New Android Flagship Puts AI In The Spotlight: Dedicated Button, AI Agents, And On-Screen Actions

Artificial intelligence has been the focal point of new Android smartphone releases for a few years, with flagship devices routinely introducing new AI features built with the help of Google's Gemini and other AI tools. 2026 will not be any different. On Thursday, Chinese smartphone vendor Honor introduced the global version of the Honor Magic 8 Pro smartphone, which comes with several AI features on board, including a dedicated AI button and an AI Photos Agent.

When it comes to specs, the Magic 8 Pro features a 6.71-inch OLED panel that supports 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate and HDR peak brightness of 6,000 nits. Powering the handset is Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, which other vendors will use in their flagships this year. The handset introduces the industry's first GPU-NPU heterogeneous AI technology that should turn low-resolution game content into high-resolution and increase frame rates. The Magic 8 Pro features a 6,270 mAh silicon-carbon battery, which is slightly smaller than the Chinese version (7,200 mAh). The battery supports 100W wired and 80W wireless charging. The camera hardware includes a 200-megapixel Ultra Night telephoto lens (1/1.4-inch sensor, wide f/2.6 aperture, OIS, and 3.7x optical zoom), a 50-megapixel Ultra Night camera (f/1.6 aperture, OIS), and a 50-megapixel Ultra-Wide camera (122°, 2.5 cm HD macro photography).

The Magic 8 Pro's hardware is expected from a 2026 flagship Android phone. But it's the AI features that may make a real difference, assuming buyers want even more AI capabilities in their devices.

The AiMAGE Camera System delivers "unprecedented clarity, stability, and creative control," according to Honor. The AI Adaptive Stabilization Model is a tool meant to improve the quality of zoomed-in photos, reducing the need for external stabilization accessories. Honor calls it an "industry-leading" technology. The camera also uses a large AI model to improve the quality of portrait photography, including improved bokeh effects. Low-light photography, including zoomed and portrait photos, also benefit from Honor's AI system.

The new Magic Color tool is the industry's first AI-powered color engine, according to the vendor. It uses deep learning algorithms to extract up to 16.77 million colors from images. The feature can be used to apply particular filters and tones and recreate specific cinematic styles. The AI Photos Agent, which may roll out via a software update, will let users use voice to perform photo edits, including AI Eraser, AI Outpainting, AI Color, and AI Cutout. The new AI Button placed on the side of the handset will launch the Camera app instantly with a double-press. The button can be customized to access the AI Photos Agent and other AI features.

Honor mixes Google's Gemini, Nano Banana, and Veo 3 models, with its own AI models to power several AI features. For example, Honor AI can be used to control settings and applications. Long-pressing the AI Button triggers an AI Screen Suggestions feature that can understand what's on the screen is and suggest actions. The AI Settings Agent lets users manage phone settings via voice and text. The AI Deepfake Detection and AI Voice Cloning Detection tools should offer protection against malicious attacks targeting real-time communication. Honor claims the features will detect face-swap and voice-clone attacks, but it's unclear how well the safety features will work.

The Magic 8 Pro also introduces the new MagicOS 10 Android operating system, which features a transparent design very similar to Apple's Liquid Glass user interface introduced last year via the iOS 26 update. The operating system lets users adjust transparency levels and choose between transparent and traditional app icons. Honor also explained during a press briefing that BGR attended that the Magic 8 Pro will work with Apple devices, supporting notification sharing with iPhones and the Apple Watch, and drag-and-drop for sharing photos to Macs. A transfer tool will allow iPhone users to transfer their data to the Magic 8 Pro with ease.

Launched in the U.K., the Magic 8 Pro starts at £1,099.99 and is available in Sunrise Gold, Sky Cyan, and Black. Buyers will get a three-month trial of the Google AI Pro subscription, which costs $19.99/month. A Porsche Design version of the handset isn't available for purchase. The handset can't be purchased in the U.S. at the time of this writing. Interested buyers may have to look for it in international markets, where Honor will sell its 2026 flagship.