Solana Lab’s phone-making unit Solana Mobile has just unveiled its newest, shiniest smartphone, “Seeker”, which brings various enhancements over the company’s first mobile phone Saga — at less than half the price.
In a remarkable show of market interest, preorders for Seeker have already surpassed 140,000 units across 57 countries.
Demand For Solana’s Unreleased Phone Is Hot
May 2023’s rollout of the Solana Saga smartphone was a huge bet by Solana Labs that initially appeared to be on the precipice of failure. But a December increase in demand around the then-discounted smartphone, thanks in part to the skyrocketing value of Solana doggy-themed meme coin Bonk (BONK) airdrops, caused the device to be sold out and spurred questions on Solana Labs’ next move.
First forward in January this year, Solana Mobile announced its second smartphone, previously dubbed “Chapter Two”. This came just weeks after Saga was bailed out from the onslaught of dwindling sale figures after crypto traders realized they could purchase the devices to amass token airdrops worth more than the phone itself.
Built in partnership with hardware maker Fxtec, Solana’s next Android phone Seeker is set to launch in mid-2025. For this new version, Solana aims to offer 140,000 customers who have already paid $450 to pre-order Seeker, access to similar rewards.
Solana Mobile revealed the official branding and a first look at the handheld gadget onstage at Token 2049 in Singapore on Thursday. The Solana Seeker comes with a brighter “flagship display” and a better battery than the Saga, plus “better cameras” — including a new third sensor on the back.
Seeker: A Rewards Magnet
Just like Saga, Solana Mobile General Manager Emmett Hollyer indicated that each Seeker phone will ship with a Genesis NFT — a token forever linked to the owner’s specialty-built crypto wallet. This model was pioneered with Saga, and it quickly proved to be a “rewards magnet” for owners, as Hollyer described it, thanks to the pumped-up BONK meme coin airdrop late last year and other projects rewarding owners as well.
While Hollyer expects Seeker to have a ton of payday potential from the numerous teams preparing to issue rewards to owners of the phone, he emphasized that it wouldn’t just be the “memecoin phone.”
“Seeker, just like Saga, will be a rewards magnet, but also, it’s a huge opportunity for teams to build totally new experiences,” opined Hollyer, mentioning that the new handheld would feature an improved decentralized app (DApp) store and a major hardware upgrade as well.
“It’s not the memecoin phone. It’s going to enable all of the great use cases on the network, whether that is memecoins or DeFi or payments or games.”
That being said, the success of the Solana Seeker presales is a huge step in the right direction. As Solana Mobile continues to break new ground, it paves the way for the further evolution of blockchain in the mobile devices industry and a more vibrant SOL ecosystem.
