Solana Seeker, the second generation of Solana Mobile’s crypto smartphone, has started shipping worldwide, and so far, pre-order customers who have received their devices are using words like “good,” “sleek design,” and “impressive” to describe the usage experience. 

At its core, Seeker is designed to enable access to crypto and Web3 on the go, whether in managing DeFi portfolios or making transactions. But Seeker also comes as an improved version of Solana Saga, the first generation of Solana Mobile’s crypto smartphone. 

Despite the demand for Saga phones skyrocketing in the secondary markets due to the BONK tokens airdropped to owners, it was not without some criticisms. Some of the biggest complaints were that it was heavy and the UX wasn’t something people actually enjoyed using. Then again, Saga initially started at $1,000 price, which seemingly contributed to slow sales during the launch.

As a direct result of the lessons learned from the Saga, Solana Seeker comes with better UX, including new features such as Seeker ID and TEEPIN for improved security. The price starts at $450-$500. Cryptopolitan reported on August 4th that 150,000 pre-ordered units of Seeker phones have been shippedacross 57 countries. “There are more Solana Seekers shipped than TPS of all the Ethereum L2s combined,” Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko would boast.

Making Crypto Truly Mobile

Solana Seeker has been designed to make crypto and Web3 native to mobile experiences, especially for the Solana ecosystem. That’s the entire reason this device exists. On a regular phone, your crypto wallet is just another app. But Seeker pushes the limit by providing core crypto functionalities at the hardware level, in a way that makes the experience feel natural.

Upon initial setup, Seeker owners are issued a unique Genesis Token permanently tied to the device. It is what gives users access to special benefits, rewards, and features in the Solana ecosystem. Alongside the Genesis Token, each user also gets a Seeker ID, which is more like a digital tag that shortens the typical crypto addresses to a simple username, all happening natively within the phone.

The Seed Vaultis a chief component in both the Saga and Seeker phones that makes the crypto experience more mobile-friendly. It protects your private crypto keys with encryption and biometric access. Solana Mobile took the experience a step further by building a native wallet atop the Seed Vault with the Seeker devices, called Seed Vault Wallet. 

With that, users are able to gain an Apple Pay-like experience with crypto transactions, where they can approve and verify their transactions with just their fingerprints.

Away from Apple and Google Play Stores, where the revenue is centralized and crypto-related apps are often restricted or deprioritized, Seeker comes with its Solana dApp Store 2.0 that promotes true on-chain engagement, with an economic model that rewards both users and developers. 

Developers earn by building dApps for Seeker, while the users earn by actively using the device and supported dApps. Central to this model is the $SKR token, which Solana Mobile says will “power the economy, incentives, and ownership of the ecosystem.”

All of these features combined make for a better and incentivized crypto mobile experience. Seeker essentially fixes up the disjointed experience with smartphones and helps users get on-chain faster.

Absolute Security: TEEPIN

Every Seeker phone ships with a framework that decentralizes the device, beyond a consumption device. It is called TEEPIN —Trusted Execution Environment Platform Infrastructure Network. 

On your average smartphone, Apple and Google control trust and access. They get to decide what is safe or allowed in your device. Seeker fundamentally puts you in control through TEEPIN, which uses cryptography to connect to the phone’s hardware, platform verification, and a network of Guardians, a three-layer interaction that results in a more open and decentralized mobile platform.

At the Hardware level is where the Seeker device gets to cryptographically attest that both software and hardware are authentic. It then moves down to the Platform level, where TEEPIN verifies the device’s status and the dApp’s authenticity against on-chain contracts. The Network level is where all vetting happens to ensure the platform remains open and fair, with control distributed among users rather than a single entity. This is handled by the so-called “Guardians Network.”

It’s not only about security. TEEPIN directly addresses the imbalance in control with the average phone, which is heavily centralized by tech giants. 

Now, you are no longer a regular user with Seeker, but a full owner with added incentives. First, your data is private and 100% in your control. Secondly, you are no longer limited by Google or Apple’s platform rules, and you now have more freedom to choose a wide range of apps in Payments, DeFi, AI, DePIN, NFTs, gaming, and whatnot. 

A Community-owned Open Ecosystem Over Walled Gardens

As I mentioned earlier, Seeker does away with centralization. The control is distributed among a network of users. Apple and Google are the sole gatekeepers of the iPhone and Android, respectively. They bear the full responsibility of managing and directing platform rules. 

Seeker operates under a community-owned model, where users become active stakeholders. SKR token holders get to participate in governance and decide the policies and direction of the platform, not Solana Mobile. The Guardians bear the responsibility of vetting dApps and managing the integrity of the platform.

Apple/Google walled gardens create an extractive environment where users are always at the giving end, with developers subjected to a 30% revenue share. The revenue is centralized by these tech giants. However, the Solana Seeker, through its TEEPIN framework, SKR token, and the Guardians Network, flips this model.

The arrangement with Seeker is such that it creates a closed loop of value between users and developers. Users are incentivized and actually have a reason to use the device and dApps, and developers are also incentivized to build valuable dApps as they get to keep more of the revenue and have a direct line to their community.

What you get is an ecosystem that thrives on its own because it is governed by a community of motivated stakeholders. And for the first time, your phone is a node in both a social and financial network.

What’s Next for the Solana Phone

Solana Seeker is a big step up in the mobile crypto experience. It addresses some of the biggest pain points for crypto users, which include security and ease of use. We saw this even with its predecessor, the Saga, which had poor UX that made usability a bit difficult, but that is quite understandable given it’s a first product. 

From the features seen with Seeker, we can only expect the Solana phone to get better from here. But one major downside with the Solana phone is that the tech stack is limited to the Solana blockchain. The entire architecture, right from the dApp Store to the Seed Vault and Seeker ID, is tightly integrated specifically for the Solana network.

As a result, the phone isolates users who hold assets on other chains like Ethereum, Bitcoin, or other Layer 2 networks, so there is somewhat of an interoperability issue here. Also, mass adoption, especially for regular users outside the crypto ecosystem, can be a problem, considering the fact that the phone is purpose-built for a Web3 experience. 

Crypto users may easily catch on, but there needs to be more awareness about the benefits. For instance, Solana Saga was initially met with slow adoption, but interest went through the roof with the memecoin airdrop schemes. Sometimes, it takes more than just superior technology to unlock mainstream adoption, and it’s good to see Solana Mobile explore that part more.

Solana Mobile is planning to launch a program called Seeker Season by September, which will bring users exclusive features, early access, and benefits for actively using the dApps supported in the Solana dApp store. This will be distributed every week. 

Web3 has largely been a desktop-centric experience. The Solana phone is an attempt to bring this experience to mobile devices, where your phone is not just a host for apps, but also becomes a decentralized node. It goes without saying that the Solana phone will likely be a litmus test for the whole idea of making crypto native to mobile users. But even as the trend goes mainstream, it could be hard for many people to see crypto mobile phones pass a secondary device.

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