Honor took the wraps off its 2018 flagship smartphone, Honor 10, which it said introduces two “ground-breaking” technologies to consumers.

Firstly, the device includes “AI 2.0 technology, applied chiefly to the smartphone’s dual camera”. While artificial intelligence (AI) scene detection is familiar from Honor’s earlier products (as well as those from parent Huawei), the device is said to be the first to offer “semantic image segmentation” technology, enabling it to identify multiple objects in an image and apply scene-specific parameters in real time.

The company said it can recognise more than 500 scenarios across 22 categories.

In terms of hardware, it includes 24MP monochrome and 16MP colour rear and 24MP front cameras. This compares with 20MP monochrome and 12MP colour rear cameras on Huawei’s latest flagship (P20).

Secondly, it features “the Honor 10 CMF design”, which the vendor described as a “stunning nano-scale optical coating composed of 15 layers of shimmering colour”. The company touted “phantom blue” and “phantom green” colour options created at Huawei’s Paris Aesthetics Center, as well as black and grey.

And an Apple-esque notch is also present on the front, although the software can be configured to hide it within a status bar. Unlike Apple and peers – including parent Huawei – Honor is keeping the 3.5mm audio jack port.

Honor also claimed the crown of an “industry-first front-placing ultrasonic fingerprint sensor under the glass”. While this technology has been touted for some time, it has not so far made it into the mainstream.

The device also has a 5.84-inch full HD screen with a 19:9 bezel-less display and 86 per cent screen-to-body ratio.

Honor 10 is powered by Huawei’s Kirin 970 chip, which includes an AI-oriented co-processor. It offers 4GB of RAM with 64GB or 128GB of storage, and includes fast charging capability.

The vendor is already selling the device through a number of online retailers in 26 markets. Pricing is €399.90 for the 64GB version and €449.90 for 128GB.

Lofty ambitions
With Honor setting high goals for its business in late 2017, the company’s president George Zhao provided an update on its progress during the first quarter of 2018.

He touted 100 per cent growth in overseas markets and its position as the number one smartphone “e-brand” in China, as well as strong momentum in important markets including Russia (11.5 per cent market share and “top three brand”) and India (number five in market share).

Honor previously touted its ambitions – to be a top five brand in three years, and top three in five years – and it reiterated those aims here today (15 May).