Excitement is building up as the launch of the RED Hydrogen One smartphone nears. The phone will launch on November 2nd, though, we now have additional specs courtesy of director Phil Holland, that give a better idea of what to expect from the elusive phone.
The highlights of the package are both visible on the outside. Its 5.7″ QHD display is the first to come with a holographic LCD, which displays images in four dimensions rather than two. This results in a holographic effect without the need for special glasses. Still, RED has been highly secretive about this so you better wait for the final release to know what it’s worth.
Cameras
The rear of the phone features the second big addition, in the form of a magnetic pogo connector, which will allow photographers to attach modules that turn the Hydrogen One into a professional camera. The audio component, which includes A3D spatial surround sound is also a good addition.
The rear 12.3-MP cameras are themselves capable of shooting “4V” or holographic content for the display. They are accompanied by 8.3 MP cameras on the front. There’s also a physical shutter key for the camera.
Hardware
Announced last year, the phone doesn’t come with the latest and greatest internals, still featuring the slightly aging Snapdragon 835 which is a precarious situation for a $1195 phone. The bezel-less designs have also become highly-mainstream as of late, so the phone stands out in that respect too as it lacks a bezelless/tall-screen.
There’s 6 GB of RAM, 128 GB of storage, and a microSD card to expand it. There’s also dual-SIM connectivity, a headphone jack and a fingerprint scanner on the side. Charging is done via USB-C.
The recent mainstream flagships have done it at least one favor: turn its price somewhat more acceptable than before. And no matter how you look at it, the Hydrogen One is proof that there is in fact room for innovation in the smartphone space, despite the onslaught of generic looking devices.
