Hands-On With The RED Hydrogen One

Last month, the RED Digital Cinema Company announced they were venturing into the world of smartphones with a device that features a 3D screen and it looks like the company, who once promised they would 'kill the DSLR off', have actually put RED Hydrogen One prototypes into circulation. 

Popular YouTube tech reviewer, Marques Brownlee has got his hands on a prototype, well it's actually three prototypes as you'll see in the above video, from RED and he's given his initial thoughts on the new smartphone. 

Marques describes the Hydrogen One as having a 'tri-panel design' and a very 'industrial look'. The middle section is constructed from metal while the top and bottom are constructed from kevlar. The sides have notches cut out of them which act as grips for your fingers but it might feel a bit weird when you first pick the phone up.

If you're not used to a large phone, such as the iPhone 7 Plus, the Hydrogen One is going to feel pretty big as when it was put side-by-side with two other large-sized phones, it actually looked much bigger than the phones it was lined up with. Having said that, it did fit in Marques' pocket quite easily. 

There appears to be a dual camera on the back, as well as a flash, and buttons are found on both sides of the new smartphone for adjusting volume, recording video, powering on and finger recognition. There are also pins on the back which will be used to add mods to the smartphone. 

The phone uses USB type C and the prototype shows a headphone jack at the bottom but Marques says this will be moved to the top when the smartphone is released. On the front are two speakers and the screen measures 5.5" (the announcement said this would measure 5.7" so it's a little smaller). 

No footage of the holographic features the smartphone will have were demonstrated in the video but Marques says they're impressive but do still need some work. However, RED says they should have a full working prototype available for test within a couple of months.There's also a quick flash of a module mount that adds a sensor and lens mount to the Hydrogen One but we don't see it in action or hear much about it.

Red Hydrogen One

If you were wondering where you know Marques' name from, we've previously featured a comparison he put together that looks at the photo quality of 5 popular smartphones. Go check it out. 

(Via PetaPixel)