Honor is placing a strong focus on artificial intelligence for its upcoming Magic 8 series, which is rumored to feature a dedicated AI button—a first for the brand.
The leak surfaced on Weibo via tipster The director of the factory is classmate Guan, who shared images comparing the Honor Magic 8’s flat-frame design to the iPhone 17. The photos reveal a new side-mounted button, believed to serve as a quick trigger for AI functions, similar to the AI Plus Key on the OnePlus 13s or the Essential Key on the Nothing Phone 3.
Giving more weight to the leak, Honor CEO Li Jian has teased that the Magic 8 series will feature “self-evolving” hardware and software, designed to learn, adapt, and grow with its users. He further described the new devices as “AI-native”, built around three key pillars:
Growth-oriented hardware that adapts to the user’s needs, Self-learning MagicOS 10, powered by Honor’s MagicGUI multimodal AI model and A next-generation ecosystem offering seamless cross-device connectivity.
Li framed the Honor Magic 8 lineup as the start of an “AI self-evolution” era, where smartphones can continuously improve in real time. The series is expected to launch later this year, potentially going head-to-head with AI-focused flagships from Apple, Samsung, and Google.
With the addition of a dedicated physical AI button and a strong emphasis on adaptive intelligence, Honor is positioning itself to stand out in a market that is increasingly taking AI capabilities seriously.
