Camera maker RED got the internet in an uproar when it announced it would release an Android phone.
However, the Hydrogen One turned out to be an overpriced and underperforming mess in spite of the “revolutionary” 3D screen. RED founder Jim Jannard has posted an update on the company’s forums, and he points to the company’s ODM (original device manufacturer) partner as the cause of the Hydrogen One’s issues. Don’t worry, though. Jannard promises the upcoming Hydrogen Two will be much better.
RED knows how to make cameras, which is why everyone sat up and took notice when the company announced its phone project. Since RED didn’t have any expertise making phones, it turned to an unnamed Chinese ODM. Jannard now says that company did a poor job designing the phone’s hardware and integrating RED technology. At the time of the announcement, RED claimed the Hydrogen One would feature a killer cinematic camera module add-on, but that never materialized. Again, Jannard blames the ODM for the issues. To make matters worse, the phone’s built-in camera was abysmal.
The company has spent months vetting new design and manufacturing partners, and it’s now ready to move forward with the Hydrogen Two. Jannard promises this phone will be better, and that RED is taking over development of the cinematic camera module, known as Komodo. The company will provide more information on Komodo soon, but it will apparently be even more capable than the originally planned module for the Hydrogen One.
If you read between the lines, it sounds like RED is giving up on the Hydrogen One — that’s a phone that some RED fans spent more than $1,000 to buy less than a year ago. RED is an aspirational brand for a lot of consumers. Most people could never afford one of the company’s $15,000 entry-level camera bodies, but they might drop a grand on the company’s phone. Sadly, they got a bad product, and that could sour them on the RED brand completely.
Jannard says the company won’t forget Hydrogen One owners — at least not entirely. They will get “significant preferential treatment” when the Hydrogen Two and cinematic module come out. The wording suggests these customers can expect earlier deliveries and lower prices on the new phone. Still, the success or failure of the Hydrogen Two is heavily dependent on the ODM. Building phones is not easy, and RED can’t embark on this journey alone.
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