‘No VR product satisfies my requirements, not even Apple Vision Pro,’ says Honor CEO

Honor has no plans to enter the mixed reality market

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Thanks in no small part to the arrival ofApple’s Vision Pro headset and controversial text-to-video tools likeOpenAI’s Sora, VR is once again making headlines in 2024 – but not every consumer electronics brand is cashing in on the hype.

Chinese mobile maker Honor, for its part, is committed to utilizing key AR and VR features in its smartphones, tablets, and laptops, but the company’s CEO, George Zhao, believes that full-blown mixed reality products have a way to go before becoming commercially viable.

“30 or 40 years ago, when I saw the first 3D movie, I really did believe that VR was the future. The impact was fantastic, “ Zhao said in a press conference atMWC 2024. “But today […] to be frank, I still haven’t found any [commercial VR] product that satisfies my requirements. They do not meet my target, not evenApple Vision Pro. The eye-tracking interaction [is impressive], and from an efficiency point of view, they [Apple] have improved a lot, but [VR] still needs improvement.

“I have imagined a VR future many, many times,” Zhao added. “I really love [the idea of] that future. But we are still working hard to meet all user requirements [in existing product categories].”

Zhao caveated his statement with confirmation that Honor does indeed have a team of employees committed to studying “key mixed reality technology,” but it’s clear that a bona fide Honor mixed reality headset is low on the company’s development agenda.

That’s not to say Honor isn’t innovating in other ways. As mentioned, Zhao has expressed his commitment to implementing experience-enhancing technologies on Honor’s traditional consumer products, and that philosophy is no more apparent than in the brand’s newly releasedHonor Magic 6 Pro flagship.

Announced at MWC 2024 alongside the Honor Pad 9 and Honor Magic Book Pro 16, the Magic 6 Pro boasts the usual smorgasbord of impressive hardware specsandsome neatnew eye-tracking technology that lets you navigate the phone using nothing but your vision.

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Of course, the Apple Vision Pro relies upon similar eye-tracking technology – and Zhao is clearly a fan of Apple’s efforts here – but it’s also clear that Honor would rather take a step-by-step approach to VR-style smartphone navigation than push fullsteamahead with an entirely new product category.

In other words, don’t expect to see an Honor Vision Pro anytime soon.

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Axel is TechRadar’s UK-based Phones Editor, reporting on everything from the latest Apple developments to newest AI breakthroughs as part of the site’s Mobile Computing vertical. Having previously written for publications including Esquire and FourFourTwo, Axel is well-versed in the applications of technology beyond the desktop, and his coverage extends from general reporting and analysis to in-depth interviews and opinion. 

Axel studied for a degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick before joining TechRadar in 2020, where he then earned an NCTJ qualification as part of the company’s inaugural digital training scheme.

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