Verizon gets Red Hydrogen One

[Carclis]

4 minutes ago, kokakolia said:

I hate being devils advocate here, but Apple is too big to get away with their anti-consumer shenanigans. They frequently got sued this year for batteries, faulty keyboards, non genuine screens, software updates etc... So the consumer ends up getting more from Apple than what Apple is willing to give. Comparatively, many Android phones offer less in terms of software updates and servicing. I mean the LG Nexus 4 was totally gimped from awful software updates only 2 years after launch. And the Google Pixel could be a similar story. But nobody cares about Nexus/Pixel phones so Google can get away with more shenanigans than Apple.

I agree that it sucks to no longer receive software support, but I don't agree that it's in the same category as being refused repairs for devices that were suffering from known and common defects resulting from poor design. As far as I'm aware these issues and legal dances have been going on for at least a decade now and it's just not good enough. Louis Rossman has a 25 minute video detailing much of it since 2007 that he released around three weeks ago. There are no signs of it stopping. But this isn't a topic about Apple so...

[Zodiark1593]

10 hours ago, DrMacintosh said:

This phone does have a specialized conrctor on the back that I would expect RED to use for this purpose, but that does not appear to the case. 

 

Would it not make the most sense to have 2 SD card slots then? One for storing Video and the other for the phone? Unless the phone starts at 64GB of internal storage. 

 

Having to pop pop out the SD card that contains some data other than the videos/photos from the phone seems very inconvenient and low effort on the part of RED. 

 

 

From what this seems to be, isn't so much a smartphone that has a really good camera, rather a video camera (perhaps on par with a DSLR?) that happens to have a smartphone bolted on. With this premise in mind (a production-first device vs consumer-first), there is some order to the madness.

 

As to whether or not the concept will prove successful, or even makes sense at all remains to be seen. This is the first gen of such a product however, a test run to see if the concept will be successful enough to produce a much refined successor.

 

I'm in the camp of "wait and see what video professionals think" before passing judgment. If the device flops, the world moves on like nothing happened. If successful, the device will have carved out a new niche that still won't impact Apple (or anyone else) at all.

[Lathlaer]

I wanted one at some point but then I ended up needing upgrade much sooner so I went with the S9.

 

Right now my biggest concern regarding this phone is that they are trying to make it sound like this wondrous multimedia modular machine so we can expect lots of stuff to add to make the shooting experience much better.

 

Problem is, smartphones age quite poorly in comparison to regular cameras or maybe it's just my impression. In three years time Samsung will be launching S12 or smth, Apple will be launching the next iPhone as well and in the meantime Hydrogen owners will be sticking modular accessories to their outdated phone which will be slower in itself than most entry level phones in that time.

 

Ofc. they can release a new version each year but I fear that the phone will be outdated before any serious add-ons appear.

 

Heck, it's already outdated CPU-wise, sporting the same Snapdragon as flagship phones from last year. 

[kokakolia]

13 minutes ago, Lathlaer said:

I wanted one at some point but then I ended up needing upgrade much sooner so I went with the S9.

 

Right now my biggest concern regarding this phone is that they are trying to make it sound like this wondrous multimedia modular machine so we can expect lots of stuff to add to make the shooting experience much better.

 

Problem is, smartphones age quite poorly in comparison to regular cameras or maybe it's just my impression. In three years time Samsung will be launching S12 or smth, Apple will be launching the next iPhone as well and in the meantime Hydrogen owners will be sticking modular accessories to their outdated phone which will be slower in itself than most entry level phones in that time.

 

Ofc. they can release a new version each year but I fear that the phone will be outdated before any serious add-ons appear.

 

Heck, it's already outdated CPU-wise, sporting the same Snapdragon as flagship phones from last year. 

I believe that we should stop worrying about specs. The Snapdragon 835 is more than fine. It just feels really bad buying a brand new phone, that’s really expensive, with that chip. Heck, I would say that a midrange Snapdragon 650 is “better” because you get more out of your battery without sacrificing too much performance. Same goes with using a 720p screen over 1080p, but that’s more debatable (and the battery gains are negligible).

 

Knowing about tech is actually detrimental in a weird way. Most non tech people would just use their phones if they just work for them. They are content. Tech people have that huge itch to upgrade ever so often to get the latest specs. 

 

To me personally, the main selling feature for a phone would be an awesome software experience, because a phone is really just a screen with a speaker (to me). As Chris Pirillo said, he wouldn’t stomach the idea of buying a $1000 phone because iOS and Android both “suck” (and he thinks that specs are completely irrelevant today). 

