Solana Mobile will stop supporting the Solana Saga smartphone and will no longer offer software updates for the first-generation crypto handset, the company announced on Monday.
As a result, new software updates and security patches will not be delivered for the 20,000 Saga devices produced, while future support will only address “general queries”.
“Software updates and security patches will no longer be offered for Saga devices,” a community manager in the Solana Mobile Discord community said Monday. “Thank you to all our Saga users for joining the journey.”
The company also thanked Saga holders on its websiteadding that their feedback was “invaluable in shaping the next chapter of Solana Mobile.”
The Saga was last upgraded to Android 14, first released in 2023, and the last security update is from November 2024.
Solana first released the Saga — an Android phone with built-in crypto features like a secure seed vault and a decentralized app store — in April 2023, to limited fanfare. But the phone got a rush the question later that year after the airdrops linked to the phone increased in valuepotentially giving holders thousands of dollars in rewards.
Now it has effectively become obsolete in just over two years – far less time than the mark Apple used to characterize its mobile devices as “vintage” or outdated. which only happens after more than seven years upon release. Google similarly offers seven years of software support for its Pixel phones, while Samsung has matched that period for some devices.
Granted, the end of software support doesn’t mean the devices will stop working; they remain operational for the owners, and of course the crypto functions still work as usual. A Solana Mobile AI support agent told it Declutter that Saga wallets can also be restored to other devices due to following “the same seed standard.”
With Saga support ending, Solana Mobile is now focusing solely on its second phone, the Seekera cheaper, also crypto-focused mobile device. Announced shortly after the airdrop rush and sell-out of the Saga, the Seeker earned over 150,000 pre-sale orders and started shipping to users in August.
The second-generation Solana phone comes with some of the same features as its predecessor, like the built-in Seed Vault, but has improved hardware and newer features like the SeekerID and an improved decentralized app store.
Moreover, it comes with plans for a native ecosystem tokenSKR, an incentive for builders and users that aligns the ecosystem and its results. Details about the token haven’t been disclosed, but the Solana Mobile website indicates it will go “directly to builders and users.”
Declutter reviewed the Solana Seeker in August and found it to be a capable mid-range Android phone that offered a “more measured” offering than the Saga, at half the launch price, with some user-friendly upgrades in tow.