Finnish company Jolla started out 14 years ago where Nokia left off with MeeGo and developed Sailfish OS as a new Linux smartphone platform. Jolla released their first smartphone in 2013 after crowdfunding but ultimately the Sailfish OS focus the past number of years now has been offering their software stack for use on other smartphone devices. But now it seems they are trying again with a new crowd-funded smartphone.
Sailfish OS has supported a number of Sony Xperia smartphones and a variety of OnePlus / Samsung / Google / Xiaomi devices and more maintained by the community. Last year Jolla also announced an “AI computer” as part of the AI hardware craze. Now though they are apparently trying again at their own in-house smartphone.
Why make your own phone? Why not partner with Fairphone? Fairphone seems to be the only vendor out there that sells phones with an alternative ROM (/e/ OS), they might very well be open to an alternative OS like Sailfish.
I was at a bar in Tampere (a city here in Finland) last week and met a guy with a phone running Sailfish OS. I’ve been interested in them for quite a few years so I asked him to let me see it and he did. Even though it was a 6+ year old phone it was running smooth as butter, the initial UX was awesome.
I really hope this becomes a reality and that the phone isn’t just another cheap chinese touchscreen device. I am making the switch when the time comes.
I hope they succeed, it’s a very tough market.
They probably need a lot of ducks to line up in a row. But the current privacy wave and the push for digital sovereignty in Europe might help.
Kinda. But also kinda not. The cost of getting a phone made has decreased and there are many, many manufacturers who can make one for you these days. From that perspective, if you have small niche where people are alright with paying a bit of a premium, it may in fact be easier to make a phone for them than say in 2012.
The total device cost will be 499 EUR or 599~699 EUR as the “normal” price with the voucher deducting from the phone’s cost if/when available.
This price for a low volume device would have been completely unachievable in 2012.
Small specialized outfits in Shenzhen can slap together a model in a few weeks tops. (And that video is nine years old.)
The software ecosystem, or rather lack thereof, is the far bigger hurdle.
True, but aren’t there decent Android emulation layers for Linux available nowadays? Not sure how well-integrated into SailfishOS that is, but giving it a shot…
I mean, it’s probably much easier to just make an Android phone that will work with Android apps natively without discrepancies in the UI, workflows, permissions, and such. Unless Google has some trademark provisions or stuff like that. From what I can tell, Amazon and the like do it just fine. Of course, getting developers into yet another app store would be about just as difficult as with Sailfish.
Presumably, it’s just that I can’t stand the Android UX personally, which is the main reason I’m on iOS. But if a good, open alternative comes along I’m willing to try…
The Android UX can be changed in a fork. Samsung’s One UI is a good example.
Ooh, if you don’t like Android UX, wait until you try applications UI that doesn’t jibe with the underlying OS interface. Like Qt apps on Mac and such. It’s like getting poked in the face every time you use the app.
Yeah, familiar with that experience 😅 Could be I end up disliking Sailfish for that exact reason, but if there’s a handful of good native apps that might mitigate quite a lot. Could also be I end up using it as a second phone, one with fewer distractions on it…
So does this mean that a 5" is possible, or that they are going to make it? The 6" model is way too big for me.
Is the 99 € refundable? Yes. Fully.
Well ok, I think I’ll put my money in and we’ll see if they manage to make that reasonably sized model.
Kinda off topic, but now I’m wondering whether Europeans think of phone size (and laptops and screens) in terms of inches rather than centimeters?
We do indeed think, and market devices using inch for screen size. Simply because it always been that way. People are used to it. Now, how many actually know that spec refers to the diagonal…
We do. Same thing for monitor and TV sizes.
I’m wondering whether
Europeansthe other 96% of humanityThere, FTFY.
And yes, the other 96% of humanity would very much like to see Imperial measurements die.
Hell, as a Canadian born after 1970, I wouldn’t understand almost all Imperial measurements even if they smacked me clear in the forehead. About the most I have ever used are inches, feet, and pounds, and only because they’ve hung on in tightly-linked-to-America blue-collar industries and (until about a decade ago) grocery stores. I would have zero clue how much a cup or a Florida Ounce is.
Is buying a smartphone with a properietary OS from an EU company really a smart decision after chat control?
I think I’m going to be sticking with Graphene
afaict the OS is fully Open Source. that’s a claim on their website.
It’s proprietary with some open source components.
They’ve said they aim to be fully open source some day
Get me a linux smart phone with a headphone jack and I will buy it in a heartbeat, but I don’t think very many other people will.
headphone jack is dead. Its pointless to add it to new devices.
Funny take given the resurgence of standalone mp3 players and handheld gaming machines, all with 3.5mm jacks.
Those were all supposed to be dead too.
It’s so bizarre that all the user-repairable phone startups are refusing to put in a headphone jack. Like, the entire point is to limit e-waste, so why are they expecting me to throw out my wired headphones to buy Bluetooth ones or get an adapter that will stop working in a year?
