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Honor Adds Dummy Camera to Mimic iPhone 17 Pro Design
Take a close look and you might do a double take. From a distance, Honor’s new Power2 could pass for Apple’s latest Pro — the same camera plateau, the same glossy Cosmic Orange sheen, and yes, even a third lens where none exists.
It’s a bold move. The Power2 borrows the iPhone 17 Pro’s visual cues so faithfully that top tech reviewers, including MKBHD, have put the two side by side and walked viewers through the resemblance. But the imitation isn’t purely cosmetic: Honor baked a software skin called “Transparency mode” into Android, an obvious nod to Apple’s Liquid Glass finish that alters wallpapers, icons, and the overall visual texture to approximate that glassy look.
Here’s where the story turns cheeky. The Power2’s rear island shows three circles, yet under the hood you’ll find only two working modules: a 50MP main camera and a 5MP ultrawide. The third element is a placeholder — a dummy camera included strictly for aesthetics. It’s design theater, not a functional sensor. GSMArena’s spec sheet and hands-on reports confirm this detail.
Why go this far? Because design sells. Smartphones are as much fashion items as they are pocket computers. If a borrowed silhouette nudges shoppers, some brands will copy—not just the hardware cues but the UI flourishes that make a device feel premium. Honor’s Transparency mode is a case in point: a toggle that lets owners lean into the Apple-like visual language or step away from it when they prefer an original look.
And then there’s the surprising twist: battery life. While the Power2 sidesteps flagship camera bragging rights, it piles on power where it counts — a huge 10,080mAh cell that the company says can even charge other devices. That’s a practical flex that many users will appreciate far more than a third camera they can’t use. Remarkably, Honor managed to house that giant battery while keeping the chassis slim at 7.98mm — thinner than the iPhone 17 Pro Max.
Of course, compromises exist. This phone isn’t chasing raw performance leadership. It runs on MediaTek’s Dimensity 8500 paired with up to 12GB of RAM and an LTPS OLED panel rather than flagship-tier silicon and display tech. Those choices feel deliberate: favor endurance and cost-efficiency over top-shelf benchmarks.
Copy or homage? Design or deception? You decide. What’s clear is that Honor understands the psychology of premium design and is willing to mimic surface cues to capture that halo effect — then offset the trade-offs with pragmatic hardware decisions like an enormous battery and optional UI flavors.
Whether the Power2’s strategy feels clever or cynical depends on what you value in a phone. If you prize battery life and an iPhone-like finish without paying Apple prices, this will intrigue. If authenticity matters more, the dummy lens might feel like a step too far.
Either way, the Power2 proves one thing: in smartphone design, appearances still matter—sometimes more than the tech hiding underneath.
Source: wccftech
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