Honor's new phone won't show notifications if it doesn't recognize who is holding it

Honor officially launched its Honor Magic phone in China this week and is billing it as a device from the future. I’ve got to say: it does look pretty future, but maybe it’s just the space background Honor used that’s making me think that.

Honor Honor

I don’t read Chinese, but if you do and feel like navigating the Magic’s dedicated page, feel free. Instead, I’m going to rely on Android Authority to translate for me. The phone has a:

• 5-inch AMOLED screen
• 12-megapixel dual-lens camera, 8-megapixel front-facing camera
• Android 6.0
• Huawei Kirin 950 processor
• 2,900mAh battery
• 64GB internal storage, 4GB RAM
• Available in either golden black or porcelain white
• A a fingerprint sensor, a proximity sensor, an ambient light sensor, a compass, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a phone status indicator

The most questionable spec on this list is the idea that the phone comes in a “golden black.” I’m not sure how something can be golden black, but Honor seems to have unlocked deep color secrets. Apparently the phone also ships with unique features that result from combining hardware with software.

Something called “WiseScreen” relies on a sensor in the phone’s frame and an infrared sensor in the front-facing camera. Whenever a user picks up the phone, the sensor and camera work in tandem to recognize the owner’s hands and eyes, which turns on the screen.

A similar feature called “FaceCode Intelligent Recognition” forces the phone into only displaying message notifications when it recognizes the person holding the device. Take that, mom.

The Magic is built on Android but also includes an extra software layer called Magic Live, which relies on AI to perform specific tasks. Honor says the Magic can automatically recognize when someone is driving and prompt them to switch the device to driving mode, for instance. Or if someone uses the phone to order a cab, the driver’s license plate number will show up on the display under locked screen mode.

Of course, we don’t know how well these features work because we can’t test the phone. But if someone in China does any investigation, let us know!