Atomos Ninja Phone converts an iPhone 15 Pro into a pro-level monitor-recorder

Atomos has announced the Ninja Phone, a 10-bit video co-processor for smart phones and tablets that lets you record from professional HDMI cameras.

The first release of Ninja Phone, which will be demonstrated at NAB 2024 at the Atomos booth (C4931) is designed for iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. It’s a decent combination that uses Atomos’ knowledge of Apple ProRes encoding and Apple’s cutting-edge silicon and screen technology to create what he company modesty says is “the world’s most beautiful, portable, and connected professional monitor-recorder.”

Safe to say, the iPhone display is leagues above the majority of built-in screens that come with most cameras, boasting a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio and supporting Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG. It can display 11 stops of dynamic range with a peak brightness of 1600 nits, making it a good shout for HDR and outdoor viewing. Apart from the fact that you might want to make the odd call or field a few WhatsApp messages while shooting, why wouldn’t you want to use it?

Ninja Phone is designed in two parts: the Ninja Phone video co-processor and the Atomos iPhone Case. The case provides a secure mount to attach the Ninja Phone to the iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max, and enables the use of locking USB-C connectors.

The Ninja Phone is designed on AtomIC 5, the next generation of Atomos silicon that allows for low power, silent operation, drawing just 2.4W in full flight. The Ninja Phone weighs in at 94 grams (3.32oz) and when combined with the Pro Max and Atomos case is just 334 grams (11.78oz). 

The system encodes the camera’s HDMI signal to ProRes or H.265, with both formats at 10-bit quality for perfect HDR. The encoded video is sent via Ninja Phone’s USB-C output to the iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max’s USB-C port. The iPhone’s A17 system-on-a-chip then decodes the camera sensor image to display on the high-resolution iPhone screen.

The camera’s output appears on the iPhone screen with zero latency thanks to Atomos’ efficient ProRes pipeline. The ProRes-encoded video can be stored on the phone as a .mov file and/or simultaneously transcoded by the iPhone to 10-bit H.265 for workflows like camera to cloud, or live streaming via the iPhone’s built-in 5G and Wi-Fi 6E connectivity.

For social media creators who need to shoot in 9:16 portrait mode, the Ninja Phone app adjusts to horizontal or vertical video modes. The Ninja Phone app will run on iOS and iPadOS, and will be downloadable at the time of shipping.

The Ninja Phone accommodates external iPhone accessories by integrating a separate USB-C hub to allow necessary professional add-ons like wireless USB-C microphones, for perfectly synchronizing video and audio. Third-party accessories are supported via the Ninja Phone with more added over time.

The iPhone 15 Pro’s enhanced connectivity opens a door for Ninja Phone users to make full use of Atomos’ Cloud Services (ACS). These include super-efficient Camera to Cloud workflows, remote live production, and cloud editing. With ACS, content creators can publish video to social media within minutes, and filmmakers can send their footage to their postproduction team via the cloud for the fastest possible production workflow.

“Thanks to the iPhone 15 Pro, this is the first time Ninja users will have access to an OLED monitor screen, which, at 446 PPI, is by far the highest resolution, most capable HDR monitor that’s ever been available to them,” says Atomos CEO, Jeromy Young. “It’s the perfect partner for many of the new, smaller format mirrorless cameras coming out of Japan, for example Fujifilm’s X100 and G series, Canon’s R5 Series, Sony Alpha Series, Nikon Z series cameras and Panasonics GH and S series.”

The Ninja Phone will cost $399 and is expected to begin shipping in June 2024. Customers will also need to choose a case for iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max to ensure that the locking cable system can be deployed. The cases will be available separately at $59 each.