On-Device AI Phone Benchmarks Are Inflated; Real Definition Lies in Engineering Implementation

Domestic AI smartphone shipments are projected to exceed 150 million units in 2026, but currently, fewer than 5% of models can stably run a 7B-parameter large model with power consumption under 2W. This figure comes from an industry report I stumbled upon while chatting with colleagues at the BYD electric drive lab last week. At WAIC, Nubia, StepFun, and Honor all showcased AI Agent phones, but figuring out who will truly define this category requires breaking it down from an engineering implementation perspective.