Web3-phones trend: are you ready to participate?

[Vincom]

After weathering the storm of the FTX collapse in 2022, Solana has staged an impressive comeback in 2023. This resurgence is evident not only in the surging price of the SOL token and the growth of the Solana ecosystem, but also in a groundbreaking new market trend: physical products offering significant benefits within the Web3 space. The Sagaphone, the first Web3 phone to hit the crypto market, exemplifies this exciting development.

Solana's Saga smartphone, launched with much fanfare in May 2023, failed to impress in the Android market. Priced at a premium 1K USD at launch, it was eventually slashed to 599 USD in August due to poor sales. Tech reviewer Marques Brownlee even went as far as calling it the "worst phone of 2023." Honestly, I wouldn't touch one with a ten-foot pole. My trusty old iPhone seems miles ahead!

However, the memecoin BONK created the plot twist. Sagaphone owners received an airdrop of 30M BONK tokens, with a total value of around 1K USD. This unexpected gift surge in demand for Sagaphones.  Strangely, a Sagaphone with the 30M BONK tokens (not yet received by the seller) was resold for 5K USD on eBay. This is illogical as the buyer could have directly purchased 160M BONK tokens for the same 5K USD at the current market price.  Perhaps the buyer was speculating on receiving future airdrops from other new projects within the Solana ecosystem ^[1].

Solana's Chapter 2 Smartphone, priced at $450, has seen a surge in pre-orders following the success of the Saga phone. The device garnered 25K pre-orders within the first 24 hours and surpassed the entire first-year sales of its predecessor, the Saga, with 30K pre-orders within 30 hours ^[2]. I think that the Solana development team might be prioritizing initiatives like smartphone production and memecoin creation over addressing network stability concerns 

The Web3-phones wave is gaining momentum beyond just one blockchain platform. In February 2024, Aptos, a Layer 1 blockchain, teamed up with Jambo Technology to launch a new $99 Web3 smartphone targeting emerging markets ^[3]. This trend continued yesterday, March 11th, when Ninety Eight, the creator of the Coin98 DeFi ecosystem, unveiled their own $99 JamboPhone specifically designed for the Asian market ^[4].

While these budget-friendly Web3 phones may come pre-loaded with blockchain/crypto apps to simplify Web3 access, there are concerns about their hardware quality.  Smartphones under 100 USD are unlikely to meet all my expectations on its durability and performance.

The concept of blockchain on mobile devices has come a long way. We've seen early efforts like the Electroneum project, which allowed direct mining of ETN tokens on smartphones ^[5]. Similarly, the Samsung Galaxy S10 offered built-in support for blockchain wallets ^[6]. These were significant steps in making blockchain technology more accessible.

However, with the widespread adoption of smartphones and the ease of installing popular crypto wallet apps like MetaMask, Trust Wallet, and SafePal, dedicated Web3-phones seem less valuable today. They often function as regular smartphones with a few pre-installed crypto applications (which users can likely install themselves anyway) or bundled with NFTs promising future airdrops.

While potential airdrops from Web3-phones are intriguing, I'm happy with my current iPhone for now. The existing crypto wallet apps allow me to access and use Dapps just fine. Plus, I trust Apple's proven security track record more than I do some of the newer, less established Web3 phone brands.

I would like to know your opinion on the Web3-phones trend:

• Are you willing to buy Web3-phones?
• Will Web3-phones become a trend for other blockchains to follow?
• Are Web3-phones really necessary for the crypto/blockchain market?

References:
[1] Solana Saga Phone Labeled ‘Failure of 2023’ Despite Surge in Demand
[2] Solana’s Chapter 2 Smartphone Breaks Saga’s Annual Sales Records in Hours
[3] Aptos to Launch Smartphone to Boost Web3 Access in Emerging Markets
[4] Coin98 Super Wallet Pre-installed on JamboPhone, Fostering Web3 Adoption Across Asia
[5] Electroneum Mining: How to mine ETN in 2023
[6] The Best Blockchain Phones to Consider in 2022

[mk4]

I personally wouldn't purchase a crypto phone for the phone itself. Yes, I'm a fan of companies trying out cool stuff(and props to Solana Labs for experimenting), but my hardware wallet + hot wallet setup is good enough; no need for a separate phone at all.

