Honor doesn’t want to be known as a smartphone company anymore

Chinese company Honor has announced plans to move beyond smartphones, but it makes a lot more sense than you might think. 

If you’ve heard of Honor before, it’s almost certainly because of a phone. Even before the firm split from ex-parent company Huawei, they were its most well-known product, and that’s arguably even more true now. 

On the surface, moving away from that strategy seems like a big mistake, but there’s plenty of method in the apparent madness. Under new CEO James Li, Honor wants to transform itself from “a smartphone maker to a global leading AI device ecosystem company” over the course of the next few years. 

The smartphone remains a fundamental part of its ‘Alpha Plan’, though. Indeed creating “an intelligent phone that will revolutionize human-to-device interaction and bridge the AI ecosystem with consumers” is the first major step.

But it’s not the only hardware that matters to Honor. Across PCs, tablets, wearables and more, the company says it will “rebuild” the user experience using AI. Exactly what that’ll look like for the end user remains to be seen, though. 

Crucially, one of its most ecosystem features won’t be exclusive to Honor devices. AI Connect, which Honor describes as “the world’s first all-ecosystem file-sharing technology”, will supposedly let you seamlessly transfer files and data between iOS and Android devices, a process which isn’t always straightforward. 

Collaboration is also a big part of the Alpha Plan. As well as Apple and Google, Honor is also working with Qualcomm to develop much of the underlying technology. Of course, you’ll find Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chipsets in many Honor devices already. 

What about the here and now, though? Honor has also revealed three key features that are coming to existing devices. AI Deepfake detection is being added to the company’s “latest flagship phones”, while the Magic 7 Pro is getting a new ‘AIMAGE’ AI upscaling for photos. 

And, starting with the Magic 7 Pro, all Honor flagships and foldables will get a class-leading seven years of both OS and security updates, matching the promises from Samsung and Google.