RED Hydrogen One Durability Test - Scratching a Holographic Display?

The Red Hydrogen One is probably one of the most expensive phones I've

test

ed here on my channel, priced at $1,300. I originally purchased the $1,600 titanium version, but it was delayed a few more months. Red was kind enough to send the aluminum version, along with this huge sticky paperweight to tide us over until the titanium version comes out. One of the reasons these phones are probably so expensive could be that we pay for the fancy metal and plastic emblems embedded in the plastic case. Do people usually show the box their phone comes in? Announced over a year ago, with many delays, it's finally time to evaluate the build quality of the Red Hydrogen One.

Let's get started. The first impression right out of the box is that it is a huge and heavy thing. Metal is everywhere. With deep, unique and sturdy corrugated grips along both sides and the back panel, it is definitely one of the most unique looking phones this year. The biggest highlight of this phone has been the

display

. Red claims its 4-view light-filled

display

creates a beyond-3D experience the world never saw coming. The Hydrogen One has 2 cameras on the back so you can take these 3D

holographic

images. You can get a pretty good idea of ​​what it's supposed to look like as I move the phone back and forth.

Only in real life it is not necessary to move the phone to get this effect because it is integrated into the screen. It is really like an automatic digital magic eye. It's interesting for sure. And with a price tag of $1,300, we're keeping the advertising promises to a whole new level. I'm not a big fan of meaningless advertising buzzwords. So when Red says "the world never saw this coming", I have to take a step back and point out that HTC did basically the exact same thing 7 years ago. Seven. In 2011, a year before my YouTube channel was born, HTC launched the Evo 3D with dual 3D cameras on the back.

I just bought this little guy for $60 on eBay. We'll do a little camera comparison between the Evo 3D and its Red Hydrogen counterpart. Holding both phones side by side shows the exact same 3D depth effect on each screen. We get the same moody pop with both images. This is probably one of those situations where Red would have been better off not overplaying the screen. The technology has definitely improved in the last 7 years, of course, but it's still been around for a long time. And it's not the $1,300 show I think we were promised. Let's move on to

durability

with the scratch

test

.

As always, we check what the

holographic

screen is made of. The plastic will scratch at a level 3, the glass will scratch at a level 6, and the actual sapphire crystal will scratch at a level 8 or 9. Red is using Gorilla Glass to cover its holographic technology and we do indeed see scratches on a level 6, deeper grooves at a level 7. Just like the Razer phone, we have huge speaker grills at the top and bottom of this phone. The upper grille houses dual 8.3-megapixel front cameras that can also produce the same autostereogrammatic 3D effect as the rear camera. Both image sensors are protected by glass, as are the rest of the sensors on the right side.

The speaker grill is made of black plastic, similar to that of the Razer Phone. The bottom speaker grille is the same black plastic and can be removed. Interestingly, although the outer plastic grill appears to have 2 locations for the speakers, there is only a small slot inside where the sound comes out. It will look super glamorous and pretty on the outside, but quite disappointing in reality. So far, the Red Hydrogen One is not turning out as its hypothetical instant chat filter implied. These sides, however, are impressive. Made with thick, textured aluminum ridges. There is no phone like it.

The volume buttons are made of metal. The sturdy aluminum finger grips are mirrored on the opposite side, and this includes a dedicated camera button with a small red plastic inlay. It seems to be Red's theme. No complaints. The fingerprint scanner and power button are also here and can get scratched. Although, since the height of the ridges on both sides protects it from rubbing against anything, I highly doubt scratches will be a problem. Even then, if it gets scratched a lot, it still recognizes my fingerprint and works every time. The top of the phone is made of aluminum, along with the SIM and SD card tray.

And, strangely enough, this flagship still has a headphone jack. Probably because this phone was announced a year ago when headphone jacks were still in style. Either way, I'm glad you're here. The bottom has a USB-C port and a lot more metal. Now for the back of the phone. Red has put a lot of emphasis on their industrial aluminum design with durable Kevlar panels... which I'm not really sure what they mean by "durable". It scratches at about the same level as the plastic and peels off like a giant sticker. At least the copper pad to hold the accessories doesn't come off...that would be awkward.

That part may still be real, although there are no props yet, so it's hard to say for sure. The thick, ribbed aluminum backplate is all-metal. You can see the silver shine under the black layer. I wonder if these ribs will help guide the hypothetical fixtures into place when they become available. The Red Media Machine logo is made of metal with a red shatterproof inlay in the center. Something neat. The huge camera lens covers dual 12.3-megapixel cameras, which are used for that 3D effect and don't have wide-angle or telephoto options. The dual tone flash is made of plastic and we have another scratchable Kevlar adhesive panel here on top.

I'm pretty sure I saw a dbrand version of this for like $10. The design of the Hydrogen One is a lot like getting caught on Tinder. The Hydrogen One's pixel orientation may be a little different than your standard LCD screen, so you get that holographic depth effect, but it's still an LCD screen. We should see the pixels on the Red Hydrogen's 5.7-inch 1440p IPS LCD screen start to turn black from the heat of my red lighter. But when the heat is removed, the pixels begin to recover. This shows that bringing a lighter closer to the screen has been useful at least once in the last hundred smartphone

durability

tests.

I knew it would come in handy one day. Congratulations to the lighter worker who does his job. And now we go to the bending test. With the amount of metal oozing out of the sides of this phone, it's pretty reasonable to assume it's built like a tank. And the only way to know for sure is to apply excessive pressure to an overpriced device. But by doing so, we don't get flex. Not even a creak or a pop. The Red Hydrogen One might be 7 years behind in display technology, using gimmicky plastic speaker grills with built-in Kevlar stickers, but they sure made a very rigid and structural smartphone.

Is it worth $1,300? I'm not a big fan of premium cost buzzwords that overpromise and underdeliver, so I'll have to say "no" to this question...for now. However, I definitely see potential in the future when the price probably drops by half. Hit the subscribe button if you like watching constructive destruction. And come hang out with me on Instagram and Twitter. Thanks so much for looking. I'll see you there.