Before a smartphone gets officially announced for the general public, the device typically goes through a series of testing. At one stage, the company lends the pre-production unit of the smartphone to its employees for testing.

Honor, a sub-brand of Chinese giant Huawei, has been doing the same for its upcoming Honor 20 lineup. Now, as per the reports, a testing unit or prototype lent to one of its employees has gone missing in Germany.

Honor Prototype Smartphone Lost

The company’s employee in the marketing department, Moritz Scheidl was traveling to Dusseldorf to visit his family over the Easter Holidays. The phone, as per the claims from Scheidl, was tucked away inside his backpack throughout the journey. But as he arrived back home and went to pull out the device to charge it, he realized it was gone.

So, it’s unclear if the smartphone simply fell off or was stolen. Whatever it is, the company is offering a €5000 ($5,611) reward to whoever retrieves the phone. According to the company, the smartphone was covered with a gray protective case that obscures the cameras and the rear design.

As the company announced this development and the rewards, some of the users of social media have started accusing the company of getting involved in cheap publicity stunts ahead of the phone’s launch. However, the company claims that it’s not a publicity stunt.

Read More: Honor 8C Phantom Blue edition coming on April 23 for 899 Yuan (~$133)

Honor has already announced that it will be launching its Honor 20 smartphone series on 21st May at a launch event in London. The company is expected to launch three phones — Honor 20, 20 Pro, and Honor 20 Lite. It has already launched the Honor 20i smartphone in the Chinese market.

(Source)