[DrDerp]

1 hour ago, kokakolia said:

I hate being devils advocate here, but Apple is too big to get away with their anti-consumer shenanigans.

I disagree, what he's saying is that people buy it anyways because of the brand. My friend bought a brand new Macbook Pro 13 because he needed it for movie making, despite using Adobe instead of Finalcut Pro, and having an Samsung Smartphone. I literally even told him he could get better performance and just as good of a screen by going for a Windows Machine that costs half the price. Its that sorta stuff, just because it's Apple people will buy it, because they don't pay attention to the company and its actions.

[Drak3]

1 hour ago, Lathlaer said:

I wanted one at some point but then I ended up needing upgrade much sooner so I went with the S9.

 

Right now my biggest concern regarding this phone is that they are trying to make it sound like this wondrous multimedia modular machine so we can expect lots of stuff to add to make the shooting experience much better.

 

Problem is, smartphones age quite poorly in comparison to regular cameras or maybe it's just my impression. In three years time Samsung will be launching S12 or smth, Apple will be launching the next iPhone as well and in the meantime Hydrogen owners will be sticking modular accessories to their outdated phone which will be slower in itself than most entry level phones in that time.

 

Ofc. they can release a new version each year but I fear that the phone will be outdated before any serious add-ons appear.

 

Heck, it's already outdated CPU-wise, sporting the same Snapdragon as flagship phones from last year. 

Thing is, the 845 is only faster in short sprints, it'd thermal throttle in any phone sporting it, if you were to do anything intensive. The upgrade is mostly confined to paper, software is what really makes the difference now.

[Coaxialgamer]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and not immediately yell at the price tag. 

Sure , it's expensive , but we've seen considerably more expensive phones for special purposes ( security , rugged etc ) . Red likely isn't stupid , and i don't think they expect this phone to be a mass market product like the iphone X. They're probably trying to fill out a niche somewhere , probably around their camera. We'll just have to see if they can make it worthwhile.

[BuckGup]

7 hours ago, captain_to_fire said:

Because of Qualcomm 

Or they won't support software updates like the Pixel 1

[Commodus]

2 hours ago, DrDerp said:

I disagree, what he's saying is that people buy it anyways because of the brand. My friend bought a brand new Macbook Pro 13 because he needed it for movie making, despite using Adobe instead of Finalcut Pro, and having an Samsung Smartphone. I literally even told him he could get better performance and just as good of a screen by going for a Windows Machine that costs half the price. Its that sorta stuff, just because it's Apple people will buy it, because they don't pay attention to the company and its actions.

Be careful about saying that.  The current MacBook Pro is long in the tooth (wouldn't be surprised if it got an update at WWDC in June), so it's not the best example, but a lot of the "omg you could get a faster Windows PC for half the price" argumentation is, well, false.  The issue is more that Apple focuses on things that many users don't necessarily care about, like SSD performance, Thunderbolt 3 ports or that Touch Bar.  I do think it's odd to get a MacBook if you primarily use Adobe Premiere, though, since FCP has a clear edge on the Mac.

 

The other bit that many forget is that people aren't always buying Macs for the raw specs or the brand.  It's that trackpad (not so much the keyboard now).  It's getting a solid aluminum chassis instead of some creaky, wobbly piece of plastic or magnesium.  It's the software workflow.  It's not having to spend two hours on the phone troubleshooting a problem when an Apple Store might hand you a replacement device in 15 minutes.  That sort of thing.

 

Back on topic: I'm curious to see how the Hydrogen One fares in practice.  I'm not expecting it to be a blockbuster hit, but I hope that Snapdragon 835 isn't a limiting factor.

 

[kokakolia]

The Snapdragon 835 will be a limiting factor for all the dumb reasons:

 

- Review sites will knock points off for having the 835 instead of the 845 (when it makes little to no difference in practice, but the synthetic benchmark will show “INFERIOR NUMBERS”)

- Who’s the market for the Hydrogen One? It’s definitely not the mainstream public because Apple/Samsung has that cornered. And phone enthusiasts will immediately be turned off by “INFERIOR NUMBERS”, i.e. the archaic Snapdragon 835. Maybe photographers if the camera blows everything out of the water?

[AnonymousGuy]

Pretty sure this whole "modular" deal has been attempted before on phones.  It fails miserably because you end up with a chicken-egg problem where no one buys the phone because it has no modules available, and no modules are available because no one buys the phone.  

