China’s AI-agent smartphone push has reached another regulatory milestone, but the more difficult commercial test still lies in what those phones can actually do across apps and services. Yicai Global reported on September 30 that four additional AI-agent smartphones received Chinese government network-access approval the previous day, citing the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology website. The group consists of three models in Honor’s Magic 9 series and one STEPX Neo.
That reported approval matters because it places two contrasting approaches to agentic phones closer to the market. Yicai characterized the activity as a shift from product demonstrations toward market testing. It does not establish that any of the four devices has reached stores, won consumer demand, passed app-platform checks, or gained regulatory endorsement for agent behavior. Network-access approval is a telecom-equipment access term, not a measure of sales, availability, or the reliability of a phone’s AI agent.
The STEPX Neo comes from STEPX, a StepFun subsidiary that Yicai described as building the first AI-agent phone natively around a large language model. Honor, by contrast, has attached a system-level Agent Harness framework to its MagicOS software. That difference makes the approvals a useful checkpoint for China’s AI-phone race: the relevant question is not only which company presents the most capable model, but whether software, device controls, and external platforms can support useful multi-step tasks.
Four Reported Approvals Put Honor and STEPX on the Same Regulatory Track
The approval count, device grouping, and MIIT basis remain reported facts from Yicai Global’s account. A second account, an Observer Network article reproduced by Sina Finance, likewise said agent-focused phones including the Honor Magic 9 series and STEPX Neo had obtained telecommunications equipment network-access licenses. Because Sina carried a reproduced Observer Network report, it should not be treated as fully independent confirmation of every detail.
For Honor, the timing sits alongside a concrete China launch. In a September 28 newsroom release, HONOR said the HONOR Magic9 Pro Max launched in China that day and went on sale at RMB 6,499. The company listed four configurations, from 12GB+256GB through 16GB+1TB. Those are company-announced launch and price details for the Pro Max, not evidence that the reported approval covers every Magic 9 configuration or every software feature.
HONOR also says the Pro Max runs MagicOS 11, based on Android 17, and includes YOYO Tasks. The company describes that feature as interpreting intent and coordinating supported services for selected multi-step requests. Its release also lists an 8,800mAh typical-capacity silicon-carbon battery, while a footnote gives a rated capacity of 8,600mAh, plus 100W wired and 80W wireless charging under specified accessories and conditions. Those hardware particulars show that the device is being sold as a full flagship phone alongside its agent functions, rather than as a narrow AI demonstration.
The reported approvals also extend a StepFun storyline already visible in the STEPX Neo’s earlier unveiling. That history does not show current retail availability or validate the MIIT records behind the latest account. It does show why the appearance of STEPX Neo alongside three Magic 9-series devices is significant: the access approvals place an LLM-native design and an operating-system-centered design in the same near-market moment.
MagicOS 11 Turns Agent Harness Into Honor’s Software Bet
Honor’s approach rests on making the operating system coordinate actions rather than treating AI as a standalone app. 36Kr reported that Honor introduced MagicOS 11 on September 15 and described its YOYO Harness as a system-level Agent Harness architecture. According to 36Kr’s account of Honor’s introduction, the architecture combines model capabilities with terminal perception, planning, tool invocation, and execution.
The same 36Kr report said Honor claimed YOYO could carry out more than 100 sequential task steps through 40 trigger conditions and more than 130 execution actions in YOYO Tasks. Honor also claimed 160 million monthly active users for YOYO, more than 1,000 proactive-service scenarios, and access to more than 10,000 third-party AI services. These are company claims about product reach and functionality, not audited usage data or independently measured performance.
36Kr further reported that Magic9 would be the first device equipped with MagicOS 11. It said Honor planned an unlimited public beta for mainstream models after the launch event and planned October recruitment for an Agentic OS preview for Magic9 users. Those plans help explain why the Magic 9 approvals matter to Honor’s software strategy, while still leaving open which services, models, and phone configurations users will ultimately receive.
The distinction between device access and agent execution is central. A phone can have a system framework, a commercial launch, and a reported telecom license while still confronting limits when it tries to complete a cross-app action. That is why the contest described in Honor’s MagicOS 11 strategy will turn on supported workflows, not simply on who announces the largest list of potential tasks.
Cross-App Permissions Remain the Harder AI Phone Constraint
The practical obstacle is platform control. Tech Xplore’s AFP report said at least three companies, Nubia, HONOR, and Shanghai-based StepFun, showcased agentic phones at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai in July. The report situated the new devices in a visible demonstration and launch cycle, but did not provide sales or market-share evidence.
AFP’s historical example was the limited Doubao Phone prototype, which it said sold out quickly in December after initially carrying out simple voice commands through apps such as food ordering and price comparison. AFP reported that Alibaba, Tencent, and JD.com later restricted the assistant’s access to their platforms, and that ByteDance then disabled the more powerful tool in some circumstances, including payments. Those restrictions concern the earlier Doubao prototype, not a demonstrated limitation of the newly approved Honor or STEPX devices. They nonetheless illustrate why device makers need continuing cooperation from the services an agent is expected to use.
The AFP report also cited IDC associate research director Kiranjeet Kaur’s assessment that platforms may resist agents because they risk losing direct user contact, and that current agent performance is often patchy. It separately reported that StepFun unveiled STEPX Neo before the conference. Claims of deep StepFun partnerships with Alipay and Didi, and of use cases spanning travel bookings, purchases, local services, office productivity, and video editing, originated with StepFun Chairman Yin Qi in sponsored Xinhua material, as relayed by AFP. Those claims do not verify unrestricted access, live availability for every service, or successful transactions.
For investors and users, the reported MIIT approvals narrow one uncertainty while preserving several others. They indicate that four more agent-focused handsets have reportedly cleared a telecom access step. They do not resolve how well agents execute tasks, whether service platforms allow them to act, or whether consumers will pay for the capability. Honor’s MagicOS 11 and StepFun’s LLM-native STEPX Neo therefore enter a test defined less by a license than by sustained interoperability across China’s crowded mobile-services ecosystem.