Can you still make/take calls on the Hydrogen?

[Mike Krumlauf]

Given how cheap they are, I was thinking about picking one up as a second phone... if i took it to at&t, could a sim still get put in there and activate?

I know the phone failed pretty hard, and I have no intention of getting one other than having it as a backup phone & conversation piece.

 

[Michael Hastings]

I have one that I use for the camera and backup google voice phone and still works fine. No reason it shouldn't work with a sim.

 

[Ryan Sims]

My guess is no to all carriers now. AT&T shutdown voice services over their 3G network February 22, 2022. Just search for att-3g-sunset.
I used my Hydrogen until that point. Data seemed to work fine still, but not voice with the 3G network turned off nation wide.
It still does have a cool 3D display of photos you can take with it. That alone might make it worth it at a bargain price.

 

[Karim D. Ghantous]

I disagree, Andrew. The image output is awful. But, the large stereo display and large battery make it worth using as a stereo camera. I still use it from time to time. And it got me interested in stereo photography, which is something that I want to take further in the future. I have some fun ideas that I hope to develop.

 

[Michael Hastings]

hydrogen is pretty good for casual 3D of near subjects because the intraocular of the two lenses is very close - much closer than many the other 3d sub $1000 cameras that were out at the time.

 

[Karim D. Ghantous]

I guess you arent using the "photo DOF" feature?


Arent you the perosn who doesnt even shoot on Reds? Or am I misremembering. I also think Helium is reds best sensor.

When viewed on the device, the photos are great. But they are awful if you examine them in detail.

I have never shot on a Red camera. Heck, I'm not even a DP yet.

 

[Tom Sefton]

Easily the biggest waste of money I've ever had. Totally shafted by Red for this - early marketing materials hinted that the expansion port would make it useable with their cameras. Absolute cash grab

 

[Tom Sefton]

Why must I be new here? Because my opinion differs?

The phone cost as much as an iPhone and the 3D effect was like an overlaid lenticular display which is exactly what the marketing bumf said it wouldn’t.

We were also told it would work with red cameras as an accessory (which by the way I’ve owned 4 since 2013), and then it didn’t. So the protection on the investment went south immediately.

so tell me - what makes me a “real red owner”?Accepting everything that is released without question? Red make decent cameras, but it’s just a tool. Same as a Venice or arri.

The Hydrogen was an absolute piece of £1200 garbage, which required an import duty to get to the UK too. Id have been better off buying 2 google pixels and making myself cross eyed to get a 3D effect.

 

[Phil Holland]

From a more broader perspective.

Things I think Hydrogen did right:
- Extremely robust and durable body design
- Premium body materials, aluminum + titanium
- extremely large battery, somewhat setting off a trend of that
- button layout was good
- Does actually interface and monitor via RED Control, still even
- Good hardware specs in most categories, including a chunk of RAM

Things I think Hydrogen missed on:
- Program didn't survive for Camera Module/Interface
- Some users had hardware button issues
- People certainly didn't like that it took a minute to hit market and had the previous gen processor

Things that moderately were dividing:
- H4V way ahead of it's time for consumer facing device

Expanding a bit. I still see people who are passionate about 3D and H4V using the phone for capture and viewing. In that way, good times. I think a more potent route would have been aiming for a higher quality 2D screen, an emphasis on RAW stills, and some form of REDCODE RAW motion w/ 3 cameras on the rear of phone, and bypassing a camera module (or having one ready within 6 months of release). I have one other suggestion, but I won't state that publicly as no manufacturer has done it yet, but there's a sort of obvious thing nobody is doing, which a more niche market smartphone like this would have certainly garnered a following with. Moderately haven't light meetings about that here and there, but mass market players have multi-year roadmaps that a device like this would either need to be it's own thing or released under a new company/brand to not interfere with their core efforts.

The processor thing at the time didn't bug me as going up against giants who already jumped through every international communication loop was going to certainly equate to some chaos.

H4V apps along the way were interesting and I did explore it on the R&D and creativity side. 3D comes in and out of my professional life every so often, so yeah, curious. Even more curious is Sony now has only increased their display tech on this front and more new technology now exists in this space than ever. Jim certainly was trying to get in early, but we have a long road ahead before any of that is the norm.

As a phone, pretty damn good for the time when you add the sum of all of it's parts with H4V being a thing people wanted or didn't want basically.

I think Jim was pretty open early on with some of the challenges he faced with the program ending or not. Technically speaking he did build the most advanced and highest quality phone of the era with some moderate issues that came up short on camera interfacing and modules. Not battery blowing up issues or anything at least. No phone has matched the materials, but that won't be true for much longer. Only two companies are doing "interesting" things on the materials front in my mind during or since.

The early potential for a Hydrogen 2 got me pretty jazzed, but again, going up against giants with ultra refinement with rather quick to market annual models, pretty tough.

As a phone, it was my daily driver for a long while. No issues as a smartphone really. Never broke, survived without a case in some fairly exotic locations and in my pants rubbing up against rock when climbing. So did well there.

I'm not in the super negative on it. I lean towards pretty cool, but could have been better and perhaps more approachable towards a different core audience.

Interestingly if the program went on we'd like be on H3 or H4 by now. I suspect it would have been wise to launch a separate line excluding the H4V tech. We'll never know what that could have been, but where the tech is now, the mind certainly cranks on the potential there. A lot has transpired since with smartphone gimbals and accessories as well as them being used more commonly for content creation. That is and will continue to be a growing trend for sure.

 

[Adrian Jebef]

lol me thinks the only folks that bought that thing were those on this forum

 

[Diego Querzoli]

I still use one and keep one unopened box, just for fun!

 

[Neil Abeynayake]

I own two of them things. A titanium and an unused, Black Hydrogen One, still in the box. I'm keeping the Titanium and selling the Black Hydrogen One. They can still be used with T-Mobil and Verizon. If anyone wants to purchase a Hydrogen One (Black) one, offer me a reasonable figure, and it could be your's.

 

[Karim D. Ghantous]

The Hydrogen proved that in principle there is easily room for at least one more major mobile platform. Ditch Android, refine the stereo display, and you have something unique. Easy to say, of course.

And don't make it in China, for goodness sakes.