It’s been a while since Essential closed its doors and despite Nothing’s Carl Pei acquiring ownership of the brand, logo, and trademarks, its former execs banded together (without Andy Rubin) to form a start-up called OSOM which would focus on hardware and software security. Earlier this year, OSOM revealed that it was planning to launch the OV1 smartphone in Q4 of 2022, which would be powered by a Snapdragon 8 series chipset. Sadly, hopes plans for the OV1 have been dashed because OSOM has announced that it’s now in partnership with a Web3 company called Solana and that the new phone will be called the Solana Saga and feature blockchain integration.
The announcement is the first time that OSOM mentions blockchain, Web3, or Solana, and it comes as a shock to those hoping for a phone more along the lines of of a spiritual successor to Essential’s PH-1 rather than HTC’s Exodus.
Besides blockchain and Web3, Solana is also offering the ‘Saga Pass NFT’ to early pre-orders which ‘is the first step in influencing the direction of the Solana Mobile Stack’. Make of that what you will.
Hardware wise, the Solana Sage is said to feature the following specifications:
| Solana Saga | |
|---|---|
| Software | Proprietary version of Android |
| Display | 6.55 or 6.67-Inch AMOLED, 120Hz Refresh Rate, FHD+ or higher, Corning Victus Glass |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 |
| Memory | 12GB |
| Storage | 512GB (UFS or eMMC) |
| Rear Cameras | 50MP Main Camera (IMX766), 12MP Ultra-wide (IMX373), 120° FoV |
| Front Camera | 16MP (IMX481) |
| Battery | 4,100mAh |
| Charging | Quick Charge 5.0, Qi Wireless Charging |
| Dimensions | 166.2 x 75.9 x 7.9mm |
| Weight | 195g |
If the Solana Saga is of interest, you can already place a pre-order with a $100 deposit with the caveat that the phone will be priced around $1,000 and will apparently begin shipping in ‘early 2023’ to the US, Canada, Europe, and the UK.
