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The Verge Goes Hands-On With the 'Wildly Ambitious' RED Hydrogen One Smartphone (theverge.com)
It's been almost a year since RED, a company known for its high-end $10,000+ cameras, teased a smartphone called the RED Hydrogen One. Several months have passed since the phone was announced and we still don't know much about it, aside from it having a very industrial design and "Hydrogen holographic display." Earlier this week, AT&T and Verizon confirmed that they'll launch the device later this year. Now, The Verge's Dieter Bohn has shared his hands-on impressions with the device, which he claims to be "one of the most ambitious smartphones in years from a company not named Apple, Google, or Samsung." Here's an excerpt from the report: The company better known for high-end 4K cameras with names like "Weapon" and "Epic-w" isn't entering the smartphone game simply to sell you a better Android phone. No, this phone is meant to be one piece of a modular system of cameras and other media creation equipment -- the company claims it will be "the foundation of a future multi-dimensional media system." To that end, it has a big set of pogo-pins on the back to connect it to RED's other cameras also to allow users to attach (forthcoming) modules to it, including lens mounts. If it were just a modular smartphone, we'd be talking about whether we really expected the company to produce enough modules to support it.
RED is planning on starting with a module that is essentially a huge camera sensor -- the company is not ready to give exact details, but the plan is definitely more towards DSLR size than smartphone size. Then, according to CEO Jim Jannard, the company wants any traditional big camera lens to be attached to it. Answering a fan question, he joked that support for lenses will be "pretty limited," working "just" with Fuji, Canon, Nikon, Leica, and more. [...] The processor inside will be a slightly-out-of-date Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, but it seemed fast enough in the few demos I was able to try. Honestly, though, if you're looking to get this thing just as a phone, you're probably making your decision based on the wrong metrics. It's probably going to be a perfectly capable phone, but at this price (starting at $1,195) what you're buying into is the module ecosystem.
RED is planning on starting with a module that is essentially a huge camera sensor -- the company is not ready to give exact details, but the plan is definitely more towards DSLR size than smartphone size. Then, according to CEO Jim Jannard, the company wants any traditional big camera lens to be attached to it. Answering a fan question, he joked that support for lenses will be "pretty limited," working "just" with Fuji, Canon, Nikon, Leica, and more. [...] The processor inside will be a slightly-out-of-date Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, but it seemed fast enough in the few demos I was able to try. Honestly, though, if you're looking to get this thing just as a phone, you're probably making your decision based on the wrong metrics. It's probably going to be a perfectly capable phone, but at this price (starting at $1,195) what you're buying into is the module ecosystem.
Another AC Forst Pist
since the Hindenburg....
"It's probably going to be a perfectly capable phone, but at this price (starting at $1,195) what you're buying into is bragging rights. "
All I seen is "look, camera and pins, camera and pins..." like that's all that matters. At this point they probably have a market for 3 or 4 people.
This is honestly the first Android phone that has appealed to me much, because of the really impressive camera and the module system. Plus the RED guys really seem to do a great job with hardware design... I came super close to pre-ordering one hoping I could use it for a trip in January, though I'm kind of glad I did not since it's still not even shipping yet. :-)
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
The processor inside will be a slightly-out-of-date Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, but it seemed fast enough in the few demos I was able to try.
If you're trying to get people to actually carry this thing as a phone, and not just to sell it to a small handful of people who want it attached to a camera, and you want to sell it for all the money, then it should have the fastest processor as well.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
This is what modular phones should've been about. I love reusing stuff and only buying parts you can afford, along with the ease of upgrading. The base smartphone should have a stable updated secure platform that can go through generations of patches kind of like iPhones/iOS but unlike other flagships today which can barely get 2 new OS releases. I could see this going through every industry.. having a base modular slate/pad/phone call it whatever you want in automobiles, appliances like tvs, stereos, fridges.. it'd save so much waste.
Do want. I can't wait to see how the holographic display works in practice.
Wildly Ambitious is not yet another large, thin, incredibly fragile phablet.
Wildly Ambitious would be a small, thick, sturdy phone with a good CPU and long-life battery that can stand a 2m fall onto concrete.
But no-one will make one.
I wonder why ?
But not much.
Is that somethow related to red mercury?
It's certainly no iphone or Samsung killer. Your average person has no use for it, and big corporations already have better tech. But for the niche audience of indy A/V people like me, it sounds really interesting.
Was a total failure.
then it should have the fastest processor as well.
If you were building a $1k gaming phone, then I would agree with you...
But for a phone specialized around photography, the CPU doesn't matter as much as GPU, and just overall system architecture. Can it capture and edit 4K footage well? That's a much more important issue than mere CPU specs. A phone like this rides way more on how well it functions, than absolute specs...