 

My prediction: flop.  $1500 and you'll get maybe a couple modules that will be stupidly expensive and outclassed by other gear anyways.  And then in a year you realize you phone is outdated as hell and you don't want to invest even more money into it but don't worry, the Red Phone 2 will be around the corner costing another $1500 and you'll say fuck it and buy an iphone.

 

Hell even Samsung sucks dick at releasing software updates.  Good luck to Red putting out hardware modules.

[Drak3]

1 hour ago, AnonymousGuy said:

Good luck to Red putting out hardware modules.

The phone's design is to integrate with existing RED hardware.

1 hour ago, AnonymousGuy said:

It fails miserably because you end up with a chicken-egg problem where no one buys the phone because it has no modules available, and no modules are available because no one buys the phone.  

It fails on the consumer market. Producer market, it might do extremely well.

1 hour ago, AnonymousGuy said:

And then in a year you realize you phone is outdated as hell and you don't want to invest even more money into it but don't worry, the Red Phone 2 will be around the corner costing another $1500 and you'll say fuck it and buy an iphone.

Being "outdated" means fuck all to the target market. Reliability and productivity are what's important.

[Commodus]

4 hours ago, kokakolia said:

The Snapdragon 835 will be a limiting factor for all the dumb reasons:

 

- Review sites will knock points off for having the 835 instead of the 845 (when it makes little to no difference in practice, but the synthetic benchmark will show “INFERIOR NUMBERS”)

- Who’s the market for the Hydrogen One? It’s definitely not the mainstream public because Apple/Samsung has that cornered. And phone enthusiasts will immediately be turned off by “INFERIOR NUMBERS”, i.e. the archaic Snapdragon 835. Maybe photographers if the camera blows everything out of the water?

 

I don't think it's the "inferior numbers" that will be the problem.  It's more that you're dropping $1,200-plus on a phone that will run into its performance limits earlier into its lifespan.  That was a concern with the LG G6, and that was a considerably more affordable phone.

 

For that matter, the Snapdragon 845 also helps with 4K60 video shooting, which you'd think would be important on a phone from a professional video camera company.

[D13H4RD]

12 hours ago, kokakolia said:

I see this phone and it reminds me a lot of the Essential PH-1. I expect a lukewarm response at launch because the price is too darn high! And you may as well buy the latest Samsung/Apple flagship instead. But the price should drop soon after, and it could be the best enthusiast phone for the money. Just wait and see. 

I don't think it'll be sorta like that.

 

It's aimed towards those who already invested in a RED camera and its equipment

[Tsuki]

On 5/20/2018 at 10:40 PM, DrMacintosh said:

Is that like the cool new go to argument as to why one phone is better than another? Because that makes a difference about 0% of the time. Nobody cares about not having a headphone jack. Sales haven’t gone down and meaningful amount.

i care. i refuse to buy a phone that doesnt have a headphone jack. my car doesnt have bluetooth, i dont have bluetooth headphones. the amp powering my passive speakers arent bluetooth.  im not going to replace every single piece of technology because my phone didnt have the correct port without shitty dongles.

Quote

I will never understand the obsession with removable storage. I don’t see it as being more convenient than just buying the amount of storage that you need form the start. Internal storage is faster, more secure, and requires no additional management from the user.

storage needs change over time. maybe i dont like paying an extra $150 for an extra 16GB of storage, when i can spend $40 for a 64GB micro sd.

 

but i already know theres no use trying to reason with you about apple stuff   (we're both have strong opposing feelings about apple and that conversation wont go anywhere)

[MorganO]

On 5/21/2018 at 6:03 AM, Dabombinable said:

This phone:

• Is using a Snapdragon 835 (which are only found in flagship phones 

 

except most of the new phones have the snapdragon 845 now

[Carclis]

10 hours ago, AnonymousGuy said:

And then in a year you realize you phone is outdated as hell and you don't want to invest even more money into it but don't worry, the Red Phone 2 will be around the corner costing another $1500 and you'll say fuck it and buy an iphone.

1 minute ago, MorganO said:

except most of the new phones have the snapdragon 845 now

The only reason people buy new phones or sign up to new plans every year is because they're falling for the companies pushing us towards increased consumerism. The sooner people realise that there is little difference between this years phone and last years, certainly not $1500 of improvement, the better.

[Oggy]

I don't like phones. Having to use them, hear about them etc. BUT I'd buy this if BOGO which I can see happening if sales are low.