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Apple, Google, and Samsung regularly steal the spotlight when it comes to new smartphones. However, the AI era has been different, with companies like ChatGPT and Anthropic leading the way.
Now, Honor’s ambitious AI Alpha Plan has come to upset the AI applecart further—and Apple, Google, and Samsung should be worried.
Honor’s AI Alpha Plan Explained
At Honor’s MWC 2025 keynote, the company’s new CEO, James Li, emphasized a shift in focus from simply building smartphones and tablets to creating AI ecosystem devices that encourage open collaboration. As part of this strategy, Honor announced partnerships with Qualcomm and Google Cloud to developAI tech for the agentic AI era—essentially AI systems that can act and make decisions on behalf of the user—and then open up that technology for other brands to integrate.
As part of this strategy, Honor demoed its personal AI agent, which can book a restaurant reservation through OpenTable, considering factors like the user’s calendar, traffic, dietary preferences, and more. Other AI-powered features showcased include AiMAGE, designed to dramatically improve telephoto camera image quality, and AI Upscale, which restores old portraits.
Honor isn’t new to AI. Its Magic Portal, showcased with the Magic V3 foldable (which also won one of our covetedBest of IFA 2024 awards), is one of thefeatures you actually need on your smartphone. It’s genuinely useful and improves your experience. But at MWC 2025, James Li made it clear that Honor is evolving. The goal is no longer just about adding AI features to smartphones—it’s about transforming into an AI ecosystem company that builds solutions across multiple devices and platforms.
Why Honor’s AI Alpha Plan Should Have Apple, Google, and Samsung Worried
While brands like Samsung, Google, and Apple have added AI features to their devices, they’re locked to their own ecosystems. For example,most Galaxy AI featuresonly work on Samsung Galaxy devices—primarily flagship models. Similarly, Apple Intelligence is exclusive to a handful of iPhones.
Honor, however, is taking a different approach. The company’s vision is to build an AI ecosystem that benefits the entire industry, not just Honor devices. While Honor hasn’t fully detailed what this open AI vision will look like—and is betting big on other brands to adopt this model—the company has partnered with Google Cloud and Qualcomm, allowing other Android brands to potentially integrate Honor’s AI tech. The company is also investing over $10 billion in this vision over the next 10 years.
One of the first consumer-friendly steps Honor has taken—although not an AI feature—is its commitment to seven years of OS updates for flagship devices, starting with the Honor Magic 7 Pro. The company has also introduced a cross-ecosystem file-sharing system that works between Android and iOS devices.
Everything Else Honor Announced at MWC 2025
Alongside unveiling the Alpha Plan, Honor introduced several new devices at its MWC 2025 keynote, including the Magic Pad V9, Honor Watch 5 Ultra, and Honor Earbuds Open. The Magic Pad V9 is a budget Android tablet that comes with an 11.5-inch display with support for up to 144Hz refresh rate. It runs on Android 15 out of the box, and despite being just 6.1mm thin, it houses a massive 10,100 mAh battery.
The Honor Watch 5 Ultra puts the likes of Apple Watch Series 10 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 to shame with 15 days of battery life. It features a 1.5-inch AMOLED display with always-on support, yet it still delivers half a month of battery life. The Honor Earbuds Open are the company’s new open-ear design earbuds that offer powerful sound and real-time translation powered by AI.
The Apple Watch Series 10 Is So Good I (Almost) Want to Give Up My Ultra 2
Along with a larger screen and thinner case, the new model has taken a few tricks from the Ultra lineup.
While MWC has always been about new hardware launches and exciting concepts, this year, unsurprisingly, is all about AI. Honor’s commitment to open AI is quite different from how other brands are approaching this space, but the real question is whether the industry is ready to follow suit.
