The Hydrogen One isn't trying to be like most smartphones.Marques Brownlee/YouTube
Last summer, the professional camera company RED announced it would release the "world's first holographic media machine" in early 2018.
The Hydrogen One phone, starting at $1,195, was immediately available to preorder.
RED teased an image of the Hydrogen One and gave the popular YouTube tech reviewer Marques Brownlee (known as MKBHD) a nonfunctional prototype, but not much else was shared about the device for several months.
In an update last month on the smartphone's status, RED's founder, Jim Jannard, shared additional details and a rough launch estimate for the final product, which both he and the company's president, Jarred Land, now own.
"I can proudly say that my current phone (and Jarred's) is a working HYDROGEN One... serial numbers EVT1- 0001 and 0002," Jannard wrote on a RED message board. "While there are still a few things to add, it does everything we need from a cell phone... plus display 4-view content. It is awesome. If we never sell one phone... I am totally happy. We both have exactly what we wanted."
Here's a closer look at the Hydrogen One smartphone.
Jeff Dunn contributed to an earlier version of this post.
Brownlee said RED walked him through an early demo of the Hydrogen One's "holographic" display tech but that he wasn't able to show it on camera. Brownlee suggested it was a tad rough around the edges and still hard to say how much video content will use it.
For the "holographic" mode, Jannard says, the screen dims a bit before it pops out an image you can see without needing special glasses.
Jannard calls this "4V resolution" and says it's "better than 3D," but what that means isn't completely clear.
The "holographic" tech is optional; if you want to use the Hydrogen One without it, you can. But it's apparently going to have a very large battery for capturing and playing content. Buyers might want to take advantage of the size â and the price.
Brownlee's accessory was also nonfunctional â so again, it's too soon to say how well all of this will work. But unsurprisingly, it looks as if it would make the phone even thicker.
The modules might be worth the extra thickness, though. Jannard teased a YouTube-like network to "sell your 4V projects or give them away for free."
Jannard also mentioned an announcement about social-media partners, meaning you might be able to share "holographic" videos on your existing platforms.
To see more of the Hydrogen One phone, check out Brownlee's full video.
Jannard said a coming post on the RED forum would show users how to shoot and create 4V content, so maybe we'll get a better glimpse of the functionality soon.
RED is also showing prototypes of the Hydrogen One phone to prospective content-production partners and said it would hold an event in April that customers who have preordered it can also attend.
The Hydrogen One phone isn't expected to ship via carriers until this summer, but preordered unlocked phones will ship earlier.
There's still no official word on carrier support just yet; it will take some time for carriers to certify the device.
Though the phone is chunky and expensive, if it is indeed a modular, glasses-free 3D device, the Hydrogen One will be one of the more interesting smartphones. Of course, we'll have to see a working model first.