Web3 companies are investigating ways to go beyond apps and tokens and experiment with hardware devices such as telephones and consoles that merge crypto functions with everyday technology.
GAIA Labs, a decentralized AI and Web3 infrastructure company, announced his upcoming AI -Smartphone for users in South Korea and Hong Kong on Tuesday. Built on Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Edge -hardware, the device performs AI models directly on the phone, allowing users to communicate with agents without trusting cloud services.
According to the company, Web3 functions include an onchain identity support, a pre-loaded GAIA domain and tools for deploying adapted AI agents.
GAIA joins a small group of blockchain companies that experiment with physical devices. In recent years, various projects have tried to merge blockchain with mobile devices.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ly-SjGRAKRS
Solana Mobile, a subsidiary of Solana Labs, released its second generation device, the Solana searcher, in August, who claims more than 150,000 pre-orders and shipping to more than 50 countries.
The first mobile device of the company, the SAGA phone, was launched in 2023, with a built-in seed safe and Solana Dapp store bound at the Bonk Tokens Memecoin AirDrop.
Web3 participants do not necessarily try to replace Big Tech Giants in the smartphone industry, such as Apple and Samsung. In a blog post that follows the evolution from the Saga to the viewfinder, said Emmett Hollyer, general manager of Solana Mobile, that their goal is to “create something completely new: a mobile ecosystem that first places crypto users and developers.”
Pioniers in space include the Taiwanese electronics maker HTC. In October 2018, the presale announced the Exodus 1, a blockchain-driven Android device with a built-in hardware wallet (“Zion Vault”) and support for multiple blockchains, including Bitcoin and Ethereum.
In 2022, Luxury Brand Vertu launched the metavertu, a smartphone with a double web2/web3 platform, crypto wallet -functions and NFT support.
“The success statistics is not market share, it proves that decentralized alternatives to Big Tech AI-Monopolies are technically and economically viable,” Shasank Sripada, co-founder of GAIA, told Cointelegraph.
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Web3 gaming consoles in 2025
In addition to phones, teams behind large block chains have also experimented with handheld gaming devices.
At the end of 2024 Mysten Labs, the team behind the Sui Blockchain, the SuiPlay0x1, built with Playtron. The console combines full PC gaming with native web3 functions such as ZLogin and Onchain Asset Management.
In August 2025, Solana Mobile de Play Solana Gen 1 (PSG1) announced, a portable console that acts as a hardware wallet.
It includes Solana Wallet Integration, Transaction Fingerprint Security and Solana’s Dapp -Ecosystem access. Pre-orders opened in 2025, with the first units sent in October.
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