HONOR and ARRI announce strategic technical collaboration to “bring ARRI Image Science into next-generation consumer devices”

Mar 2, 2026
HONOR CEO James Li and ARRI MD David Bermbach at the MWC 2026 announcement shaking hands
HONOR CEO James Li (left) and ARRI MD David Bermbach (right) at the MWC 2026 announcement (Credit: Courtesy of ARRI)

AI device ecosystem company HONOR has entered into a “strategic technical collaboration” with ARRI, the designer and manufacturer of professional camera technology for cinematic storytelling. 

This partnership marks a “significant step” in extending established cinematic standards into the “rapidly evolving world of mobile imaging”, a press release said. 

“By uniting HONOR’s advanced mobile imaging capabilities with ARRI’s century-long heritage in defining cinematic image quality, the collaboration reflects a shared ambition to unlock new creative possibilities and extend cinematic standards for visual expression from the world of high-end filmmaking to the next generation of content creators,” it continued. 

“HONOR is pioneering a new era of mobile imaging, where technology exists to inspire creativity and storytelling,” added James Li, CEO of HONOR. 

“ARRI has defined the visual language of cinema for generations. Through this collaboration, we are bringing those cinematic standards and professional workflows into mobile imaging, enabling creators to craft stories with greater authenticity and emotional depth.”

David Bermbach, managing director at ARRI, said: “Today, consumer smartphones have already become a serious tool in professional filmmaking, being used on blockbusters across the globe. 

“That’s why we believe it is time to bring these worlds even closer together. For the first time ever, core elements of ARRI Image Science are being integrated directly into a consumer device.”

The first results of this collaboration will debut in the upcoming HONOR ROBOT PHONE later this year.

“Smartphones operate under fundamentally different constraints: smaller sensors, highly integrated SoCs, different optical stacks, and different bandwidth limits. The challenge is not to replicate cinema hardware, but to translate the underlying principles into compact, real-time mobile architectures,” Dr. Benedikt von Lindeiner, vice president at ARRI and responsible for the technical collaboration with HONOR, concluded. 

“Our goal is to bring a true cinematic aesthetic to smartphone imaging — natural colour, gentle highlight roll-off, and a sense of depth that feels authentic to how stories are meant to be seen. 

“Creators should be able to move seamlessly from mobile capture into professional post-production workflows.”