Finnish smartphone brand Jolla isn't in the business of competing with the dizzying array of Android handsets out there. In fact, it took a long break before announcing its latest model – but from the sound of things, it might be worth the wait.
The all-new Jolla Phone, announced last December, is billed as 'Europe's independent smartphone,' as it runs a Linux-based operating system that's entirely different from Android, and as such, free from Google's clutches.
According to Jolla, this means "no tracking, no calling home, no hidden analytics." As I understand it, that should prevent your phone unique identifiers, location history, and browsing activity from being collected at the system level and shared with third parties for targeted advertising.
The way Jolla is going about this is by implementing Sailfish OS, a Linux-based open platform that claims to not collect or sell users' personal data – and most importantly, it doesn't require a Google account. It's currently in its 5th major version, and can run Android apps, so you get the best of both worlds.
If you're tired of advertisers knowing way too much about what you look at online and where you prefer to shop, this could be the way to go. Of course, you'll still have to be careful about which apps and services you choose to use on this device, as those can still gather background data once you agree to their terms and conditions.
The phone itself has a physical privacy switch that turns off its mic, cameras, Bluetooth, and anything else you configure. It otherwise features a fairly commonplace smartphone design, with a notch in front housing a selfie camera, and a 50-megapixel shooter on the rear paired with a 13-megapixel ultrawide snapper.
It's got a sizeable 5,500-mAh battery which you can replace when its performance starts to degrade, along with the rear panel that comes in three collectable colorways - Snow White, Kaamos Black, and The Orange.
Beyond that, you've got a 6.36-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display protected by Gorilla Glass, a mid-range Dimensity 7100 processor, up to 12 GB of RAM, 256 GB of storage, a fingerprint scanner on the side, and support for dual SIMs.
Jolla says it's racked up 10,000 pre-orders for this model already, and is set to begin production later this year with an aim to begin shipping in June. It's taking orders for 1,000 more units at €649 (US$753) apiece, and those will go out in September. It's prioritizing European countries for this round; hopefully it'll become available stateside with subsequent batches.
Check out the Jolla Phone on the company's site.
Source: Jolla