I personally think it looks like it could be really interesting to have such a highly programmable compact camera with really high quality output.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Holographic looking video chat might be a nice toy for those who can afford to get multiple phones for family members, and I am curious to see the sensor size on the Red version of QX100, but it all feels like incremental improvements in a design that suggests that more is happening than actually is. I get the impression of lots of cooling fins but nothing that generates much heat. My smartphone ownership path has been Treo650 -> N900 -> XZ Premium so it's possible that the sameness of what's out there has made less of an impression on me, and so making this departure from that sameness seem less wild.
My shits are now longer and more enjoyable.
I don't understandwhy is this a phone? When you start buying and adding modules it will hardly be something to call your mom.
Why does it need to be a phone and not just a high end modular compact camera (that also wants to be some sort of mirrorless camera)?
Is the Tesla Model S a phone with car modules?
Is a house with a landline and an android tv a smartphone with modules to sleep in?
When does something stop making sense to be a phone?
Why Android? Does the random android dev know how to build an app that makes sense in the Red context?
The only thing that will get me to maybe switch off of an Apple is the Purism phone. Apple is the best of a terrible bunch when it comes to data privacy and security, but it is also a recognized luxury brand with great support and above average usability. Purism will throw away a bunch of that and give me the power to crawl up the thing's ass if I am so inclined, but will actually be good from a privacy perspective and not be someone else's phone really, it will actually be mine. The endless wave of gimmicks on something that you generally carry around as a part of yourself is I guess for some one, but I know a lot of nerds and geeks, and none of them early adopt sketchy phone tech.
Do you need to read more than "blanket ban on taking any photos or video of the front of the phone" to know that the emporer has no clothes? If they cannot show the public how "great" their only "new, distinguishing feature" is by now, it is certain to be embarrasingly underwhelming.
Seriously, it will be just an overpriced phone with a certain brand name printed on it.
It doesn't run on a hydrogen-burning turbine (or butane) like some phone chargers. You're welcome.
Writing a large sensor image quickly to storage is more important in s video phone.
Opinionated design and quality shouldn't be left to Apple alone. I very much appreciate red getting into the smartphone business and I hope they succeed.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
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He screwed the economy and foreign policy, which means the midterms will result in a long-needed political reset.
No, I'm not tempted by overly priced stuff, I've never even wanted to drive a BMW, and like to keep cars for at least ten years so I 'm not after new cars for the sake of being new. I don't care about expensive things, what I care about is quality (which sometimes is expensive and sometimes is not).
Your post provides an important opportunity to share a life lesson with everyone - you shouldn't buy things that are expensive just because of the label or because they are cool. You buy things that are expensive when the expense is because of actual quality, which means a tool with better results for work that is important to you, or otherwise can be something that can last you much longer than a cheaper.
I don't buy very expensive cars, but I like to buy something pretty nice, that I can keep in good shape for ten years - which is possibly because I try to choose cars that are built well (and admittedly also fun, I'm not wholly practical in the matter).
Similarly I've bought a number of Apple products because they have a high level of quality and last for quite a long time with almost no work. A 2011 MacBook Pro is still going strong with many hours of daily use for example. That was an awesome buy even if it was a bit more expensive at the time. But it's not like I own a HomePod or anything, which I can't bring myself to find real value in.
So coming back around to the RED phone - I don't even think I would replace my iPhone with it, but it tempts me for the pure camera potential of the device, as an early glimpse to where I'd like all cameras to head - basically a big display and an easily programmable system wrapped around a really good camera sensor. And fundamentally it is the build and the camera that I am pretty sure RED will do a great job with, building in a level of quality that will produce pretty excellent results, mixed with a very flexible system that I can customize as much as I like. I also feel like if anyone is going to be able to pull off a truly quality module system it would be RED.
However I must say it draws my interest strongly only because I have a deep interest in photography, if that were not the case I wouldn't care. But I think that's exactly the kind of person RED is targeting anyway, I think it's a good idea as there are still a lot of people who care about photography but are a bit adrift as the camera market is torn asunder by cellphone cameras.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
$1200 is too much for a phone.
$1600 for a titanium camera that I can use as a phone, with an APSC (or bigger) sensor? That could well make me shift system.
I can't afford RED cameras but getting their technology in my pocket? Tempting.
I guess I'm missing the point of this press event. The primary mainstream feature of the phone is the hologram display (and a video chat app that will only work holographically with two of the same phones), but we can't see it ? RED is primarily a camera company, but no discussion of the camera or sample images/clips?
So basically the presser was about the case. Good luck guys.
"Well, good luck finding a judge that doesn't run a bestiality site."