14 DAY TRIAL // Finnish startup Jolla was one of the companies to have displayed smartphones at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week, and we got the chance to have a closer look at their Sailfish OS-based handset at the event.
The Jolla smartphone is not an entirely new product, as it was released on the market in the fourth quarter of the last year, but it is a device that you’ll most likely remember once you had the chance to play with it.
One thing that is certain about this phone is that specs don’t tell the entire story when it comes to capabilities, but that other features are important as well, including customization options and overall navigation experience.
Jolla launched the phone with a 4.5-inch IPS qHD display and with a 1.4GHz dual-core CPU, paired with 1GB of RAM. It also included 16GB of memory inside it, a microSD memory card slot, an 8-megapixel camera on the back, and a 2MP front camera.
There is also the usual set of connectivity capabilities, including 4G LTE, and a 2100 mAh battery that can offer up to 10 hours of talk time. All these are packed inside a 9.9 mm thin body that weighs 141 grams.
The handset’s elegant design left a pleasant feeling right from the start, as the back cover, which enthusiasts might already know as “The Other Half,” gives you the impression that you’re actually holding two devices glued together.
For those out of the loop, we should note that the covers come in Keira Black and Aloe at the moment, each with a price tag of €29 ($39) attached to it, and each meant to offer a different set of customizations to users.
When attached to the smartphone, it will connect to the device via the NFC chip integrated into it, and will change the entire user interface, sounds, and the like. Basically, you can completely personalize the phone over and over through attaching new smart covers to it.
And while only two such options are available at the moment, more will be coming in the not too distant future, including one designed in collaboration with Rovio, the mobile game publisher than launched the popular Angry Birds a few years back.
Even without these covers, however, Jolla’s Sailfish OS-based smartphone is impressive, especially since it proposes a new navigation experience, without buttons on the front, but based on gestures (something it has inherited from the MeeGo platform that Nokia abandoned a few years ago).
One other great thing about Jolla’s smartphone is the fact that it can run Android applications. Given that most mobile users today want access to software, the support for apps built for Google’s platform ensures that Sailfish OS won’t have a short life.
At the moment, Jolla is shipping the smartphone across Europe, with a price tag of €399 ($550) attached to it. Those who grab the handset together with the smart cover will pay only €419 (around $580) for both.
