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STEPX Neo: The AI Phone That Wants to Be Your Friend (and Assistant)

SHANGHAI — What happens when you build a phone around a large language model instead of just slapping an AI assistant on top? STEPX thinks it has the answer. On Tuesday, the company unveiled the STEPX Neo, its first "large model-native" intelligent agent phone, at a keynote event here. The device starts at 3,999 yuan and is set to go on sale October 16 after a pre-sale that began October 13.

A Phone That Looks Back at You

The Neo isn't your typical glass slab. STEPX calls its design language "retro-futuristic," with a transparent mechanical back panel and five Easter eggs that nod to AI history. But the real conversation starter is the hardware: a six-microphone array, a low-power audio perception chip, and a proprietary Whisper 1.0 sound pickup algorithm that together form what the company calls an "auditory system." Then there's the dual-screen setup—a main display paired with an independent MiniLED dot-matrix back screen that acts as a dynamic expression space for the phone's AI agent. Think of it as a face for your phone, minus the uncanny valley.

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Two Brains Are Better Than One

Under the hood, the Neo runs Step AOS 1.0, which STEPX describes as the first agent-native operating system. It separates memory into a "user domain" and an "agent domain," and includes a security architecture the company says is "trustable, visible, controllable, and reversible." The AI itself relies on a terminal-cloud collaboration: simple commands and offline tasks are handled locally, while complex planning and cross-app coordination get kicked to the cloud. It's a pragmatic split that could ease privacy concerns and battery life.

Developers Get a Seat at the Table

STEPX is also courting creators with Step Studio, a natural-language development tool that opens up the phone's sensors, back screen, and protocols. At the event, Bilibili creators showed off projects like a flight skateboard assistance system and a brain-computer interface that turns thoughts into speech. Meanwhile, the Step Amoo agent has already integrated with nearly 100 partners—including Alipay, Tencent's WeChat Work and WeChat Reading, Xiaohongshu, Ctrip, Didi, Gaode, and Meituan—enabling AI payments and cross-agent collaborative editing.

The Price of Admission

For 3,999 yuan (in carbon black or silicon silver), buyers get the phone plus 12 months of 10 billion tokens per month. And for the first 10,000 users who meet certain task criteria, STEPX is throwing in a "Starship Ticket"—a promise to swap the current model for a new STEPX terminal at no cost within five years. It's a bold loyalty play that could keep early adopters locked in.

Key Points

  • STEPX Neo launches as the first large model-native agent phone, priced at 3,999 yuan.
  • Hardware highlights include a six-mic auditory system and a MiniLED dot-matrix back screen for AI expressions.
  • Step AOS 1.0 splits memory into user and agent domains, with terminal-cloud collaboration for tasks.
  • Step Studio empowers developers to create AI-native experiences using natural language.
  • Ecosystem integrations span Alipay, Tencent, Xiaohongshu, Ctrip, Didi, Gaode, and Meituan.
  • Pre-sale began October 13; official sale starts October 16.