[Vincom]

I personally wouldn't purchase a crypto phone for the phone itself. Yes, I'm a fan of companies trying out cool stuff(and props to Solana Labs for experimenting), but my hardware wallet + hot wallet setup is good enough; no need for a separate phone at all.

A right decision! The combo of a reputable smartphone + hot wallet application + hardware wallet is much more reliable than a cheap smartphone and doesn't seem really smart.

Currently we have only seen the popularity of Sagaphone and Chapter 2 from Solana, Jambophone from Aptos and Ninety Eight have not yet created a wave of interest in the market, nor do we have information about their pre-orders. I think a few airdrop memecoins from these projects can make a difference for their Web3-phones product 

[AakZaki]

Always want to have a smartphone that has technology that is different from the others or is the newest. especially when it comes to crypto. Solana Saga is a smartphone that I didn't expect would bring profits to its owner who got a lot of airdrops from new projects on Solana. the price is even more expensive than the selling price and this is because of the hype that Solana is getting. Solana will also release the second Solana Saga Smartphone and it will be sold at a cheaper price.

[Sophokles]

I have heard only bad words about solana phone. Though this is the beginning, but i don't think this is the right time to fully shift towards a web3 phone. The more time passes by these phones come with new features and improvements we can see more users start using them. Right now the only reason people are buying these phones is because of the potential airdrop. I am confident that most of the user don't like to use that solana phone and want to keep using their old one.

[Potato Chips]

I've seen this years ago too but with bitcoin and my opinion has been the same, nope. Because I'm pretty sure I could find cheaper and better alternatives in terms of storing.

But reading the articles, I have a feeling the biggest reason people bought these is because of the possible airdrops lol. Profit wise, it's not as attractive to me since being an early adopter typically means high risk and high reward and who knows what kind of coins will they be airdopping in the future.

[batang_bitcoin]

I have seen people that are also influencers that does endorsed these crypto phones. I'm not sure if they're paid and sponsored but mostly they're talking about it with potential airdrops. It's like a hit or miss if they're for real but if I am going to buy any phone, I wouldn't buy those ones that are labeled with crypto. People are too furious nowadays and when they know that you're holding a crypto or web 3 phone, you'll never know what they can do to you.

[Vincom]

I've seen this years ago too but with bitcoin and my opinion has been the same, nope. Because I'm pretty sure I could find cheaper and better alternatives in terms of storing.

But reading the articles, I have a feeling the biggest reason people bought these is because of the possible airdrops lol. Profit wise, it's not as attractive to me since being an early adopter typically means high risk and high reward and who knows what kind of coins will they be airdopping in the future.

It is clear that many investors bought the Sagaphone with the expectation of receiving many benefits in the future, such as airdrops from new projects in the Solana ecosystem, or obtaining exclusive NFTs. I don't think anyone needs such a device to use as a smartphone, it is worse than smartphones in the same price segment, and it is also more expensive than very secure hardware wallets.

Anyway, those who dared to take the risk have also been rewarded for supporting Solana's products during the darkest days of the project after the collapse of FTX 

With products from Aptos and Ninety Eight: I really don't know how they will convince investors to buy these Jambophones!

[Ben Barubal]

     Yes, that was recently, and it became a lot of noise here in our country, and if I'm not mistaken, they said that everyone who bought it would join all the other airdrops of Solana.
Correct me if I am wrong.

     Then the next version is said to be a pre-sale that you can buy now, but you will receive it after 1 year without a definite, exact date. It seems like I just saw that you can buy a mobile phone that you will pay for fully immediately but that will be given to you after 1 year. That seems silly, in my opinion.

[Hispo]

I have seen some web 3 phones here in my city for sale.
Honestly, I believe people of this country are not ready to participate in the web 3, specially from phones specially designed to do.
You know, I have had the impression it would be easier for people to get scammed if their have their assets stored in their phones, specially because in many occasions the wallets incorporated in those phones are not done with open source code, so users in the end are completely trusting their money to their phone maker.
In my opinion, while the phones because more secure and people learn how to be responsible with their cryptographics keys, it would be better for them to stick to hardware wallets and cold storage in general.

Giving such a tool to people who do not fully understand how to use it sounds like a dream come true to the avalanche and armies or scammers out there.

