© Lemon squeezer
Three days, not one more. That’s how much time we had to discover all of Honor’s secrets. Well, all of them… In a complex geopolitical context, the Chinese manufacturer is playing it safe. Although it allowed us access to most of its strategic centers, it wanted to keep control. We were able to visit its assembly plants, but we were forbidden from leaving with our own images (photos or videos). At Honor, industrial secrets can be told, not illustrated.
A few hundred meters from the Shenzhen assembly plant, the brand new R&D center issues several thousand patents each year. Here again, all of the devices used to produce images were confiscated before the visit. Some laboratories deemed “sensitive” were visible without being so. Imagine a room the size of a basketball court completely empty and you will have an idea of the builder's paranoia. A culture of secrecy reminiscent of you-know-who.
DR
Honor focuses first on innovation. The official figures are staggering: 70% of the teams are part of the R&D division. Each year it files 19,600 patents, of which more than 9,000 are validated. The company is committed to filing at least 300 patents per month.
© Lemon squeezer
Among the most notable innovations, the silicon-carbon battery, inaugurated with the Magic V2, breaks with the traditional lithium-ion. The new R&D center also seems focus its research mainly on batteries. In total, there are 7 departments dedicated to the field:
- material research labo
- advanced battery structure research lab
- battery processing research lab
- battery modeling, algorithm and charge lab
- battery mechanical, thermal, electrical research lab
- battery failure analysis lab
- advanced battery module lab
Honor is the first manufacturer to offer silicon-carbon batteries, as thick as a credit card © Presse-citron
Magic V3 hinge © Presse-citron
The R&D dedicated to batteries is at least as important as that dedicated to screens, another strategic axis of the brand. The Magic V2 (again) and then the Magic V3 benefited from these innovations: they use the most advanced folding screen of the moment.
DR
For Honor, Innovation also involves quality control. While these tests are usually found at the end of the assembly line, he entrusts part of this task in advance to the R&D center. It thus reports the necessary improvements more quickly to the engineers.
Subscribe to Presse-citron
The installation of the R&D center a few dozen meters from the assembly plant is part of this search for efficiency. On foot, it takes less than 5 minutes to get from one building to the other. In theory, if a major problem arose, a factory operator could therefore report it to an engineer in less time than it takes to go get a coffee.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000Inaugurated at the end of 2021 with an investment of 1 billion yuan (126 million euros), the factory has ultra-modern machines that leave nothing to chance. For example, we were able to follow the manufacturing process of a Magic7 Pro, a new premium model marketed in China and available in Europe in early 2025.
DR
DR
Each component is meticulously assembled on the motherboard, almost exclusively by robots. On a 150-meter production line, only three stations require human intervention. The first operator checks the proper integration of the screen. The second is responsible for scrutinizing the smallest defects. The last one affixes the labels.
A product ready for sale leaves the line every 28.5 seconds. With 20 production lines running 6 days a week, Honor is able to produce 2,400 units per day and per line with a waste rate of only 1%! Only premium models are assembled there, the others being entrusted to partners such as BYD Electronics.
DR
Folding models, however, require more attention. The automation rate is less than 80% (the human interventions are therefore more numerous) and production times are longer.
© Presse-citron
In addition to mastering the hardware aspect, a good number of engineers are working on the artificial intelligence, the new industry craze. Like most players in the market, Honor is looking for its formula. “AI in smartphones will be a mix between online tools like ChatGPT and a very advanced assistant facilitating the daily use of the smartphone” confide spokespersons for the brand.
Everyone agrees that progress will depend on the policies in force. While the deployment of tools is rather rapid in China, the texts under discussion in Europe and the United States complicate the task. The GAFAM can also testify to this.
Indeed, to power AI and deploy tools, Honor, like the others, must comply with regulations. So “Simple actions like retrieving information from a third-party app must be done through a partnership between Honor and the developers of each app, with the added difficulty of complying with the laws of each region of the globe,” explains a spokesperson.
© Presse-citron
To overcome the first barrier, Apple, for example, relies on its own applications. Thus, Apple Intelligence will soon be able to become a real assistant for those who mainly use its applications. Honor is doing the same thing.
” We are only at the beginning of artificial intelligence,” explain the brand's spokespersons. The AI in smartphones that we all imagine will come gradually, and it will take several years.
Honor does not intend to be left behind. According to the firm Counterpoint Research, it ranked 6th largest manufacturer in the world behind Samsung, Apple, Xiaomi, OPPO and Vivo in 2023. It also recorded the best annual growth.
This dynamic is reminiscent of that of a manufacturer that has also focused on innovation to rise among the biggest. It even managed to steal the top spot in the world manufacturer rankings for two quarters, ahead of Apple and Samsung. By the way, Honor is following in the footsteps of its father Huawei…
📍 To not miss any Presse-citron news, follow us on Google News and WhatsApp.