Doubao 2nd Generation AI Phone Q2 Debuts!

According to a report by the blogger Digital Chat Station on April 2nd, the highly anticipated Doubao 2nd Generation AI phone will be launched in the second quarter of 2026.

The new generation is still jointly developed by ByteDance and ZTE (its Nubia brand), focusing on AI-native smartphones.

On the hardware side, ZTE Nubia is responsible for the overall design, manufacturing and supply chain of the device, while ByteDance leads the development of “Doubao Mobile Assistant 2.0”, which deeply integrates large model capabilities to the underlying operating system.

The goal of Doubao AI Phone is to achieve an interactive paradigm of “AI operating the phone on behalf of others”, rather than the traditional app plug-in AI function.

It is reported that the first-generation Nubia M153 phone was released in December 2025 as an engineering prototype with a limited run of 30,000 units, priced at 3,499 yuan, and quickly sold out.

Despite being resisted by some app developers (such as WeChat and Meituan, which restrict its access) due to its excessive AI permissions, its capabilities such as “automatic price comparison and ordering with a single sentence” and “cross-application task execution” have caused a stir in the industry.

The second-generation model will significantly improve product completeness and compatibility based on user feedback and the results of ecosystem negotiations.

Reports suggest that the new device may have reached agreements with some mainstream application providers, such as Alibaba, to grant necessary permissions in high-frequency scenarios such as ride-hailing, food delivery, and ticket booking.

It should be noted that the previous generation of Doubao phones was only an engineering prototype, and it is currently uncertain whether the second-generation product will be made available for consumers to purchase freely.