Remember RED’s first phone, the Hydrogen One? Heh, how could you forget? It made headlines for being the first phone from the cinematic camera company and was marketed as having a holographic display. Whelp, we’re probably never getting a sequel as RED’s founder, Jim Jannard, is exiting the company alongside the Hydrogen project as a whole.
Jannard shared a post on RED’s forums to announce his retirement in which he thanks the “many great people” who helped work on Hydrogen, RED Digital Cinema, and Oakley.
I have spent the past 45 years building “inventions wrapped in art”.
Just now turning 70 and having a few health issues, it is now time for me to retire.
I will be shutting down the HYDROGEN project, ending a career that has included Oakley, RED Digital Cinema and HYDROGEN. I am very proud to have worked with many great people over the years who have signed on to the vision.
In the same post, Jannard also says the existing Hydrogen One will continue to be supported into the future. However, it’s unclear for how long.
It’s also unclear if RED will ever make a new phone. Last we heard, RED was in the middle of reinventing the phone due to the sloppy nature of its first device. The second Hydrogen would’ve sported a new “pro camera,” but now, there’s no way of telling whether we’ll ever get that phone or if it’ll go under with the rest of the Hydrogen project.
In the meantime, if, for any reason, you wanna buy a Hydrogen One, it’s been discounted to $645. For that price, you get its 5.7-inch “holographic” display, a Snapdragon 835, dual rear cameras (that I hear suck), dual front-facing cameras (again, that suck), a pretty rugged design, a 4,500mAh battery, USB-C, and a side-mounted fingerprint reader.
I don’t know if $645 makes the Hydrogen One worth buying to you, but if it is, here’s a link to the phone at its cheapest price yet.
