design
design at Spoot: Spotted Early is a file of 28 stories. The newest of them: “Honor's new flagship packs a camera Arri helped shape and a battery that refuses to quit”, “Phones with robot arms and keyboard cravings: five designs worth the pocket space”, and “The electric Ferrari got booed, but Jony Ive's fingerprints explain the real story”. Honor's Magic 9 Pro Max has a camera island that looks like it was machined from a 1937 Arriflex 35 turret, complete with knurled grip texture, and that alone made me sit up straighter. Spoot: Spotted Early New things, caught while they're still new and a little weird. Spoot finds fresh gadgets, clever inventions, crowdfunding campaigns,… The list below is every design story on Spoot: Spotted Early, newest first.
Honor's new flagship packs a camera Arri helped shape and a battery that refuses to quit
Honor's Magic 9 Pro Max has a camera island that looks like it was machined from a 1937 Arriflex 35 turret, complete with knurled grip texture, and that alone made me sit up straighter. The battery is colossal, the mossy green finish is genuinely handsome, and Arri's influence runs deeper than aesthetics: you get LogC3 capture and 14 preset Look LUTs baked in. That's a serious tool for anyone who wants cinema color without the rig. It's also Honor's first flagship since the Arri deal went public, so the pressure was on. I'm gently skeptical about whether the software holds up, but the hardware is talking loud. For more gadget weirdness, our piece on Philips' new toothbrush tracking your brushing is a fun contrast. Stay spooty.
Phones with robot arms and keyboard cravings: five designs worth the pocket space
A phone with a literal robot arm. Not a concept render, not a crowdfunding fever dream, but a design someone actually put together and said, yes, this belongs in a pocket. That's the kind of specific weirdness we live for. This roundup gathers five handsets that put design first, from that mechanical appendage to a keyboard phone clearly built for people who type faster than they talk. It's a refreshing break from the endless glass slabs. The honest take? Some of these will feel like solutions looking for problems. Others might just make you question why every phone looks the same. If you're already circling back for the details, our piece on Dyson's camera-toting toothbrush suggests we're equally intrigued by tech that refuses to play it safe. Stay spooty.
The electric Ferrari got booed, but Jony Ive's fingerprints explain the real story
A crowd booed a Ferrari. That alone should tell you something strange is happening, because people do not usually boo Ferraris. They boo football referees and reality TV villains. But this was the unveiling of the marque's first all-electric car, designed by Jony Ive and Marc Newson, and the room in Rome let it have it. I love that. The launch video skipped the part where the faithful get restless. Ive's fingerprints explain the real story, and they are all over the reaction. This is a car that looks like a product, not a prancing horse. It is a fascinating collision of two design religions, and the worshippers are confused. If you want a palate cleanser, read our piece on six tiny EVs that dare to be small, sharp, and actually cool.
Bentley's first EV keeps the cabin, calls in musicians to fake the V8
Bentley's first EV keeps the cabin intact, then hands the engine note to a bunch of musicians who've been asked to fake a V8. That's the razor clam here. While every other electric car chases silence or synth whooshes, Bentley is wondering what a luxury car should sound like when there's no combustion to lean on. The answer, apparently, is a carefully composed performance. It's a clever pivot, and it fits the brand's long proportions and tactile cabin like a tailored glove. But here's the gently skeptical part: a recorded growl is still a recording. Does it feel like a Bentley when the pedal goes down? That's the question worth circling back to.