This article comes from Decrypt & unchain cryptoThis article comes from
, Original author: Andrew Hayward Jeff Benson, compiled by Odaily translator Katie Ku.Solana held a product launch event on April 14th, announcing that the Solana Web3 mobile phone Saga will be available for public sale on May 8th, and pre-order devices are now shipping.
It is reported that each Saga is priced at $1,000, equipped with 512 GB of storage space, two rear camera lenses, a 6.67-inch OLED display and fingerprint unlocking, and a dedicated Dapp that only lists encrypted applications and allows storage of encrypted user private keys A secure element separate from the rest of the phones data.
Solana Saga is also a potential catalyst for developers, but for ordinary mobile phone consumers, Solana Saga may be difficult to compete with high-end mobile phones on the market. Solana Labs is aware of this, but there is still something to like about this Web3 phone. Next, let us evaluate this Web3 mobile phone together.
secondary title
Saga Specifications and Configurations
As a long-time tech reviewer who regularly uses high-end phones, one of my key considerations when evaluating a phone is whether I can use it in my day-to-day life. In other words, would I want to carry this thing in my pocket for connecting, taking pictures, working and being always-on?
Solana Saga has been evaluated to meet this requirement. Its a high-end Android flagship with a distinctive design, solid materials, and pretty much everything you need to communicate and entertain yourself. Even without the Web3 elements, this is a decent Android phone.
The Solana Saga is slightly longer and heavier than my iPhone 14 Pro Max, with a 6.67-inch 1080p AMOLED screen and 120 Hz display. Battery life is pretty strong, with a 4110mAh unit that can be conveniently charged wirelessly.
image description
The Sagas ceramic backplate is a magnet.
Powered by the flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor paired with 12GB of RAM, the Saga is fast and powerful enough to run games and demanding applications with ease. But the Saga isnt a top-of-the-line chip, and the Gen 2 chips that run on the Galaxy S 23 and other new phones offer solid performance gains in benchmarks.
Youre unlikely to notice the difference now, but future Saga may not be as resilient as some of its 2023 competitors as more demanding apps and games roll out. On the plus side, though, the Saga comes with a beefy 512GB of internal storage, something most phones cost extra to get.
In addition to the Web3 elements, Saga also comes with a very clean version of Android 13 - no overly cumbersome skins, no crapware, and a full suite of Google services including the Play Store. This 5G phone is compatible with all major US carriers.
secondary title
Sagas Web3 Elements
The Solana Saga also meets the needs of a Web2 phone, making it suitable for use as an everyday phone. But its the integration of Web3 that sets the Saga apart from your average smartphone.
Sagas Web3 offering is built around Seed Vault: a secure custody protocol, a local hosting solution that protects your wallets seed phrase in a secure environment on your phone. Not even the Android OS can access it, which is tied to your biometrics via a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor.
The login process was simple and easy, set up a wallet and started using it, within minutes I was swapping USDC to Solana (SOL) via the Jupiter Swap aggregator Dapp and buying NFTs via the Tiexo marketplace. I snapped a photo in Times Square and immediately mint it into an NFT via the Minty Fresh Dapp.
image description
Early adopters will be rewarded for claiming Saga genesis tokens and purchasing NFTs through the Tiexo app
But there are also some stumbling blocks in the process of using Saga. The local Audius streaming music Dapp cant connect to my Solana mainnet wallet, instead it tries to connect via devnet. The social app urFeed just wont download from the Dapp store no matter how many times I click. The MWA link doesnt always work, for example when I tried to connect my wallet to the game Aurorys website, the link didnt respond.
image description
Trade on Solana Saga.
Overall, while the basic core part of a Saga is sending and receiving funds, minting and NFT transactions, and Swap between crypto funds, I really hope that by really utilizing this technology, it will be more entertaining and interesting Web3 experience.Mini Royale：Nations refused to load, and Aurory could not connect to my wallet. A Solana Labs representative told Decrypt that several games are in the works and coming soon for the Saga.
secondary title
Solanas entry into Web3 mobile phones and its impact on the market
Despite the bugs and glitches, transacting with cryptocurrencies and NFTs on the Solana Saga feels more intuitive than using a web-based wallet. Dealing with crypto assets on mobile devices is often an unpleasant experience, but Saga’s user experience is certainly a step forward. This also shows Solanas ambitions in mobile products.
Solana Labs bet on the mobile side is admirable. It tries to build a decentralized mobile ecosystem that does not depend on large technology giants such as Apple and Google and their 30% app sales, because the current Web2 mobile phone leader not only Affects Web3 mobile developers and hinders mobile Web3 adoption.secondary title
Summarize
Summarize
The Saga is a blockchain phone, and many crypto users check out its built-in security. But interested buyers must ask a few questions.
First, are they only supporting the Solana ecosystem for the foreseeable future?
Second, do they have patience for application development? Buying a Saga phone is like buying a house with lots of guest rooms before you had any friends. Theres room for everyone, but theres no one you want to hang out with yet.
Still, the Saga phone represents a step forward after a few steps backwards for the Solana network (which fell out of the top 10 by market capitalization because of its notorious network outages). The phone gave developers a starting point to build great networks with renewed confidence.
