Would you recommend XA2 as of 2023?

Devices
#14

I had my XA2 plus in daily use for 4 years. After the display was broken, I got the GS5 and used it in dual boot because of the necessary Android apps.
I missed my XA2 plus and replaced the display and battery.
Now the XA2 plus has reached its end with 5 years in its pocket. Since there is currently no current alternative for me other than the GS5, I switched to the XA2 with a new SFOS license. It fits much better in my pocket. The speed for the native apps is very smooth and the basic requirements of a cell phone are met perfectly.
The feel is like the JP1 and can be operated very well with just one hand.

Edit: Sony Xperia XA2 schwarz 32GB LTE o. Simlock 5,2" Display 23MP Wie NEU

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#15

Regarding the initial question / thread title: Yes.

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#16

I have upgrade my XA2 DualSim Plus to a Xperia 10 III some months ago and it is a big bonus for me. I really do like the dimensions of the phone. The experience of the phone is in my opinion better than on the XA2. I don’t have any problems like need to wait a long time for GPS, silent phone calls or crashing apps. Well to the last point it is not 100% true. Sometimes the browser app is crashing, but that is related to the browser probably.
So all in all (and I can only speak for myself) I really do love my Xperia 10 III with SailfishOS and would prefer that instead of a XA2.

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#17

My 10 III still has echo during calls. Really annoying and prohibitive or using it as a phone.
I do not like the shape of these new Sony’s either. Some texts are cropped too much because of the narrow screen. Technically this device works well.
I agree that the XA2 was/is nice and I regret it that Sailfish is not supported officially on the Gigaset GS5 or Rephone.

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#18

Full agree @Kea ! This ‘banana phone’ form factor was a reason for me to not upgrade to X10 III as it is no advancement to my current X10’s and the form factor is very inconvenient. Therefore Jolla lost 2 licence fees, that I otherwise would have purchased.

Regarding GS5 / Volla 22, I can only tell that @piggz 's port for the Volla / GS 290 works like a charm, also Waydroid, so why shouldn’t GS5 do the same?

#19

I am not techsavvy enough to port Sailfish on a GS5.Sailfish seems to become more and more for tech people only. Just a bit sad about that.

#20

You don’t have to port SFOS, @piggz did this for us and provided a ‘ready to use’ solution. (btw, I’m also not a coder, too…) The community will surely help you to install successfully! You can always ask.

Also see here:

and here (currently 604 posts here!):

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#21

I never had these problems. Apps closed in low memory situations.

A couple of significant bugs I had on the XA2 are gone. I kept trying to ask the forum if it was just me but never got an answer.

  1. Using net-heavy Android apps on my phone often broke the hotspot. This no longer happens.

  2. Android map applications no longer crash every ~15 mins. HereWeGo works a treat.

  3. My third-party 5V charger works every time on the 10iii.

I mention these because I can’t find my original reports and other users may be having such problems. If you are having major problems, and can figure out how to back up everything, it may be worth a fresh installation.

#22

I am reading this thread from time to time, but it seems complicated to me. I need a step by step tutorial.Is a Vollaphone needed or can you flash it on a plain GS5 or Rephone?

#23

No Android support with this port I suppose?

#24

Works on the GS5. I’m using it daily. But, important, not on a GS5 lite!
Limitations:
-I was not able to use the GPS into waydroid
-No copy/paste between the waydroid and SFOS
As I can’t remember the other limitations atm, they might be not so important :slightly_smiling_face: (but they are on the Volla 22/GS5 thread)
Anyway, it’s a pleasure to use SFOS on it. Camera is nice, GPS is quick, audio seems ok as I didn’t have any remark from correspondants, hotspot works, great memory, no oom kills, no crashes, just nice…

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#25

Yes, there is Waydroid. It’s a bit different than Android App Support.
I even prefer it in the sense that you have like another phone starting into SFOS. You have to enter this app/window and you are like in an Android phone…which has no access to your data, which I find pretty nice. In contrary of AAS which has copies of your contacts and perhaps other stuff, I dont remember exactly.

The only downside of the GS5 is that it is big. useful for comfy reading, but big in the pocket IMO.

Oh, I think we slipped away from the original subject.
Come to the dedicated thread, if you want.

#26

Unfortunately I don’t know how to flash a new GS5 / Volla 22… I purchased my Volla second hand and it was Volla OS installed on it. Then flashing SFOS onto it via UBports installer (available here: UBports Installer • Ubuntu Touch • Linux Phone ) worked at the first try. I also don’t know if the previous owner had to unlock the phone when it was new or if he only had to ‘hold down vol up while power on’ to get into fastboot mode.

edit: in the installer you can select 4 operating systems to install, one of them is SFOS.

#27

I’ve flashed both GS5 and rephone phones. I always unlock and developer mode the gigaset android, flash vollaos (using ubports) and then sfos (with the flash script). But others have reported that it’s not necessary to do the vollaos install. I don’t have any experience with waydroid.

#28

I hope Jolla do continue to support the XA2. Xperia 10 ii’s and iii’s are increasingly hard to find in a reasonable condition and at a reasonable price. They do pop up here in the UK occasionally on eBay and others, but not often. XA2’s are, strangely, much easier to get hold of. I’ve just bought an XA2 Plus (mainly coz of the 6Gb RAM and 64 Gb memory) as a backup phone for my 10 iii, and it wasn’t hard to find one new (old stock).

With the Xperia 10 v being the current model and the Xperia 10 vi due in mid 2024, the availability of these older models will become even more scarce.

There seems to be no news of an official port and/or the availability of Sailfish X on anything newer than the 2021 10 iii, so if Jolla do stop supporting 32 bit XA2s they will be limiting their available market (especially for Sailfish X licences) even further.

#29

I’ve the XA2 now. Well, first thing was unlocking the bootloader, as always, fairly simple. Then flashed SFOS 4.5.0.24. Well, what’s the experience? I feel some slowness, but it’s working fine. No license yet, I’m still thinking about it, using the free version. It’s like the 10, just a bit slower :wink:

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#30

You don’t need anymore to install it
biggrin
I’m selling mine, in case. Installed with SFOS and WD working.

#31

Reacted on your offer. I you answer I will get an email.

#32

I have a 10 II and a 10 III but my daily driver is still the XA2 - I prefer the form factor, the fingerprint sensor is in the right place, GPS is good enough for Kuri, the battery is still good…

My operator (Elisa) shut down 3G a week ago (in Pirkanmaa, Finland). 2G call quality is good, and so far no mobile data during calls hasn’t been a problem.

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#33

I moved from a XA2 to a 10iii. I enjoyed the upgrade: faster browsing, better screen resolution, better camera; still has a 3.5mm jack. The thing I don’t like with the 10iii is the fingerprint sensor on the front side (I could not have it work with a glass cover).

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