The liberux nexx, recently announced they’re still trying to get the phone out and it has a headphone jack!
What makes you think a USB-C to headphone jack adapter stops working after a year? There’s the same circuit in there that does the DAC like in a phone headphone jack.
My problem is they like to disappear after a year
Maybe I’ve just had bad experiences. After my Blackberry finally gave out, my next phone didn’t have a headphone jack, and I couldn’t find an adapter that was reliable.
I despise any earbuds/cans that you can’t replace the battery in and prefer a wired set of headphones. so much e-waste every year or multiple times a year when they get lost. I’ve never lost a corded headset lol.
you can also buy a nice USB/Bluetooth dac instead of the inline ones that tend to be more fragile. better quality than an internal one and the flexibility of Bluetooth if you want it. generally a little bulky but if you already have wired headphones I don’t think it’s significant
And I could care less about a headphone jack (I’m an Android user and I’d say Apple’s USB-C DAC is better than 99% of cheap built-in phone DACs - change my mind) but since we’re making requests I’ll take a phone that’s <5.5" please!
I hope they succeed. Given Alphabet/Google’s recent moves to try and lock Android’s app ecosystem down and them just generally becoming more Evil every day, GrapheneOS and LineageOS etc. may be living on borrowed time.
I watched a video reviewing some phones smuggled out of North Korea a few days ago and it’s truly scary what the endgame of locked mobile phones looks like and given the trends worldwide towards authoritarianism, we’re frogs being boiled slowly toward the same situation.
That design looks AMAZING.
Is there anything I need to know about the political affiliations of Jolla / past products / sailfish os before I pre-order this thing?
Edit: nvm, no global shipping
Is there anything I need to know about the political affiliations of Jolla / past products / sailfish os before I pre-order this thing?
They worked with and in Russia for a while before the big Ukraine invasion but left immediately after that. If I remember right.
They’re based in Finland, mostly, and some of the founders are ex-Nokia mobile phone people.
If they have any sort of politics, they have been classy enough to keep a sock on it.
Yeah, they don’t seem to have done anything outrageous, I haven’t heard anything and quick search didn’t bring up any results. Working in Russia isn’t alarming for a finnish company, unless they’d have continued. The most worrying thing is that AI stuff in my opinion, but they’re kinda just following the expected trend for any company right now, so that isn’t very alarming either (as long as they keep it away from the phone stuff). All in all just a pretty basic finnish company.
I want this. I don’t think its available in The US though. Someone please make a good linux phone! I like grapheneOS but its still based on android, which hasn’t had a great track record of late.
Hmm… Gimme a headphone jack option and I’ll try getting in on that crowdfunding, if they let me do it from the US.
Yikes, the AI computer thing gives me the ick; however, it seems that they are being a bit less nonsense with a smartphone. Though, given the market trends, it will be a tough space to break into because there are so many established brands. However, if Jolla can put their whole ass into this and make it privacy focused and consumer friendly Linux smartphone…They might stand a chance. Also, I hope they also make a larger screened device, I am tired of the smaller 6.3 inch screens. I’d love for them to make a 6.7 inch screen phone (also make it international version with a lot of carrier compatibility for maximum adoption potential).
I’ve looked at their Sailfish OS and honestly wished it were chosen by corporations more often…As the overall design seems quite nice, while being approachable. You are allowed to be as hands off or as hands on as you’d like to be with getting into the guts of this OS.
I hope they also make a larger screened device, I am tired of the smaller 6.3 inch screens. I’d love for them to make a 6.7 inch screen phone (also make it international version with a lot of carrier compatibility for maximum adoption potential).
That’s really interesting. I’m kind of over here hoping for a good Linux phone that’s like 4 inches, like the iPod Touch used to be. I hope we get more large and small phones though, as long as they’re not stock Android.
While I would never use a phone any smaller than 6.3 inches, I understand that others have differing needs than myself. Having a variety of devices to suit the needs of potential customers is a sound strategy. In the future, I want to see different OS choices that aren’t just either stock Android; different ROMs of Android as an option to choose from would be nice!
Jolla released their first smartphone in 2013 after crowdfunding but ultimately the Sailfish OS focus the past number of years now has been offering their software stack for use on other smartphone devices.
This sentence took me so long to decipher. For others struggling, read “has been offering” as “has been to offer”. It’s saying they tried hardware, but ultimately they’ve been offering their software stack to other hardware instead of making their own.
i wish i hadn’t just replaced my Note 20 Ultra now
Why? I have a note 20 ultra, which is why I’m asking.
End of software support is fast approaching and i got a good deal on a like new Honor Magic V5.
Also the screen was dying and the battery wasn’t far off either. It’s still a fantastic phone though
Nice. I put in the down payment of 99 €, let’s see what happens.
I am really excited. I don’t think it will really have much of a market in the US but I think it could have a chance in Europe.
