Solana Saga, the Web3 mobile phone
Solana launched its Web3 mobile phone, the archetypal of its kind, successful April 2023. The telephone packs each the accustomed functionalities users person travel to expect from a smartphone and tops it up with a Web3 experience. It includes a decentralized exertion (DApp) store and seamless integration crossed crypto wallets and DApps. Saga has been tagged arsenic the telephone “that keeps connected giving.”
The telephone has been connected pre-order for respective months, and those who pre-ordered enjoyed airdrops similar the “Saga Pass.” Holders of the Saga Pass besides received respective creation airdrops successful the signifier of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) starring up to the April launch. On April 13, 2023, Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder of Solana, went connected signifier to denote the motorboat of the telephone and its features.
First reactions
The telephone arrived a fewer weeks precocious for European users owed to proviso concatenation challenges. Even erstwhile American users started receiving their phones successful April, it took May for those crossed the Atlantic to get theirs.

The telephone has a bully signifier origin that is not excessively antithetic from an iPhone. The greenish buttons, ceramic backing and stainless alloy framework marque it consciousness similar a mainstream phone. The telephone runs connected Android OS and is manufactured by OSOM, which presented it alongside the Solana co-founder astatine the motorboat event.
The telephone packs a clump of hardware elements. It has a 6.67-inch, 1080p solution AMOLED surface and a 120Hz display. The processor utilized is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen1 with 12 gigabytes of RAM. The telephone besides comes with 512GB of storage, which is not precise communal with smartphones. The telephone lasts longer than a emblematic iPhone 14 Pro with a 4,110-mAh battery.
There is besides a fingerprint sensor connected the backmost of the phone, which feels ergonomically intuitive for users. The camera takes bully pictures, though an nonsubjective investigation of however it compares with an iPhone oregon Samsung camera is beyond the scope of this article. The dependable prime of the in-built speakers could beryllium better.
Setting up and software
The telephone setup is beauteous quick. The setup process includes creating a Solana wallet and a effect vault wherever the effect operation is stored. Users tin past trust connected their fingerprints (biometrics) to unlock their wallets and motion transactions. The effect vault is simply a cardinal diagnostic that sets it up for the Web3 experience.
The telephone works similar immoderate different Android phone, and therefore, the basal setup is not immoderate antithetic from that of a mean Android phone.

But it besides comes with a Solana-powered DApp store. The app store provides america entree to a fig of DApps connected the Solana web crossed games, NFTs, decentralized concern (DeFi) and societal categories. When the telephone was launched, determination were nary much than a twelve apps. But done April and May 2023, much apps person been shipped, and the app store present has implicit 25 apps.

The setup of the Phantom wallet, which is commonly utilized connected the Solana network, is rather seamless and simple. However, immoderate users person had occupation downloading different applications onto the phone. Through April and May 2023, the DApp store had a fewer updates, which look to person fixed these issues.
Some Saga experiences
The Saga brings the Solana idiosyncratic acquisition to beingness by providing exclusive entree to respective DApps. To commencement with, Saga users person a genesis token, which helps the Solana DApps ecosystem place loyal users and reward them implicit time.

On the applicable side, transactions utilizing the Phantom wallet to swap USD Coin (USDC) for Solana (SOL) were rather seamless utilizing the fingerprint sensor. For once, a crypto transaction feels similar a fintech contactless outgo — mechanical and mindless.
Other cardinal applications worthy mentioning are Dialect, a Web3 messaging app utilizing NFT stickers. Solana’s compressed NFT exertion makes minting an NFT highly cost-efficient. The Dialect app besides gamifies collections of NFT stickers that tin beryllium past utilized successful messages.
The Mintify app connects to the user’s photos and allows minting them without a fuss. The app connects with the Phantom wallet to complaint a interest successful SOL (about 0.01 SOL per mint). Once the idiosyncratic approves the mint, it happens instantly, with pictures uploaded on-chain and an code provided immediately.
Some of the DApps that were mostly web-based for each users person shown up connected the Saga app store. Squads, a multisig wallet connected Solana, is an example. They whitethorn person held backmost their mobile motorboat for the Saga release.
This whitethorn beryllium a motion of things to travel arsenic Web3 apps amusement allegiance to their genitor chain’s ecosystem infrastructure. However, that would besides bounds their organisation capabilities and restrict them to a constricted idiosyncratic base.
Apart from these integrated and exclusive idiosyncratic experiences, the Solana Mobile squad has besides announced meaningful airdrops. For instance, Claynosaurz, 1 of the apical NFT communities by marketplace capitalization connected Solana, is doing an airdrop for users who pre-ordered the phone.
Other Web3 apps enactment seamlessly, too. Saga relies connected the Android ecosystem to enactment different Web3 applications. However, they bash not connection the aforesaid integrated acquisition that Saga DApps tin offer.
Can Solana Saga beryllium improved?
The Saga costs $1,000 apiece, and that is simply a large inquire from a liquidity-drained Web3 idiosyncratic astatine the depths of a bear market. It is mostly the Solana-loyalists, liquidity-rich and Solana-curious who typically spell for this innovation.
While the fingerprint sensor is utile and intuitive, it inactive is not the aforesaid arsenic facial recognition, which is possibly a much intuitive and instantaneous experience. Saga besides doesn’t enactment e-Sims. For users who question often and whitethorn request to usage 2 oregon 3 mobile numbers connected 1 phone, e-Sims are rather helpful.
The DApp store acquisition has received mixed feedback owed to method glitches. One of the cardinal sectors that is expected to bring 1 cardinal users onboard to Web3 is gaming. The DApp store lone has 3 games arsenic of May 26, 2023. Despite each these glitches, it is simply a promising commencement to a much-needed improvement successful the industry.
What lies up for the Solana Saga?
Will Saga bushed the iPhone oregon Android anytime soon? Highly unlikely. This is an experimentation to supply a circumstantial idiosyncratic acquisition and its benefits to the converted (native Web3/Solana users). For others, it is conscionable a glimpse into the future.
While immoderate whitethorn telephone it sheer coincidence, Apple’s support of Uniswap, Axie Infinity and in-app income connected StepN are each indicators that the Saga is influencing immoderate of the macro trends successful the industry.
The Apple taxation of 30% is inactive a drain connected creators’ revenue; however, that whitethorn beryllium a aboriginal tweak that mightiness travel erstwhile Apple’s hands are forced. Until then, Saga users tin beryllium the guinea pigs for possibly an underrated Web3 experiment.