While the world is still anticipating OpenAI’s rumored AI phone, a Chinese AI unicorn called StepFun (StepVast) has officially launched the StepX Neo, claiming to be the world’s first consumer-grade Agentic smartphone natively powered by a large language model, with the AI Agent becoming the core of the operating system. Amid the sensitive timing when OpenAI is being sued by Apple for stealing hardware trade secrets, and rumors that its AI phone may be delayed until 2028, StepX Neo has become the first consumer smartphone on the market that can run large language models offline.
StepFun Launches StepX Neo: The World’s First Agentic Smartphone
Who is StepFun? The AI unicorn founded by former Microsoft employees
StepFun (Jieyue Xingchen) was founded in April 2023, headquartered in Shanghai, with its founding team coming from Microsoft. Over the past two years, the company has focused on developing general large models, completing the Step-1 hundred-billion parameter language model and the Step-1V hundred-billion parameter multimodal large model, while providing on-device AI solutions for manufacturers such as OPPO and Geely.
StepX Neo is the first product of STEPX, the all-new terminal brand under StepFun, and also marks this company’s first leap from an AI model supplier into the consumer hardware market. StepFun has already accumulated practical experience in on-device AI, having provided chip-level AI solutions for major brands like OPPO and Geely. The launch of its own-brand smartphone can be seen as the ultimate showcase of its AI technology.
Step AOS: Redefining the Mobile Operating System
The key differentiator of StepX Neo lies in its Step AOS (Step Agentic-native OS). StepFun emphasizes that this “is not just another Android skin with AI features”—they rebuilt the entire framework from the ground up using Android, Linux, and RTOS as foundations, making the AI Agent—not human touch and click—the core of system resource allocation.
A standout technical feature of Step AOS is its adoption of the MCP (Model Context Protocol) standard, which decomposes system functionalities such as communication, apps, files, and settings into discrete units that AI Agents can directly invoke. Users no longer need to manually switch between apps—by simply speaking to Amoo, the system automatically orchestrates multiple steps to complete the task.
Amoo AI Agent: Multi-Brain Collaboration, Works Offline
StepX Neo’s core is a built-in AI Agent called Amoo (Step Amoo). Unlike traditional voice assistants, Amoo can handle complete end-to-end multi-step tasks—like booking flights or editing videos—without requiring users to manually open any apps.
StepX Neo 內建的 Amoo AI Agent pic.twitter.com/WFnrBfanz0
— 電腦王阿達 (@kocpc) July 14, 2026
Amoo adopts a “multi-brain” architecture, dynamically switching between on-device and cloud models based on task complexity. On the device side, it is equipped with StepFun’s self-developed Step Edge model, with StepFun claiming that Step Edge ranks first in 29 benchmark tests (though the comparison targets and specific test items were not disclosed).
The memory system is another standout feature of Amoo. It uses a dual-domain memory architecture that separately records user behavior patterns and the agent’s own operational context. StepFun claims memory retrieval takes just 15 milliseconds, with top rankings on memory benchmarks like LongMemEval. As time goes on, Amoo actively learns user preferences—so if you’ve consistently booked pet-friendly hotels in the past, the system will automatically prioritize showing you relevant options.
The key point is that all of Amoo’s core functions can operate in a fully offline environment, without requiring a continuous internet connection, which is crucial for use in areas with poor or no network coverage.
Useful features: Translation, Travel, Cross-app tasks
StepX Neo offers comprehensive scene applications. The translation function supports 32 languages (including regional dialects), covering real-time conversation translation, text messages, and call content, and can even recognize text on street signs, restaurant menus, and museum posters.
Travel scenarios are another key focus, with Amoo able to automatically fill out customs forms, highlight visa requirements for your destination, send check-in reminders based on flight details, and even query local public transportation and nearby activities in remote areas with no cellular signal.
StepFun also announced its first batch of ecosystem partners, including Alipay, WPS (Kingsoft Office), CapCut, Baidu, JD.com, and others. Through cooperation with partners like Alipay, WPS, CapCut, Baidu, and JD.com, Amoo can directly call ride-hailing, order food, plan itineraries, and edit documents on its phone, completing cross-app integration tasks.
Privacy and Security: TEE Execution Environment and L3 Security Certification
Handing system-level permissions to AI Agents is sure to raise security concerns, and StepFun has proposed a four-layer security framework for this: Trusted, Visible, Auditable, and Reversible. All Agent operations are executed within a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE), each step can be reviewed, permissions are granted on demand and automatically revoked after use, and erroneous operations can be reverted with a single click.
StepFun also jointly released an Agent Security White Paper with the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Additionally, StepX Neo has received L3 certification under China’s national AI terminal intelligence grading standard—the highest level currently open for testing, and the only smartphone to have obtained the L3 certificate.
Hardware Specifications: A Mystery Yet to Be Unveiled
As of now, StepFun has yet to announce the full hardware specifications and pricing for the StepX Neo. The demo unit on display confirmed a dual-camera main setup and an interactive secondary screen on the back, but key details such as the processor, memory, screen specs, and battery capacity remain undisclosed. Market rumors suggest it may feature a Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 or Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, but neither has been officially confirmed.
Regarding the launch timeline and sales plans outside China, StepFun has also not disclosed any information. Given that its operating system is deeply customized from the Android/Linux/RTOS foundation, expanding internationally under Google’s Mobile Services (GMS) licensing framework may face additional compatibility verification challenges.
Conclusion
StepX Neo’s debut certainly offers a distinctive answer to the concept of “AI phones,” building an AI Agent-centric operating system from the ground up. However, the lack of three critical pieces of information—specifications, pricing, and availability—combined with numerous performance claims that lack third-party verification, has left the market skeptical about this phone’s true capabilities. In reality, StepX Neo isn’t the first AI phone either. Apart from the unreleased OpenAI phone and the Doubao phone that was previously banned from all Chinese websites and e-commerce platforms for being too capable, almost every new phone on the market now feels embarrassed to launch without AI features. We should expect to see more diverse AI Agent phones in Q3 and Q4 of this year.
Source: KOCPC Chinese