It’s never easy when a project doesn’t work out, and it’s usually not long after the dream goes sour that people start pointing fingers.
RED is doing just that to explain away the multiple issues around their Hydrogen One smartphone which failed to either change the world or wow consumers. This was apparently the fault of the original phone’s Chinese ODM according to RED found Jim Jennard in a post on H4Vuser.net according to PetaPixel.
“Getting our ODM in China to finish the committed features and fix known issues on the HYDROGEN One has proven to be beyond challenging. Impossible actually. …After months of vetting a new design to manufacture house, we have begun the work on the HYDROGEN Two, virtually from scratch, at a new ODM that is clearly more capable of building and supporting the product we (and our customers) demand…The HYDROGEN Two is being methodically designed and crafted to surprise and exceed expectations… again, just as you would expect from us.”
So, basically, nothing is going to change with the current headset but look out for the sequel to come out sometime in the future. Outside of the Hydrogen Two, Jennard also talked about the standalone camera module that will be compatible with both phones. The company has brought the design of the module in house and is really happy with how it has turned out so far.
Nonetheless, RED does take some responsibility for the failings of the first smartphone.
Jennard writes, “While issues have been the result of our original ODM’s short comings, we also understand that customers solely look to us for their satisfaction…To that end, every HYDROGEN One owner will get significant preferential treatment for the HYDROGEN Two and/or new Cinema Camera model, both in delivery allocations and pricing.”
Do you own a Hydrogen One smartphone? What do you think? Victim of hype or Chinese ODM? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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6 Comments
While it didn’t meet the extremely high expectations that were expected when announced it isn’t a bad phone. Still the only phone to offer a version of 3d photography that I know of. Looking forward to seeing what improvement is made.
I’m also looking forward to what comes out next from the company – thank you for your comment Marv! 🙂
As a hydrogen one owner, I actually like the idea of the underrated phone and a few adjustments would save it for me. All the problems other reviewers complain about don’t bother me (for example: barely visible lines in the screen). However, I have a short list of my own problems with the H1 (on 3 different phones now) and feel that we should get a discount on the H2 when it comes out.
My Problems with the H1:
Power button gets stuck all the time.
Finger print scanner software constantly disappears.
3D videos can’t be edited or posted.
Recording 2D and 3D videos won’t always record when you want them to.
And finally, the separate files for the 3D and the 2D formats are a scattered mess.
Thank you for sharing that Nathan! 🙂
While I’ve been proud of my phone in the past, I’ve been slowly let down more and more. I’m on my second H1 and the problems for me are consistent between the two. Speakers start off strong and quickly lose their loudness. I randomly lose service and have to put it on airplane mode and back to get service again. My power button gets stuck. My finger print scanner doesn’t work. And it doesn’t connect properly to my vehicles radio (and I have tested that with multiple others phones and have no issue).
I hate to hear that Tyler – but thanks for letting us know about your experiences. Thank you for your comment :).