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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
My problem is they like to disappear after a year
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.
The liberux nexx, recently announced they’re still trying to get the phone out and it has a headphone jack!
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!
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.
resurgence of standalone mp3 players
Which retirement home is this happening in?
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.
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.
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.
Hmm… Gimme a headphone jack option and I’ll try getting in on that crowdfunding, if they let me do it from the US.
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.
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
Rather the opposite: it’s Free Software, aside from UX components.
No, it isn’t.
Some parts are open source. Much of it isn’t. And it’s certainly not limited to just UX.
I really want one. But I’m not buying any tech product until my existing one turns to dust and no amount of solder can put it back together. So maybe in five or six years?
I learned C++ just to write apps for my N95, haven’t used it since it broke.
I would pick it up again in a heartbeat if I had a new Jolla phone in my hands.
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 feel like things in the consumer software space for Linux is getting there like desktop Linux ~10 years ago. Waydroid is solid. Android translation layer is in development. Valve with Steam machines.
Krita and GIMP look to be in good positions. Kdenlive doesn’t crash all the time anymore. Can have good consumer interest synergy between regular Linux/SteamOS/Pop_OS if they ever get big selling hardware and Linux phones
Android apps needed as part of the proposition now. But eventually over many many years there should eventually be a good ecosystem of Linux native phone apps
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.
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