Pocket-size AI: Powerful phones star at China show
Ludovic Ehret, with Luna Lin in Beijing
Sun, 19 July 2026 at 11:39 am GMT+5:30
3 min read
Tech firms are racing to roll out advanced smartphones that use artificial intelligence to do everything from ordering food to composing messages upon a simple voice command
Wide adoption of phones running on so-called AI agents would be a revolution, but would also take control away from major apps, which aren’t always happy about it
At least three firm were showcasing so-called agentic phones at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai this weekend — heralding what may be to come
Smartphone maker Nubia unveiled its NaviX Ultra, a phone powered by Doubao, China’s massively popular AI chatbot tool run by TikTok creator ByteDance
“A new era of AI agent smartphones begins,” Nubia said, sharing images of the handsets online
A limited run of a prototype dubbed the “Doubao Phone” sold out fast in December
Initially, the prototype could follow simple voice commands to execute tasks across apps, including ordering food and comparing shopping prices
However, days after it was released, tech giants including Alibaba, Tencent and JD.com restricted the built-in assistant’s access to their platforms
The move effectively disabled the phone’s AI agent, so ByteDance turned off the powerful tool in certain circumstances, including when payments were involved
Gaining broad access to apps owned by other companies is a sticking point for AI agent devices, said Kiranjeet Kaur, associate research director at US market intelligence firm IDC
Platforms want to keep direct contact with their users, otherwise “they lose control to another party”, she added
“Agenting is everyone’s dream, but we haven’t reached there yet,” as the performance of AI agent tools is still often patchy, Kaur said
According to Chinese tech media, the NaviX Ultra does not attempt to force its way into apps, but rather seeks to collaborate with them
The first-generation Doubao phone had been hobbled when major apps blocked unauthorised access
AFP has contacted Nubia for comment
Another manufacturer, Honor, showcased an AI system for its “Robot Phone”, whose interactive camera flips up on a small robotic arm
The company says its “companion-centric” device can interpret human gestures and bop to musical rhythms, as well as take selfies and steady videos
An agent using several AI models, some co-developed with Alibaba, will be embedded in the robot phone when it goes on sale later this year, Honor told AFP
– ‘No clear winner’ –
Shanghai-based AI startup StepFun also unveiled an “AI agent-native smartphone”, the STEPX Neo, ahead of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference
