First Look: Red's 'Holographic' Hydrogen One Smartphone

Did Princess Leia rise up out of the screen and tell me I'm her only hope? Nope. But the Red Hydrogen One, coming to AT&T and Verizon, is impressive in other ways.


AT&T's third annual Shape event attracted 14,000 people to the Warner Bros. Studio Lot in Burbank this weekend, where the company played host to filmmakers and startups who showcased the intersection between tech and creativity.

But the main attraction, for us anyway, was the chance for a sneak peek at the holographic Red Hydrogen One smartphone, which is coming to AT&T and Verizon this summer. We weren't allowed to take photos (beyond the one below), but got some hands-on time with the device.

It looks great, with a solid, robust industrial-style design and Kevlar panels, which make it easy to grip. The high-end device has a heft to it; it's about 2 ounces heavier than a regular 5.7-inch device and the titanium one packs an even strong punch (get the reinforced rivets on your Diesel jeans if you buy that one). There are 8MP front-facing stereo cameras and 12MP rear-facing stereo ones, too.

Red Hydrogen One

Inside is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor; it ran easily and smoothly in our demo. The phone also sounds amazing; A3D Spatial Surround provides surround sound-like audio without headphones.

But what about that 4V holographic display? Did Princess Leia rise up out of the screen and tell me I'm her only hope? Nope. Did the device generate a full-size holographic love interest like we saw in Blade Runner 2049? Negative, Captain.

Don't think of "4V holographic" as traditional holograms. Instead, imagine gazing deeply into the screen and, without wearing 3D glasses, viewing things in 3D. If that doesn't sound awesome for the price, the demos did bring the device to life. The phone screen itself appeared to recede into the background, allowing you to focus on the action ahead. Then, with certain effects, the device does mess with your brain (in a good way) as you scramble to make sense of what you're seeing.

Red Hydrogen One at AT&T Shape event

For example, a Smurf threw a ball and I flinched, swerving to avoid it hitting my eye; a skyscraper loomed moodily from the mists of Manhattan; Merida shot an arrow towards me; and a cute monster from Monsters Inc blew a party favor. I have to admit, I was sold.

Want one? Get in line. AT&T and Verizon will start shipping to customers this summer. If you're a risk taker, and like to purchase your devices sight-unseen, you can pre-order now: $1,295 for an aluminum model and $1,595 for a titanium unit. Beware, you'll probably also end up shelling out for the modular add-on accessories, like higher-quality cameras coming post-launch.

The Word From Hollywood

The device will need buy-in from Hollywood types, but on the plus side, filmmakers are already quite familiar with Red due to its line of high-end cinematic gear.

Shot on RedNancy Schreiber, director of photography on Better Things and cinematographer on Mapplethorpe, told us she is "certainly intrigued" by the Hydrogen One.

"We have many tools at our disposal as cinematographers and filmmakers, and this might just go into my toolbox to be used in special circumstances," she said. "I will have to get my hands on one to test in order to give you my exact opinion. I still like having my choice of lenses, both spherical and anamorphic and form factor of more traditional digital motion picture cameras. However: jumping into cars, shooting on subways, in the jungle—I can see wanting to check out the Hydrogen One."

The Creator Speaks

Enter Jim Jannard, founder of Oakley and Red Cinema and creator of the Hydrogen One, who we snagged a few moments with at the Shape event.

Why did you want to build this high-end phone and how does it fit into the rest of the Red story?
In my first life at Oakley I built things that I wanted for me and they went from consumer products, like bike grips, then goggles, then sunglasses. So basically this is the phone I wanted for me, and I'd started thinking about it back when I started Red.

When you entered the cinematography gear industry in 2006, you caused quite a stir. Now you want to take on Apple, Samsung, and the rest in the smartphone business?
Jim Jannard, founder, Oakley and RedFirst off, at Red, I saw an opportunity to help shift everything in the change from film to digital. The other guys were not going to do it right, I knew that. But I had my eye always on the consumer end of things. I thought if we built the right digital cinema platform, have cameras, a library of products, a team, a technology, that we could translate all of that into a consumer product at some point. I thought it might take five years, it ended up taking 12. But my philosophy is if you can't make a meaningful improvement or supply something that people weren't even dreaming of, then you shouldn't be getting into the market.

Can we address the holographic display issue? There's a hot bed of contention inside tech forums.
When they think about 'holograms' a lot of people picture 'the Princess Leia thing.' But we believe holograms cover a wide space. I'd prefer to define what it is for us. H4V is not Princess Leia popping up off a table. It is also not the hologram on your credit card. It is somewhere in between. It does have look-around. It doesn't have a ton, which is expected because of the angles of image capture. 3D has none. It has two points of view. 4View has some because it has 4 points of view. It is not more complicated than that. Some have posted [online] that the 'effect' can't be seen off angle. It can.

I can confirm that. I deliberately 'looked around' the image to see if it disappeared or degraded. It didn't.
Thank you for saying that.

You're very active in the Red forums, and have addressed the issues around resolution. Can you restate them here on the record?
Resolution is a bit more complicated. If you view 2,560 by 1,440 (QHD) in 2D, you know exactly what that should look like. The same exact file size in H4V is broken up into four pieces, all 1,280 by 720 (720p). You have the same number of pixels. They are just redistributed from a 2D plane into four depth planes. There is no resolution loss at all. It is just different. Same file size, same upload and download speed. I hope this helps align everyone what exactly to expect from the display tech.

As we're sitting on the Warner Bros lot, let's talk about Hollywood. It's clear from the design (and price point) that you're aiming this as a consumer product but also towards creatives. Can you talk about how Hydrogen One fits into the Red cinema ecosystem?
I always had my eye on a cell phone that worked inside a modular system, which could bring a cinematic camera module - but something much better than the current DSLRs, and marry it to the cell phone.

Tell us more about the modular system. Red cinema gear is known for its range of accessories and upgrades. I'm assuming the same principle applies for this device?
We have several modules planned. Some as you might expect like a battery module, gaming control module, speaker module, 2D cinema camera module, advanced 3D/4V module and a few others that I won't mention for competitive reasons. All of the modules connect with magnets and pogo pins that you can see on the back of Hydrogen One. Some heavier ones also have a safety device, so they are completely secure. The modules (some of them) are stackable... like battery and camera modules. Power and data go both ways and pass through.

What about the rumored lens mount?
We are working on two systems for lens mounts. One is a Red mount with the closest possible distance between mount and sensor. It accepts a variety of interchangeable lens mounts directly. The backup is a system of adapters, like using a Sony but adding a Canon adaptor.

Finally, cinematographers I've spoken to are curious to get their hands on the device to see if they can use it for their Hollywood day jobs. What's the spec for 4K capture and playback?
I can't tell you the exact specs right now. But I will tell you it's worthy of projection on a 60-foot screen.