About 10 months in the past, Solana’s co-founder and CEO, Anatoly Yakovenko, introduced the launch of Saga, a web3-focused Android smartphone. The cellphone is now being rolled out, and we acquired to check one forward of its launch.
Solana says Saga was launched to make crypto services extra accessible for customers by providing them by means of a cellphone as an alternative of the standard approach of accessing crypto platforms and functions, which is through computer systems.
I had an fascinating few days utilizing the Saga as my day by day driver. Right here’s what I thought of it.
Saga cellphone at a look
Let’s get the fundamentals out of the best way: The $1,000 device comes packaged in a black field that features the cellphone itself, a USB-C charging cable and a bodily seed phrase paper card so you possibly can write down your restoration phrase, which is a sequence of random phrases that it is advisable entry your crypto pockets.
The cellphone’s working system relies on Android 13, and it comes with 512 GB of storage with a 6.67-inch OLED show.
The setup course of is your normal Android expertise, involving the standard prompts for establishing your account and web connection. You possibly can skip most of that and set it up later, however I’d advocate establishing the fingerprint unlock, because it additionally serves as a verification technique for signing crypto transactions.
I used Saga as my work cellphone for just a few days. The cellphone’s 4011 mAh battery lasted me about 1.5 days beginning at 82% on Monday evening after I unboxed it to about 4% Wednesday morning. So I’d say it really works nicely so far as battery life is anxious.
The cellphone additionally has a built-in cell pockets adapter, which is a part of the Solana Cellular Stack (SMS) that’s invisible to customers however is infrastructure that connects dApps to wallets, Steven Laver, the engineering lead at Solana Cellular, informed TechCrunch. Just like how MetaMask has a join button on its desktop shopper, this adapter is a “complete expertise” that can bridge internet dApps to cell gadgets, he added.
The system additionally features a web3-focused characteristic, the Seed Vault, which is embedded into the cellphone. Customers can import a seed phrase from one other crypto pockets or create a brand new one (Solana recommends creating a brand new one).
And that brings us to the core function of this cellphone’s existence: dApps.
A novel expertise marred by bugs
In contrast to typical Android gadgets, the Saga has web3 options and a “Solana dApp Retailer,” the place yow will discover apps for web3 platforms.
The shop has a slim handful of functions:
- 4 wallets: Phantom, Solflare, Ledger and Squads
- Three DeFi apps: Marinade.finance, Jupiter and Mango
- Three NFT apps: Nokiamon, Minty Contemporary and TIEXO
- Three social apps: Dialect, Audius Music and urFeed
- And the dApp “workspace”
Apparently, Magic Eden isn’t on the record of dApp shops, despite the fact that {the marketplace} shared plans to associate with the Solana Cellular Stack (SMS) final yr when Saga was introduced. After publication, Chris Akhavan, chief gaming officer at Magic Eden, informed TechCrunch in a tweet its app can be stay quickly and is at present in a assessment state.
When the cellphone is launched to the general public “within the subsequent two weeks” the Solana crew is hoping extra functions might be added to the dApp retailer, however Laver didn’t speak in confidence to TechCrunch what number of the shop would finally home.
“We’ve been reaching out and interesting with massive gamers within the Solana ecosystem and people who acknowledge that cell has received for all the pieces else,” Laver mentioned. “A number of builders are realizing cell will win finally they usually need to be there when it occurs.”
Saga homeowners get $20 value of USDC and 0.01 SOL, or 0.0026 of a greenback, as a part of the dApp retailer welcome pack. The 0.01 SOL was not sufficient to mess around with a number of the functions, so I had a buddy ship my new crypto pockets just a few {dollars} value of SOL to check out the dApps.
The dApp Retailer at present provides Saga homeowners rewards, which incorporates an airdropped Saga genesis token, which is an NFT that gives entry to rewards supplied by dApps. The token is non-transferable and non-burnable, so customers ought to be certain that it’s not related to a short lived pockets.
We examined out the Minty Contemporary dApp and minted an image of ourselves for 0.01197 SOL inside seconds. It now lives ceaselessly on the Solana blockchain and might be discovered here.
The method itself was simple — and admittedly, enjoyable — however utilizing the cellphone was not the smoothest expertise. The cellphone was typically sluggish, and I needed to shut and reopen dApps a number of instances as a result of the crypto pockets and NFT minting platform saved freezing.
It’s value noting that I confronted these points the entire time I used the system, not simply with dApps. I discovered myself having to shut functions, faucet the display screen a lot of instances to unlock it or use dApps, and even order myself an Uber.
That’s not an issue you need to have with a model new cellphone.
Rollout and future plans
Laver mentioned that whereas the cellphone remains to be in its early levels, there might be software program upgrades over time to maintain issues recent.
Final June, Yakovenko mentioned the cellphone can be delivered in Q1 2023, however deliveries have since been pushed to Q2. The cellphone is on the market for preorder with a $100 deposit.
Plenty of main web3 firms like crypto pockets Phantom, NFT market Magic Eden and the now-collapsed crypto trade FTX shared in June that they have been partnering with Solana to assist launch the cellphone, alongside a $10 million developer fund for individuals who construct apps on it.
This cellphone is an try for web3 to compete with Massive Tech suppliers like Apple, Microsoft and, in fact, Android — however many are skeptical of its potential to take action given its area of interest market.
Final yr, Yakovenko mentioned the cellphone is “focusing on the hardcore individuals who know what self-custody means. You gotta begin with a gaggle that loves this product and develop from there.”
However, Laver sees this as a tool for an even bigger crypto viewers. He mentioned Saga’s crew is planning a advertising and marketing push with crypto-native customers in addition to people who find themselves “crypto curious.”
“We would like this to be somebody’s cellphone,” Laver mentioned. “That is the one cellphone I carry, I don’t have a second cellphone; it does all the pieces a cellphone ought to do plus web3 issues.”
Laver didn’t disclose the precise variety of telephones that have been preordered, however mentioned the quantity was within the “excessive single digits of 1000’s.” The cellphone is licensed on the market in 33 international locations and the corporate plans to broaden to different international locations in the long run, he added.
“We’re on this fascinating place the place we’re constructing fascinating applied sciences, but additionally to see the place folks take it subsequent,” Laver mentioned. “We don’t have a roadmap of A, B or C. We’ve executed ‘A’ of constructing this cellphone, however we’re excited to see the place folks take it subsequent for ‘B’ and ‘C.’”
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