HONOR to Showcase World’s First Robot Phone at LEAP 2026 in Riyadh

HONOR is framing its presence around what it calls the Alpha Plan, a broader push to bring its AI device ecosystem into everyday use across the Kingdom. The centerpiece will be the Robot Phone, the smartphone HONOR unveiled earlier this month featuring a fully motorized 4-DoF mechanical camera gimbal built in partnership with cinema camera maker ARRI — the first device of its kind, and one HONOR has now carried from its original China launch to a string of international showcases.

A keynote and a wider ecosystem push

HONOR Regional CMO Lei Kunming is scheduled to deliver a keynote on LEAP’s mainstage titled “HONOR Alpha Plan: From Vision to Reality,” covering the company’s broader vision for AI devices and how it plans to bring that ecosystem into daily life. Beyond the keynote, HONOR says its booth will center on real-world scenarios showing how its smartphones, tablets, and wearables work together, rather than presenting the Robot Phone as a standalone device.

The company has also said it will use the event to give visitors an early look at unannounced products and technologies, though it hasn’t detailed what those are ahead of the show. Alongside the product displays, HONOR is planning interactive demonstrations and engagement activities on-site for attendees to try its devices directly rather than view them only as showcase pieces.

What LEAP is, and why it matters for the announcement

LEAP is Saudi Arabia’s national technology event and one of the largest tech conferences in the world by attendance, drawing more than 200,000 visitors, over 1,800 exhibitors, and roughly 1,000 speakers in its most recent edition. The 2026 edition marks its fifth year and has been shifted later in the calendar, moving from its usual February slot to late August. It runs alongside DeepFest, LEAP’s dedicated AI-focused program, and is held at the Riyadh Exhibition and Convention Centre in Malham.

For HONOR, the event is as much about regional positioning as it is about any single device. The company has been expanding its presence across the Middle East, and a mainstage keynote alongside a hands-on booth signals it’s treating Saudi Arabia as a priority market for its AI ecosystem strategy specifically, not just a stop on a wider international tour.

Where this fits with the Robot Phone’s rollout

HONOR first showed the Robot Phone at Mobile World Congress in March, then brought it to the Cannes Film Festival’s China Night and the Shanghai International Film Festival before its commercial launch in China earlier this month, where it sold in two configurations priced at RMB 9,999 and RMB 12,999. HONOR has not yet confirmed international or Middle East pricing and availability for the device, and its LEAP appearance is a showcase rather than a regional launch — attendees should expect to see and try the phone rather than buy it on-site.

For anyone unfamiliar with the device ahead of LEAP: the Robot Phone’s gimbal replaces a fixed camera module with an ultra-compact 4-DoF mechanical system HONOR says is 65% smaller than mainstream gimbals while being twice as structurally strong. It pairs a 200MP main camera with a 200MP periscope telephoto and a 50MP ultra-wide, and through the ARRI partnership supports 10-bit ARRI LogC3 recording and real-time ARRI Looks previews — the same imaging pipeline demonstrated at HONOR’s earlier film festival showcases ahead of LEAP.

HONOR has also said future imaging technology developed through the ARRI partnership will carry over into the upcoming HONOR Magic9 series, suggesting LEAP is unlikely to be the last time the gimbal camera system shows up in the company’s lineup.

Also Read: HONOR Robot Phone Launches With World’s First Built-In Camera Gimbal