Xperia 10 II + SFOS

Ok I understand and so the exact quote is “I really wouldn’t recommend anyone buys an x10ii yet. The android 10 port has used that as a base, but it’s by no means guaranteed that it will become the next ‘Sailfish X’ device. I think it’s best to wait for that confirmation.”

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OK, that is indeed not very promising, and quite disappointing. There are some affordable 10 iis on offer right now here, and I was about to jump, but I guess that doesn’t make sense now. This leaves people in a bit of a void.

Noone in the right mind would tell you to go buy a device that doesn’t have official support announced. So just wait.

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I think the biggest disappointment is that it appears there doesn’t seem to be a plan for the 10 ii or any new device. They are using it as an Android 10 test platform, but I take it there is no strategic decision made within the company to target any particular device.

I mean I think many people would be OK to buy and hang on to a device if it was announced that particular device would be the next Sailfish X.

So there is no device available (any more) that is officially supported by SF X. No way to get new users.

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I trust that there will be a new device. However, Jolla needs to make a carefull choice because they most likely cannot support more than one further device for the reasons I have pointed out here: Official support for the Volla phone and FxTec Pro 1?

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this carefull choice is overdue

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New users can always purchase a used previous gen. Xperia. If one needs an excuse not to switch to or leave Sailfish, there can always be an excuse. If one wants to get on board of Sailfish, there are plenty of solutions which require just a little bit of ‘out of the box’ thinking.

usually peope I recommend to use SFOS (a lot) do not have an out of the box thinking. Used phones are disgustingly unhygienic. They should be able to go to the next store, buy an available phone and eighter I or they flash SFX. This is not possible atm.

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Frankly speaking, I think SAFOS might not be the right OS for people without the out of the box thinking. What they inevitably will get is disappointment and frustration.

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I am one of the people who bought a Sony Xperia 10 II anticipating on the technical information (https://sailfishos.org/content/uploads/2021/02/SailfishOS-HardwareAdaptationDevelopmentKit-4.0.1.2.pdf), so I do still have the hope this device will become a Sailfish X’ device. No hard feelings if it is not the case (my fault), but I do think Jolla should have a least support a phone from 2020 otherwise new users will not step in. I do have a question, has somebody executed the steps in the technical document and can show a video how Sailfish works on a Sony Xperia 10 II?

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Look, I also have a strong preference for new phones. And I’ve spent quite a time recently to find an unused Xperia 10, which was rather a quest of a kind now that it’s been out of stock everywhere. But I consider it part of the price of opting in. There’s no coerce, no pushing, no impelling to choose Sailfish. If you’re curious to try, here are your (very limited) options, and then it’s up to you to weigh your curiosity and inconveniences. I guess, current Jolla policy is rather exclusive, they don’t want just curious guys to join, although this is not explicit. They’re addressing in the first place the folks who know what they’re looking for. You’ll see what I mean if you go to their new website with a very strong appeal to corporate customers, and where it’s not obvious at all that you can purchase it individually. If it repels those who want to go to the brick-and-mortar store to purchase a new phone an install the new OS with one click… Well, it’s not a big monetary loss for the company, but the small support team is spared another naive customer with typical nooby questions…

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Actually finding a new Xperia10 is not that difficult. Just go to idealo or whatever your prefered comparison portal is and enter Xperia10, you immediately get 3 online stores that have it in stock for prices between 250 and 260 Euro (at least that’s the availability in Germany)

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Asking anyone to pay 250–260 euros for a 2 year old device when you can pay the same price and get the current model (which itself is already 1 year old) is quite a high ask. I don’t believe any of the places over here stock it.

I am sure Jolla would love to have a broader user base - at least initially, they were striving for becoming the third player in the mobile phone arena.

However, it turned out to be more difficult than expected.

My impression is that Jolla has not abandoned the idea to provide a mobile operating system for everyone, but:

Keeping up with hardware adaptation, QT licensing issues, ever-changing Android (and thus HW compatibility on a more abstract level), new features (VoLTE, Message and Calendar Synching etc.) are tremendous challenges for such a small team. And, of course, user tinkering with their devices causing a lot of adverse side effects not being anticipated and leading to complaints are further challenges.

In view of this, I am happy that there are decent devices with SFOS available and that they all work more or less flawlessly with me.

Jolla’s biggest problem might be that most people are happy with iOS or Android and the number of users that are not willing accept either one and instead are willing to accept limitation of an alternative system is small.

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I am happy if Jolla does not announce that Sailfish X is no longer going to be a actively developed for new devices - even if I would understand such decision, I would be disappointed. Maybe that Jolla is not only driven by commercial considerations (and necessities) but also by a vision (or a dream, you may say) and hope - just like me.

I hope that Jolla won’t give up on a mobile OS for consumers like me. And I also hope for an announcment of a new officialy supported device anytime this year (Maybe it will be Xperia 10 III :wink: ).

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Oh I agree. I also hope they continue (hence this topic). I actually think Sailfish X is surprisingly cheap and would be OK if they brought an upgraded price or some subscription. The duopoly in mobile is boring. But as someone who has built and run an OS company, people need salaries and businesses have costs. It may not be feasible to support X going forwards.

Either way, it would perhaps help to hear a message on that.

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I think you pretty much nailed it down. My vision of the situation is that they’re making their living by developing the OS for the corporate cases and Sailfish X is a hobby side project, where you’re welcome to become a user for a small pay. But growing consumer (community) user base is not a focus any more.

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I suggested this as a topic for the next community meeting. Maybe we can get at least some clarification. If I’ve misunderstood how these meetings work, feel free to correct me.

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Wow, I really hope you’re wrong. But I get the feeling that you’ve nailed it exactly.

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