Jolla Phone Review: Starting A New Chapter
'If one door closes, another one opens up. You've heard that before but from a tech point of view, this analogy mostly ticks with the saga that comprises of Nokia and MeeGo. The Finnish handset maker was working internally on a mobile platform that could have made its way much before the Android boom happened.
But things took turn for the worst and MeeGo as a platform was shut down. That clearly did not deter Marc Dillon and co. from continuing with the MeeGo project, albeit under a new name called Jolla. Interesting bit about Jolla is that; you have the company, software and the phone's name, all being the same. Earlier this year, Jolla decided it's time to test waters in India with Jolla phone and platform. It can run Android applications but is that ever enough? We find out..
What is it?
Jolla phone runs on the Jolla platform and is an interesting-yet-experimentative project from the namesake company. It's available on Snapdeal priced at Rs 16,499 and supports Android apps.
Who is it for?
Jolla phone is for everyone or if we may say, anyone who wants to spend close to Rs 16K on a device which is neither Android nor Windows Phone based. The platform is highly intuitive and gesture based, so you can some time getting used to the interface.
Design
To put in simple words, Jolla phone has nothing that strikes out. It would be unfair to call it a piece-of-brick device with its unibody design and rectangular shaped form size. It's as simple as a phone can be but with its own design tweaks. Jolla has added two-layered finishing on the phone that's hard to figure out in first instance but slowly it gets to your conscious. You'll find the camera unit with LED flash at the back. The edges are curved but not finely crafted and that tends to add up, while using the phone. Dimensions of 9.9mm thickness does not deserve any mention, as right now you'll find a phone, as thin as 4.8 mm (making it hard to even fit a 3.5 mm audio jack).
Power and volume rocker options are on the right, while the 3.5 jack and microUSB are present at the top. The back panel can be opened up and even replaceable (by the company themselves). The most interesting aspect about the Jolla phone, is the physical navigation buttons; Home, Back, Multi-task missing and instead, all you can do is, swipe your through the actions much like what BlackBerry offers these days. Will the design and look attract you towards the Jolla Phone? We wouldn't agree on that bit.
Hardware
As mentioned by Dillon at the launch event (when he was in the country), Jolla does not depend on how many cores the phone has, instead it optimizes itself to the hardware capability. We found that assessment quite intriguing and decided to test on those claims. Yes, Jolla really doesn't need a quad-core leave alone an octa-core processor to deliver performance and that mostly goes to highlight the work, Jolla team has done behind the scenes. Sporting a 4.5 inch qHD display, Jolla phone delivers crisp colors but you tend to miss out on the viewing angles at this size. Outdoor visibility is reasonably good but has it's odd instances of reflections.
Corning Glass 2 protection is a much needed add-on though. It packs a dual-core Snapdragon 400 CPU with 1 GB RAM that we've come across on the reliable Motorola Moto E and the performance speaks for itself. It offers 16 GB of internal storage, which is expandable by up to 64 GB. There's an 8 MP rear camera with LED flash and a 2 MP front facing camera as well. Comes loaded with a 2,100 mAh battery and offers dual-SIM connectivity.
Software
The whole game about Jolla phone starts with the software and ends with it as well. It's called Sailfish OS and this has also been derived from Linux but with hint (lot of it actually) from the MeeGo project. The look and feel of the platform is slick, clean and to the point. The icons have a refreshing look and nothing like what we came across with the Nokia X platform.
It's going to be hard to introduce the platform but all we can say is, we enjoyed out stint with the Jolla phone even though it took some time for us to understand its functionality. You won't be able to close the applications, instead relying on the Live multi-task screen that shows every app, which is running on the device.
We would like to inform the users that any app, even as basic like Wi-Fi doesn't work when hidden and that leads to tons of unread WhatsApp messages, Twitter alerts and even mails. The Music app is also very easy to use, slick and elegant, typifying the Jolla community. You can download varied app stores (Android ones) and run all the applications that one associates with the Google-owned platform.
Are we mighty impressed with the Sailfish? Well, we'd like to put our hands up to the Jolla team, for finally bringing forth the device and platform to India. It's still early days for the company (very early) and going forward, we would like them to improve on the user experience factor of the platform, something that everyone has gotten spoilt with Android.
Camera
We're better off talking about the platform a lot more but it's hard to overlook the camera of a device which is pitted against other mobile platforms. Pictures in bright light came out nicely but with a lack of details and sharpness. Low light wasn't really our concern with the camera and whatever we managed was average at best. The camera interface, however has a nifty feel to it and responsive in every aspect.
Battery
Last but not the least, can the Jolla phone last you a day or better, even more? The answer to that is a simple yes. But it'll only last you a day. We managed to use Jolla as our primary phone for few weeks and the resulting numbers were quite satisfactory. Recently, the company rolled out its first-ever over-the-air update for the phone and claims to have improved the battery life further (yet to test those claim).
The good
Sailfish OS
Android-supported
Gesture-centric interface (take some time and you'll like it)
The bad
Average performance
Apps do not work when hidden
Average cameras
Should you buy it?
Only if you're not running after a fast, powerful and brightly lit phone. Jolla phone has all the makings of a good and futuristic device with an intuitive interface that can run Android apps too. Pricing may not entice you to opt for it but if your willing to give it a shot then our guess is, you might start liking it, sooner than later.
Price: Rs 16,499
Specifications:
Display: 4.5 inch 960x540p Corning Glass 2
OS: Sailfish
CPU: 1.2 GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400
RAM: 1 GB
Storage: 16 GB, expandable up to 64 GB
Cameras: 8 MP rear; 2 MP front
Battery: 2,100 mAh
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