Honor Launches Image-to-Video AI Tool with Google Veo 2
Chinese smartphone brand Honor has announced a new AI feature ahead of its upcoming Honor 400 series launch. The company has introduced an image-to-video generator powered by Google’s Veo 2 model, bringing advanced generative video capabilities to mobile users before they’re available to Gemini subscribers.
Exclusive Feature Debuts on Honor 400 Series Phones
This new AI tool is built into the Gallery app of the Honor 400 and Honor 400 Pro, which will hit the market on May 22. Buyers of these devices will be the first to try the feature, giving them early access to AI-generated five-second videos from static images. The tool works in both portrait and landscape mode, requiring only a minute or two to process each creation.
What sets this apart is its simplicity. Users can’t input prompts alongside their images. Instead, the AI makes its own assumptions based purely on the image provided. Results vary. With clean, focused photos of pets or people, the output often appears natural and convincing. More complex images, though, can produce surreal or humorous outcomes.
Also read: Honor Unveils $10 Billion Investment in AI-Powered Devices
Realistic, Surreal, and Sometimes Unexpected Results
For instance, a cat photo might be animated to lick the screen with exaggerated gestures. A photo of a vintage car could end up spinning in place. In one attempt, an image of fresh tomatoes featured a ghostly hand reaching out, while a soccer match photo generated dozens of players and extra referees, creating visual chaos. Perhaps most memorably, an animated version of Van Gogh’s self-portrait featured a pigeon emerging from his eye.
While amusing, these examples highlight both the promise and unpredictability of the technology. The feature will be free for Honor 400 users for two months, though video generation will be capped at ten per day. After this period, usage may require a subscription via Google, though pricing has not yet been confirmed.
Google’s Veo 2 Powers the Core Technology
At the heart of this feature lies Google’s Veo 2, an AI model capable of generating video from either text or images. While Gemini Advanced subscribers can already access Veo-based text-to-video generation, the image-to-video function is still restricted to select users.
According to Google Cloud, the Veo 2 model supports image-to-video generation at a cost of $0.50 per second, though it remains available only to approved enterprise accounts. This makes Honor’s offering especially notable—it brings exclusive, premium AI features directly to consumers without requiring a separate enterprise account or high-tier subscription.
With AI video generation rapidly advancing, Honor’s integration of Veo 2 may signal a broader trend: smartphone makers embedding powerful generative tools into native apps, giving users creative tools at their fingertips.
