Chinese tech brand Honor has debuted an AI-powered image-to-video generator ahead of Google’s own Gemini users. The feature, powered by Google’s Veo 2 model, will be exclusive to buyers of the upcoming Honor 400 and 400 Pro smartphones, set to launch on May 22nd.
Integrated into the phones’ Gallery app, the tool transforms static images into five-second videos—without text prompts—in portrait or landscape format. Each generation takes about a minute or two, with mixed results. While clear photos of people or pets produce realistic movements, more complex images yield bizarre interpretations: a vintage car spinning unnaturally, tomatoes being touched by an invisible hand, and a chaotic women’s soccer match with far too many players. In one surreal example, Vincent Van Gogh’s self-portrait had a pigeon flying out of his eye.
Honor will offer the feature free for the first two months, capped at ten daily generations. After that, Google is expected to introduce a subscription model, though pricing remains unclear. Currently, Veo 2’s image-to-video capability is restricted to approved Google Cloud users at $0.50 per second, while Gemini Advanced subscribers can only generate videos via text prompts.
(Note: Honor’s videos are in MP4 format; the examples shown have been converted to GIFs, slightly reducing quality.)
