Why Solana’s New Phone Beats the Saga

Solana launched its latest smartphone, dubbed Seeker, promising a more affordable and feature-rich experience compared to its predecessor, the Saga.

With upgraded hardware and potential rewards for meme coin holders, the Seeker aims to attract a wider audience to the Solana ecosystem. 

Solana’s New Bet on Crypto Phones

During Token2049 in Singapore, Solana announced the launch of the Seeker mobile, priced at half of what its predecessor, the Saga, sold for. Unlike the Saga, the Seeker is set to adopt a broader approach, featuring an upgraded decentralized app (DApp) store, improved hardware, a higher-quality screen, enhanced cameras, and a stronger battery.

Seeker will also be lighter than Saga, with Solana hoping the revamps will attract buyers. More interestingly, the phone brings crypto-specific improvements, including an in-built digital assets wallet linked to the device’s partitioned Seed Vault key storage.

Other experiences in the lineup, based on what the Solana community envisions, include DeFi, payments, games, NFTs, and others.

Read more: What Is Solana (SOL)?

While it marks the network’s second bet on the smartphone product line, Solana Labs General Manager Emmett Hollyer said the company has no intention of competing against mobile device giants. This comes after users criticized the Saga’s technical abilities, saying it didn’t measure up to devices like the iPhone or Google Pixel.

“We want to make it as easy as possible for whatever the next narrative [in crypto] is, whatever the next use case is — there can be a dozen apps offering that same use case in our store within days,” Hollyer said.

BONK Rescued Saga From Precipice of Failure

As Solana unveils Seeker, it is impossible to ignore the criticism of Saga, whose debut was marred by negative reviews from both technology experts and crypto users.

“The biggest drawback is that Saga only inherently supports Solana and you cannot use other chains with the same ease. Security is also a big concern. Would you ever go around the world with your Trezor in your pocket? My answer is “probably not”, so I would not keep many funds on it. Crypto apart, Saga is pretty average as a phone from a hardware and software point of view. The price is around 1200$ which I think is a bit too much if you want to reach the masses,” read one review on Reddit.

Amid negative feedback, Saga phone sales struggled in the first few months, leading Solana to cut the price from $999 to $599 in August. Sales were so poor that Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko admitted in December he wasn’t confident the device would hit 50,000 units sold.

However, things turned around later that month when sales soared. The spike came as Degens rushed to get a pumped-up BONK airdrop, exclusive to Saga owners. As the BONK token price surged over 1000% in December, Saga phones sold out in the US, with customers eager to claim the token bonus.

“Solana phone sales have > 10x’d in the past 48 hours, and are now on track to sell out before the new year,” Solana co-founder Raj Gokal shared in a post.

In mid-January, Solana announced a second series of Saga phones, called Solana Mobile Chapter 2, which quickly gained interest.

Read more: Top 6 Projects on Solana With Massive Potential

As of this writing, SOL is trading for $138.95, up almost 7% in the last 24 hours, in line with the broader market recovery.