Honor unveils Magic 2 in push for AI-powered smartphones

Honor, one of the twin signature smartphone brands owned by Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, is betting big on artificial intelligence to perfect its handsets.

Magic 2, unveiled in Beijing on Wednesday night, is dubbed by Zhao Ming, president of Honor, as the company's biggest-ever push to explore how AI can facilitate users' daily work and lives.

The new model comes with an "omnipotent" virtual assistant called Yoyo, which can recognize users' voice, fingerprint and face to unlock smartphones. It supports real-time translation, and can remind users to get up, plan trips, mapping routes when driving, and book tickets.

"The longer owners use the handset, the smarter it becomes. Magic 2 can not only automatically sense its environment, but also have the ability to learn from an owner's behavioral patterns and use," Zhao added.

Priced from 3,799 yuan ($548), the new model features a slide-up camera, and bezel-less design. Magic 2 only shows the front-facing camera when it pops up from the frame.

The handset is Honor's latest efforts to build up its brand as a pioneer keen to experiment with new technologies. In the first nine months of this year, Honor sold 39.6 million handsets in China, with sales hitting 57.8 billion yuan, according to data from market research company SINO. The performance secured its position as a popular brand among young consumers.

Magic 2 also came as the Chinese company is exploring overseas market, trying to find more footholds in foreign countries with premium devices. Its products are now available in more than 70 countries and regions.

In 2018, Zhao projected foreign markets will contribute 25 percent of total sales. This comes after overseas sales accounted for 15 percent of the brand's sales last year.

Honor was created in 2013 to complement the Huawei brand which chiefly targets business professionals and government officials. So far, the dual-brand strategy has been quite successful in both at home and abroad.