Jolla Smartphone Review

There are many smartphone manufacturers and OS platforms available in the market. Yet if you are looking for something different to experience then new Jolla smartphone, created by ex-Nokia engineers, could become your choice running on Sailfish OS.

Unique design: There is nothing regular or familiar in the body design, this smartphone looks like a biscuit sandwich. With the quirky design, its front half gets rounded sides and is flat on the top and bottom, while the “other half” is the opposite, which feels uncomfortable sometimes, when you try to stretch the thumb across the screen. It doesn’t have the home and back button, but all interaction happens using gestures. The “other half” is not only a simple back shell, it has an embedded NFC tag. When you switch the shell, Jolla recognizes it and you get a message asking if you want to act on it. This helps to customise the ambience or themes of the phone, wallpaper and sound profile, etc.

A fresh software that could trouble you in the beginning: For the first time smartphone user, Sailfish OS would not be difficult to operate, but those who are upgrading to taste the new flavor may struggle a little. At the start, it asks to setup your account and then, it guides you how to use the phone. The first screen reminded us of BB 10 OS. Since there is no Home button, you’ll have to learn a lot of gestures, shortcuts and cues. Sailfish OS supports Android apps and games, and most apps run smoothly. Although there is no issue with Android apps and games on Jolla, but with third party apps like facebook you will find some functionality and notification differences, as they are not integrated with the system.

Feels good and runs smooth: Jolla has 4.5-inch qHD (960x450p) display, though we were expecting a 720p display, yet screen has good viewing angles. The display is average to use in direct sunlight. It is backed by a 1.4GHz dual-core processor, 1GB RAM and 16 GB internal memory (13.7 GB available to the user) expandable via microSD card. Navigating the phone was quite easy, and launching and switching between apps was smooth.

It is equipped with 8 MP rear camera with LED flash that captures quality images in daylight with decent color reproduction. The camera comes with several settings for the flash, white balance, ISO, AF and timer. The front 2 MP camera is also a decent performer for selfie and video chats. The smartphone is powered by 2100 mAh battery that last for about 8-9 hours. In our video testing it played video for 6 hours and 24 minutes in full brightness and sound.