Red's titanium Hydrogen One phone is a disaster: expect further delays

[mongeese]

Bottom line: Red’s CEO Jim Jannard has revealed that ‘the first run of the titanium [version] is a disaster.” The release date for the Red Hydrogen titanium won’t be met and he hasn’t revealed when they’ll be arriving, but he promises they’re working hard on it.

Another first-time phone manufacturer, another missed release schedule. Red promised wild advancements with the Red Hydrogen One phone, such as a holographic display and the best camera of any smartphone, so it has been met with suspicion from the very start. But considering the fact that the Hydrogen One costs more than the new iPhone XS Max, we expected better.

In a post on Red’s forums aptly titled “The post I don’t want to make,” Jannard went into the details on why they missed their schedule: “I told you how difficult [the titanium version] was to make but I was assured by our ODM (Original Design Manufacturers) and vendors we would make enough for the pre-orders. We didn’t.”

“All Red cameras are made in California at our factory in Orange County. We have control over everything. Unfortunately, we are not in the same position with Hydrogen. We are left to rely on the schedules and representations of our suppliers. In this case… we were let down pretty severely.”

Jannard admits in his post that he’d be pretty pissed too if he was a customer that had pre-ordered the phone for the stunningly high price of $1,595. Deliveries for the pre-orders were already pushed back from October 2^nd to October 9^th.

As compensation, Red will send the aluminum version of the Hydrogen One (worth $1,195) to anyone that ordered the titanium version. Once the titanium version is up and running, that will be sent out at no extra cost, so the customer will end up with both phones. No word on when that will be though.

Verizon and AT&T will both be launching the aluminum Hydrogen One on November 2^nd. It’s currently hard to tell if the Hydrogen One will be any good because anyone who received the pre-release ‘Houdini’ edition was forbidden from criticizing it, so we’d recommend waiting for impartial reviews before running out and getting one.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/76686-red-titanium-hydrogen-one-phone-disaster-expect-further.html

 

[VitalyT]

When you release a small-niche product, you don't get much of a backlash, even if the product is bad. But when you release a bad product for the wide market, everybody knows when the product sucks.

It seems that Red has been successful at avoiding large-scale criticism by pricing their products 10 times what they should be. There are simply too few customers to warrant a just and well-heard criticism.

But now they show everybody just how inept they are at producing anything good. Shortly after they will be back to their cave for insanely overpriced products. Put a diamond on it, and sell for 100x times more.

Do you think that because Bugatti Chiron costs 10 times your average Lambo, it is 10 times better a car? Now imagine that instead a Lambo costs more than Chiron, then you'll get the idea of what this Red phone is like versus any top phone from Samsung or Apple.

I knew 100% the project was going to be a major flop before they even started. This happens to every company that thinks too much of itself.

Do you think they have finally got the red button done right.......?

 

[Vulcanproject]

To actually be given such an expensive free phone is a fairly incredible gesture. Most companies would just tell the consumer their pre-order is cancelled or delayed and not offer much in the way of apologies or compensation.

However for them to give the people with pre-orders of the Titanium essentially a free Aluminium phone they could likely shift for ~$1000 when they finally get their Titanium is some serious grovelling.

 

[p51d007]

I never "pre order" ANYTHING. If I can't walk into a store or grab it from Amazon/Walmart/Target/other retailer...forget it. "niche" products typically have short runs, short shelf life, and sometimes inferior service/quality. Let the early birds work out the issues. If it is good, people will buy it and it will improve.

 

[RobertH1]

The RED Hydrogen 1 is in my hand. To set things straight this machine has the best camera and battery performance of ANY thing available.

And it is still receiving updates...

I just spent a week at Yellowstone and was able to create wonderful 2D stills and videos, as well as the thing that you can't imagine... It needs to be seen... The H4V format stills and video.

Audio 3D is just icing on the cake.

Relax and wait until general release.
Look at the technical reviews just released.

Think about if S or A would give you a free phone if a model was delayed? No way!

This is the start of something great, for everyone...

 

[roy al licky]

The RED Hydrogen 1 is in my hand. To set things straight this machine has the best camera and battery performance of ANY thing available.

And it is still receiving updates...

I just spent a week at Yellowstone and was able to create wonderful 2D stills and videos, as well as the thing that you can't imagine... It needs to be seen... The H4V format stills and video.

Audio 3D is just icing on the cake.

Relax and wait until general release.
Look at the technical reviews just released.

Think about if S or A would give you a free phone if a model was delayed? No way!

This is the start of something great, for everyone...

I too have seen this phone and also watched people's reactions to it.

Quite simply this is the biggest "wow" I have seen since holding my first Iphone. The quality of 3d/hologrpahic images is remarkable...literally jumps of the screen.

But what will make this technology a winner (and adopted by all other players) is the ability to take top quality 3D images and video; I genuinely cannot even begin to tell you what a game-changer this is.

For those who are bemoaning the delays, trust me; it is worth it...in a HUGE way