Review — Solana Mobile Phase 2

There’s a lot of hype around Solana Mobile Phase 2 going on right now, and I’ve seen a lot of tweets and posts from people asking if they should buy it or not, and I’m here to shed more light on this.

Firstly, what is Solana Mobile all about? And why is it different from other mobiles out there?

Solana Mobile
We are used to the popular mobile stores (Playstore and App Store), where we go for apps that will serve our everyday needs.

While these mobile stores have millions of users, they come with a lot of restrictions for developers, like certain requirements to meet and huge fees that new developers (which a lot of web3 developers are) might not be able to meet.

Solana’s web3-focused mobile phone is here to solve these problems and give both users and developers more flexibility. It makes it easier for developers building web3-centered apps and projects to list them in the device store (called Dapp Store) with ease, integrate an easy mode of payment (Solana Pay), and, in turn, onboard more people into the space.

Solana Mobile is currently in phase 2, but what was phase 1 like, and what has changed?

Phase 1 — Saga

Phase 1 brought the popular Saga device, with a supply of just 20,000 units.

I’ll try not to talk about the specs, but it runs on the Android operating system and has what is called the Solana mobile stack.

The Solana Mobile Stack contains:

• Seed vault: secure wallet keys
• Wallet adapter: to connect dApps to wallets
• Solana Dapp store: dapps store (not the regular Playstore and Appstore we are used to.)

Initially, upon launch, the price was pegged at $1000 but was later reduced to $599 due to low sales.

Getting users to leave mobile stores they are familiar with for something new is not an easy task. It was easy for the developers, but not for the users. So Solana Mobile came up with an incentive mechanism where developers building on the mobile store (Dapp Store) will reward users (mostly airdrops).

The Bonk Airdrop, amongst other numerous airdrops, changed everything and brought a lot of hype to the Saga device. A lot of people recovered the money they spent getting the device, and the device was selling for as much as $5,000 on eBay.

And then comes phase 2.

Phase 2

Phase 2 is currently live and in the founder phase, priced at $450 (excluding shipping costs).

What we know right now is that Phase 2 is also going to run on Android and will be ready for shipping sometime in early 2025.

People are going for Solana Mobile Phase 2 right now because of one of these reasons.

• Potential Airdrop

Let’s face it, a huge percentage of people are considering the device because of the amount of airdrop Saga users got.

And I’ve seen posts from influencers telling people not to “miss out” while also promoting their links.

While we’ve seen some projects that have already promised airdrops for wallets that participated in phase 2, it’s important to consider the amount of supply.

Saga supply was 20,000 units, and Phase 2 supply will start at 100,000 units at least.

Certainly, there will be airdrops, but that shouldn’t be the only focus here. That way, no one feels disappointed when the Airdrop is just too small or not worth the price of the device.

The focus should be on supporting the development of the device and the space in general.

• Support

This is where I fall.

Yes, I missed out on Saga, but I’m not buying the Phase 2 device because of the airdrops. I know the big goal here, which is to compete with the big duopoly in the mobile space, and I understand this won’t be easy.

Upon the launch of phase 2 pre-order, Solana Mobile received orders for over 40,000 units in just a few hours, despite people knowing that the device wouldn’t be ready until 2025. That’s a huge feat!

Conclusion

There’s a referral leaderboard for Phase 2, where those with the most referrals get to win prizes.

And that’s why you see influencers shilling it hard with different threads about it.

Don’t FOMO in because you heard there’s a lot of airdrops coming because you might be disappointed. Instead, understand the problem the device is coming to solve and check your risk management.

If the device is something you can buy, then go for it.

Links

About Solana Mobile Stack: Link

Solana Phase 2: Link (no referral)