ARRI cinema cameras.
The Magic9 Pro Max is equipped with a dual 200MP rear camera setup:
- Primary Camera: 200MP sensor on a 1/1.28-inch format with f/1.57 aperture and three-axis optical image stabilization
- Periscope Telephoto: 200MP sensor on a 1/1.4-inch format with f/2.6 aperture, described as an ARRI Super-Night telephoto lens
- Ultra-Wide: 50MP sensor completes the triple-camera
The primary 200MP sensor is mounted on a 3-degree mechanical gimbal, achieving an unprecedented CIPA 8.0 stabilization rating. The camera pipeline natively supports ARRI LogC3 gamma curves and 10-bit 4:2:2 APV recording, bringing the same video tools as the Robot Phone to a mainstream flagship.
ARRI Workflow in Your Pocket: LogC3, Wide Gamut 3, and Looks
For more than a century, ARRI has helped shape the language of cinema, earning 20 Scientific and Technical Awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Now, selected elements of ARRI’s renowned Image Science and professional cinema workflow have been adapted for use in smartphones.
ARRI LogC3 preserves more highlight and shadow information for post-production, while ARRI Wide Gamut 3 provides a broader color space and ARRI Looks offer controlled cinematic color styles. Through the partnership, HONOR devices bring these three pillars together on a single device, supporting an integrated mobile capture-to-post-production workflow.
David Bermbach, Chief Product Officer of ARRI, emphasized the collaboration’s focus on creative control:
“The future is not simply about more pixels. It is about control. It is about empowering creators to capture beautiful images. HONOR brings expertise in mobile imaging, powerful processing, and robotics. ARRI contributes more than a century of trusted leadership in image science and professional production workflows.”
Telephoto Extenders: Pushing Mobile Zoom to 500mm and Beyond
HONOR is also expanding its telephoto ecosystem alongside the Magic9 Series.
A new 500mm teleconverter kit (the G500 Unit) will be sold alongside the Magic9 Pro Max in China, providing a massive 5.88x optical extension factor for extreme long-distance framing. This builds on the existing 200mm teleconverter option, with camera samples showing the Magic9 Pro Max capable of reaching 1000mm zoom when combined.
Launch Timeline and Availability
The HONOR Magic9 Series is scheduled to launch first in China on September 28, 2026, with pre-orders already open.
The lineup is expected to be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro chipset on TSMC’s 2nm N2P process, with battery capacity rumored between 8,000 and 8,999mAh for the Pro Max model.
To date, HONOR has showcased the Robot Phone at leading film events worldwide, including the 79th Cannes Film Festival, the 28th Shanghai International Film Festival, and the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. Filmmakers and industry professionals have recognized the device’s technical maturity and professional-grade capabilities, expressing enthusiasm for further innovation in mobile filmmaking.
Bottom line: HONOR’s partnership with ARRI marks a significant milestone in mobile cinematography, bringing professional color science, log recording, and mechanical gimbal stabilization to pocket-sized devices. For creators who want Hollywood-grade control without carrying a cinema camera, the Robot Phone and Magic9 Pro Max represent a new category of portable cinematic tools.