[Reatim]

I have always thought of having two separate phones. One for personal uses and
one for crypto. I think this way it is not only safer but also less confusing
With too many apps in the phone, you might confuse one for the other so I believe
crypto phones are a great idea.

I think that we are seeing something that could be easily developed over time
and be used greatly by a lot of investors. They would definitely have to learn how
to build some of apple’s systems because iphones are great defense for hackers and
viruses while androids not so much.

Anyway, I am hoping that they get to improve these phones as I am sure these will be of great hits.

[Bitstar_coin]

Well am not sure I want a crypto based smartphone if it cannot function fully like a real smartphone should. Am an android user and always like to stick to a single device provided it's a great high end device.
How do you take a crypto smartphone as an everyday phone, going about. I guess no serious asset should be stored in such device otherwise it will be risky to be carried about.

I would rather have a hardware wallet to do the asset storing job and maintain having my none-crypto smartphone device. Although can't ignore the benefits that comes along having a crypto smartphone.

[Bureau]

• Are you willing to buy Web3-phones?
• Will Web3-phones become a trend for other blockchains to follow?
• Are Web3-phones really necessary for the crypto/blockchain market?

No, I am not interested in Web3 phones when there are secured Web3 apps that are available in the market for free. They are a new technology and for now, they cannot be trusted whereas there are established phones that are far more secure than these phones are for now. In the future, if they come up with something new like Rabbit R1 then I might look into those phones. As of now, they are selling the same phone with their branding and to lure customers they are offering airdrops.

[Kelward]

I have seen people that are also influencers that does endorsed these crypto phones. I'm not sure if they're paid and sponsored but mostly they're talking about it with potential airdrops. It's like a hit or miss if they're for real but if I am going to buy any phone, I wouldn't buy those ones that are labeled with crypto. People are too furious nowadays and when they know that you're holding a crypto or web 3 phone, you'll never know what they can do to you.

I guess that these airdrops are the main catch why people who are into crypto are patronizing these crypto phones, because you can also carry out your crypto transactions with your regular smart phones, also for some reasons these crypto phones are not popular among the crypto users that I know. I guess that the crypto phones can expose a user whereby people who are familiar with the phones will know that the holder is into crypto, and I know that most of us that are in the crypto space don't like to anounce it, we prefer our privacy, because we can become targets for scammers and other criminal minds.

[Vincom]

I have seen some web 3 phones here in my city for sale.
Honestly, I believe people of this country are not ready to participate in the web 3, specially from phones specially designed to do.
You know, I have had the impression it would be easier for people to get scammed if their have their assets stored in their phones, specially because in many occasions the wallets incorporated in those phones are not done with open source code, so users in the end are completely trusting their money to their phone maker.
In my opinion, while the phones because more secure and people learn how to be responsible with their cryptographics keys, it would be better for them to stick to hardware wallets and cold storage in general.

Giving such a tool to people who do not fully understand how to use it sounds like a dream come true to the avalanche and armies or scammers out there.

I don't like using Web3 phones because they are not really worth the price and don't really serve user interaction, especially when they are just products sold at the price of investor expectations instead of the price of their hardware or software. The Saga is too expensive and the Jambo is too cheap, and the quality of both is not guaranteed for blockchain interaction.

I never thought about the security risks, thank you for mentioning this part. I usually access my TrustWallet on an old iPhone dedicated to crypto. I haven't thought about hardware wallets because they are quite expensive and don't fit my needs at the moment. Maybe I will consider them in the future.

[nelson4lov]

I would like to know your opinion on the Web3-phones trend:

• Are you willing to buy Web3-phones?
• Will Web3-phones become a trend for other blockchains to follow?
• Are Web3-phones really necessary for the crypto/blockchain market?

1. Given the right incentives, Yes  ; I'm more than willing to get my hands on them (see bonk rewards for Solana mobile).

2. I'm not sure of the unique benefits that a blockchain centric device brings aside from the built-in wallet functionality? If judging from just the specs, it doesn't differ from existing devices in the market. So no, I don't think it's a trend (YET!)

3. They're not necessary. See above. As long as you can get the same job done on phones made by existing brands, then no. Solana mobile was purchased out of the sheer desire of the airdropped value of each device.

