Support for the Saga Web3 phone has officially ended, yet demand driven by crypto airdrops keeps its resale value soaring.
In Brief
- Solana Mobile ceased all software and security updates for its Saga smartphone on October 20, 2025, ending its active lifecycle after 19 months.
- Despite being discontinued, the Saga Web3 phone commands prices between $2,000 and $5,000 on secondary markets due to its eligibility for valuable crypto airdrops.
- The move finalizes the company’s pivot to its second-generation Seeker phone, which saw over 150,000 pre-orders after the Saga’s airdrop-fueled success.which saw over 150,000 pre-orders after the Saga’s airdrop-fueled success.
Solana Mobile has officially ended all software support for its first-generation Saga Web3 phone, just 19 months after its public launch. Despite the move, the discontinued device continues to command prices as high as $5,000 on secondary markets, fueled by demand for exclusive cryptocurrency airdrops.
The company confirmed on its support page that as of Monday, the Saga will no longer receive software updates, security patches, or technical assistance. The decision brings an abrupt end to the lifecycle of Solana’s inaugural hardware product, which was designed to accelerate the adoption of decentralized applications.
The Saga Web3 Phone: From Flop to Resale Hit
Launched in April 2023 with a $1,000 price tag, the Saga Web3 phone initially failed to find a significant market. By December 2023, on-chain data confirmed only about 2,500 active devices, a figure far below the 25,000 to 50,000 unit threshold Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko said was needed to build a viable developer ecosystem.
The phone’s trajectory shifted dramatically in late 2023 when Saga owners became eligible for a 30 million BONK meme coin airdrop, which at its peak was worth more than the phone itself. The arbitrage opportunity triggered a sales frenzy, causing the device to sell out in the United States and pushing total sales to approximately 20,000 units.
Why Support for the Saga Web3 Phone Ended
The Saga Web3 phone’s 19-month support window is notably shorter than industry standards set by competitors like Google and Apple, which offer support for at least seven and five years, respectively. Solana Mobile offered no official explanation for the brief support period.
The company’s focus has fully shifted to its second-generation device, the Seeker, which began shipping in August 2025. Priced more affordably at $450 for early pre-orders, the Seeker garnered over 150,000 pre-orders, indicating that the incentive model pioneered by the Saga Web3 phone has resonated with the market.
Chain Street’s Take
The story of the Saga Web3 phone ends the way many crypto experiments do, not with failure, but with resale hype. The phone that struggled to sell at $1,000 now trades for five times that, not because of its specs or design, but because it still qualifies users for airdrops.
It’s a fitting epitaph for Solana’s first hardware venture: a device that found utility only after it became obsolete. The Saga proved that in Web3, scarcity and speculation can sometimes succeed where innovation doesn’t.
