Reg I just picked up a Sony Xperia XA for $200 bucks for similar reasons. I plan to try Sailfish and if successful then get paid version. Let me know how is your experience.
Another US-based Sailfish user (on T-Mobile) here. I’ve used quite a number of devices with Sailfish, and in my opinion the Sony Xperia XA2 is (so far) the best one. As other users have said, get a VPN and set your location to somewhere in Europe, otherwise the Jolla online store will not process your credit card. If I recall correctly, the Jolla store will process a U.S.-based credit card, but only if the purchase is coming from a European-based IP address (based on geolocation services, I assume).
Also, you need to be comfortable with Linux-based tools, the command line, and have access to hardware and software (such as a desktop or laptop PC) in order to install Sailfish on the Xperia. You’ll probably only be able to find a used one, make sure that it is the U.S. version that complies with T-Mobile or AT&T frequencies…otherwise, you might be stuck with 2G speeds.
Let’s keep politics off here please.
W8, w8, w8…you mean typical WESTERN european. We @the East were under Communism. Where we come from, Westies now go.
Do you mean Xperia XA or XA2? The XA is not officially supported (see link above from Fuzzillogic) and as far as I’ve been able to tell, there isn’t a current community port for it. Interested to know if there is one…