[Hispo]

I have seen some web 3 phones here in my city for sale.
Honestly, I believe people of this country are not ready to participate in the web 3, specially from phones specially designed to do.
You know, I have had the impression it would be easier for people to get scammed if their have their assets stored in their phones, specially because in many occasions the wallets incorporated in those phones are not done with open source code, so users in the end are completely trusting their money to their phone maker.
In my opinion, while the phones because more secure and people learn how to be responsible with their cryptographics keys, it would be better for them to stick to hardware wallets and cold storage in general.

Giving such a tool to people who do not fully understand how to use it sounds like a dream come true to the avalanche and armies or scammers out there.

I don't like using Web3 phones because they are not really worth the price and don't really serve user interaction, especially when they are just products sold at the price of investor expectations instead of the price of their hardware or software. The Saga is too expensive and the Jambo is too cheap, and the quality of both is not guaranteed for blockchain interaction.

I never thought about the security risks, thank you for mentioning this part. I usually access my TrustWallet on an old iPhone dedicated to crypto. I haven't thought about hardware wallets because they are quite expensive and don't fit my needs at the moment. Maybe I will consider them in the future.

They are worth it, in my opinion. Hardware wallets, those which have a good reputation and also are open source may be one of the best options to safely store our assets without having to fear a remote attack against us.
You having a dedicated phone to use as a wallet is good enough if you only have a handful of cryptocurrency, however, of you happen to start to accumulate more money in Bitcoin (a few hundreds of dollars) it would be advisable if you invested in a good Hardware Wallet.
They are not so expensive when you compare their price to the value of your portfolio, in my opinion, and they are intended for people who are long term holders of satoshis, specially during bear markets.

There is a website called "wallet scrunity" it is an independent group of developers which test and try wallets to see whether they are truly open source or not, as a Holder you are supposed to use open source wallets (so you can verify the integrity of the software) as far as I know Trust Wallet is not an open source wallet, so you are basically trusting your satoshis to the developers.

[arjunmujay]

Web3 development is currently intensive, especially in the mobile phone development sector. one of them is Solana Saga. Even after the success of the first edition, now Solana Mobile has also opened pre-orders for the second series.
If you look at it, the Solana Saga smartphone is indeed very futuristic with various advantages compared to smartphones as sophisticated as the iPhone. therefore I want to have one. but maybe later there will be network problems in my country.

For reference, you can see the specifications for how magnificent the Solana Saga
https://solanamobile.com/hardware

[Vincom]

They are worth it, in my opinion. Hardware wallets, those which have a good reputation and also are open source may be one of the best options to safely store our assets without having to fear a remote attack against us.
You having a dedicated phone to use as a wallet is good enough if you only have a handful of cryptocurrency, however, of you happen to start to accumulate more money in Bitcoin (a few hundreds of dollars) it would be advisable if you invested in a good Hardware Wallet.
They are not so expensive when you compare their price to the value of your portfolio, in my opinion, and they are intended for people who are long term holders of satoshis, specially during bear markets.

There is a website called "wallet scrunity" it is an independent group of developers which test and try wallets to see whether they are truly open source or not, as a Holder you are supposed to use open source wallets (so you can verify the integrity of the software) as far as I know Trust Wallet is not an open source wallet, so you are basically trusting your satoshis to the developers.

Thank you, I think when I have an account with a large enough balance, I will buy and learn how to use a hardware wallet for my storage purposes. In the meantime, storing crypto assets in TrustWallet and Binance CEX is considered safe enough for me, even though for many others it is too risky because CEX is not our personal account.

Web3 development is currently intensive, especially in the mobile phone development sector. one of them is Solana Saga. Even after the success of the first edition, now Solana Mobile has also opened pre-orders for the second series.
If you look at it, the Solana Saga smartphone is indeed very futuristic with various advantages compared to smartphones as sophisticated as the iPhone. therefore I want to have one. but maybe later there will be network problems in my country.

For reference, you can see the specifications for how magnificent the Solana Saga
https://solanamobile.com/hardware

I watched the Sagaphone review video, and to be honest, I can't love this phone in terms of both software and hardware. The only thing I like is the 30M BONK tokens that Saga can bring to the owner. Even though Saga is more expensive than my old iPhone, I still have no intention of using such a phone to store crypto assets or interact with Dapps.